# Eva Taylor

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For the British geographer and historian of science, see [Eva Germaine Rimington Taylor](/source/Eva_Germaine_Rimington_Taylor).

**Eva Taylor** (January 22, 1895 — October 31, 1977) was an American [blues](/source/Blues) [singer](/source/Singing) and [stage](/source/Stage_(theatre)) actress.

## Life and career

She was born **Irene Joy Gibbons** in [St. Louis, Missouri](/source/St._Louis,_Missouri), as one of twelve children.[1] On stage from the age of three, Taylor toured [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand), [Australia](/source/Australia) and [Europe](/source/Europe) before she was in her teens.[2] She also toured extensively with [Josephine Gassman and Her Pickaninnies](/source/Josephine_Gassman_and_Her_Pickaninnies), a [vaudeville](/source/Vaudeville) act. She settled in [New York City](/source/New_York_City) by 1920. There she established herself as a performer in [Harlem](/source/Harlem) nightspots. Within a year she wed [Clarence Williams](/source/Clarence_Williams_(musician)), a producer (hired by [Okeh Records](/source/Okeh_Records)), publisher, and piano player.[3] The newlyweds worked together on radio and recordings. They recorded together through 1930s. Their legacy includes numbers made as the group Blue Five in the mid-1920s, which included the jazz clarinetist and saxophonist [Sidney Bechet](/source/Sidney_Bechet), trumpet virtuoso [Louis Armstrong](/source/Louis_Armstrong), and such singers as [Sippie Wallace](/source/Sippie_Wallace) and [Bessie Smith](/source/Bessie_Smith).[4]

In 1922 Taylor made her first record for the African-American-owned [Black Swan Records](/source/Black_Swan_Records), which billed her as "The Dixie Nightingale."[5] She recorded dozens of blues, jazz and popular sides for Okeh and Columbia throughout the 1920s and 1930s.[3] She adopted the [stage name](/source/Stage_name) Eva Taylor, but she also worked under her birth name in Irene Gibbons and her Jazz Band.

She was part of the [Charleston Chasers](/source/The_Charleston_Chasers), the name given to a few all-star studio ensembles who recorded between 1925 and 1930. In 1927, Taylor appeared on [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) in *Bottomland*, a musical written and produced by her husband, which lasted for twenty-one performances.[6] In 1929 she had her own radio show on [NBC](/source/NBC)'s *Cavalcade*.[7] She then worked for many years on radio station [WOR](/source/WOR_(AM)), in New York (guesting on Paul Whiteman's radio show in 1932).[8] Taylor stopped performing during the 1940s. She returned to performing in the mid-1960s, after her husband's death, and toured in Europe.The last one was 1976 to Stockholm, Sweden, where she performed at the Pawnshop together with well known local musicians and mostly sang the famous songs from the start of her career with Clarence Williams Blue Five. At least one performance is recorded (Kenneth Records, Opus3 Records).

## Death

Taylor died from cancer in 1977 in [Mineola, New York](/source/Mineola,_New_York). She was interred next to her husband, [Clarence Williams](/source/Clarence_Williams_(musician)), under the name Irene Joy Williams in [Saint Charles Cemetery, in Farmingdale, New York](/source/Saint_Charles_Cemetery,_Farmingdale).

Their son, Clarence Williams, Jr. (1923–1976) was the father of the actor [Clarence Williams III](/source/Clarence_Williams_III).

Their daughter Joy Williams (1931–1970) was a singer and actress, performing under the stage name Irene Williams.

## Discography

Year Title Genre Label 1996 Not Just the Blues Jazz, blues Pearl 1996 Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1922–1923) Jazz, blues Document 1996 Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1923–1927) Jazz, blues Document 1996 Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1928–1932) Jazz, blues Document 1997 Edison Laterals 4 Jazz, blues Diamond Cut

[9]

## References

1. Cullen, Frank (2007). *Vaudeville Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performances in America*. Psychology Press. p. 1093.

1. Larkin, Colin (1995). *The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music*. Guinness. p. 4498. ISBN 1-56159-176-9.

1. [Colin Larkin](/source/Colin_Larkin_(writer)) (ed.) (1995). *[The Guinness Who's Who of Blues](/source/Encyclopedia_of_Popular_Music)*. Second ed. [Guinness Publishing](/source/Guinness_Publishing). p. 340. ISBN 0-85112-673-1.

1. Fairweather, Digby (2004). *The Rough Guide to Jazz*. Rough Guides. p. 864. ISBN 1-84353-256-5.

1. Bogdanov, Vladimir (2003). *All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues*. Backbeat Books, p. 373. ISBN 0-87930-736-6.

1. Stearns, Marshall Winslow (1999). *Jazz Dance: The Story of American Vernacular Dance*. Da Capo Press. p. 150. ISBN 0-306-80553-7.

1. ["Special Collections and University Archives – UMD Libraries"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100614034404/http://www.lib.umd.edu/LAB/SCRIPTS/cavalcade.html). *Lib.umd.edu*. Archived from [the original](http://www.lib.umd.edu/LAB/SCRIPTS/cavalcade.html) on June 14, 2010. Retrieved 10 July 2018.

1. Chilton, John (1985). *Who's Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street*. Da Capo Press. p. 326. ISBN 0-306-80243-0.

1. Bogdanov, Vladimir (2003). *All Music Guide to The Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues*. 3rd ed. Backbeat Books. p. 538.

## Further reading

- Sheldon Harris: *Blues Who’s Who: a Biographical Dictionary of Blues Singers* (Da Capo Press, 1979, most recent edition 1994)
- A. Napoleon: “The Return of Eva Taylor,” *Jazz Journal Volume* 21, Issue 1 (1968), p. 30.

## External links

- [Eva Taylor 1895–1977](https://syncopatedtimes.com/eva-taylor-1895-1977/) Red Hot Jazz Archive
- [Eva Taylor on discogs.com](https://www.discogs.com/artist/307434-Eva-Taylor)
- [*Bottomland* on the Internet Broadway Database](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/bottomland-10336)
- [Eva Taylor recordings](https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105606) at the [Discography of American Historical Recordings](/source/Discography_of_American_Historical_Recordings).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eva Taylor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Taylor) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Taylor?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.