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American performer (1897–?) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gonzell White (May 19, 1897 – date of death unknown), also written Gonzelle White, was an American jazz, blues, and vaudeville performer in the United States.
Gonzell White | |
---|---|
Born | May 19, 1897 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Other names | Gonzelle White |
Occupation | Vaudeville performer |
White was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in 1897.[1][2] She performed as a blues, jazz, vaudeville, and burlesque act, and was first mentioned in reports in 1912,[3] and specifically as a blues singer in 1914.[4] She sang in various groups including as a duo with Edward Lankford, who was also her manager. They married in Kansas in 1920.[4]
She toured on various circuits and with various acts,[5][6][7] including with Lester Moore as White and Moore. The entertainer Pigmeat Markham was a member of her troupe in the mid-1920s,[4] and Gus Aiken also toured with her.[8] She performed at Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady, New York.[9] A review of her group, Gonzell White Jazzers, in the October 20 Kalamazoo Gazette, and other Michigan papers, gave favorable reviews of her headlining show that toured Michigan.[3]
The Chicago Defender ran notices and reviews[10] about White and her group including photographs.[11] She was part of the Booker T. Washington Stock Company.[3] Billboard also reviewed Gonzelle and her group several times.[10] White toured on various circuits including in Michigan and in Cuba. In Cuba she headlined as a singer and saxophone player. Her group included Billy Young, Alfreda Thomas, Mary Jackson as a soubrette, Earl Frazier on piano, Amanzie Richardson as a comedian and dancer, Freddy Crump on drums, Jake Frazier on trombone, Gus Aiken as a soloist on coronet, Harry Smith on coronet and as a dancer, and Ed Lankford on saxophone and as manager.[3] Her group included several influential acts.[12] She featured in advertisements for Exelento Quinine Pomade (a pomade).[13]
Count Basie toured with her group in the mid-1920s.[14][15] Basie described her as "more of an entertainer than a musician... She was a real pro with a lot of class... She was very light-skinned... the kind of small, nice-looking woman that you think of as being very cute. And, of course, she always wore fine, stylish clothes and costumes, and she also sported a diamond in one of her front teeth."[4]
Lankford died while the group was on tour in 1926.[16] White's later life is publicly unreported.
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