Biography of Dinah Washington
They called her "The Queen of the Blues," but as Dinah herself said, she could "sing anything -- anything at all." At first, she sang gospel with The Sallie Martin Singers. In 1943, having been discovered by manager Joe Glaser, she was with Lionel Hampton's band, getting little exposure on records but a new name. By 1946, with a Mercury Records contract, she was on her own. Her earliest hits were in the rhythm & blues field, but before long she "crossed over, with such material as "Harbor Lights" and, especially, "What a Difference a Day Makes." With a great gift for projecting lyrics, a sardonic sense of humor, and a voice that was made for blues and jazz, Dinah Washington was also a terrific performer. Her records in a jazz setting (her horn accompanists included trumpeters Clifford Brown, Clark Terry, and Maynard Ferguson; her pianist Wynton Kelly and a young Joe Zawinul) rate with the best of the period, and had she lived, there's no telling what she might have accomplished. Her many emulators include the late Esther Phillips and Nancy Wilson. ~ Dan Morgenstern