Ma Rainey Bags

Description: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was one of the early African-American professional blues singers.

Description: quick sketch style portrait

Description: Ma Rainey Mother of the Blues

Description: Ma Rainey Singer The Mother of the Blues

Description: Celebrating Bessie Smith's powerful voice and her unique place in the history of blues and jazz. Her recordings, including Down Hearted Blues and St. Louis Blues, helped define the sound of the classic blues era.

Description: A tribute to Bessie Smith, the legendary Empress of the Blues. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she became one of the most important and influential voices of classic blues during the 1920s.

Description: Viola Davis

Description: Janis Joplin Collage

Description: Bessie Smith A Good Man Is Hard To Find