Eva Taylor
Eva Taylor was born on 22/01/1895 in St. Louis, Missouri. He full birth name was Irene Joy Gibbons. She was first on stage, acting at the age of three. She had toured New Zealand, Australia and Europe before she was in her teens. She toured with Josephine Gassman and Her Pickaninnies, which was a vaudeville act.In 1920, Taylor moved to New York. There she would establish herself as a performer in Harlem nightspots. In the same year, she married Clarence Williams, a producer for Okeh Records, publisher and pianist. They would work together on radio and recordings.
In 1922, Taylor recorded her first record for Black Swan Records. They would bill her as "The Dixie Nightingale".
Taylor would record dozens of blues, jazz and pop sides for Okeh and Columbia in the 1920s and 1930s. She adopted the stage name Eva Taylor, but also worked under her birth name in Irene Gibbons and her Jazz Band.
In the mid 1920s, Taylor and Williams were part of the group Blue Five which included jazz clarinetist and saxophonist Sidney Bechet, trumpet player Louis Armstrong, and singers such as Sippie Wallace and Bessie Smith.
Taylor was part of the jazz, swing all-star ensemble the Charleston Chasers who recorded between 1925 and 1930.
In 1927, she appeared in the musical "Bottomland" on Broadway, which was written and produced by her husband. It would be on stage for 21 performances.
In 1929, she had her own radio show on NBC's "Cavalcade". After the show, she worked for many years on radio station WOR in New York.
Throughout the 1930s, Taylor and Williams would record together.
Taylor stopped performing in the 1940s.
In 1965, her husband Clarence passed away. Taylor began to perform again and toured Europe.
On 31/10/1977: Taylor died from cancer in Mineola, New York.
Her son Clarence Williams Jr, was the father of the actor Clarence Williams III. Her daughter Joy Williams was a singer and actress, performing under the name Irene Wiliams.