OPEN POST: Manor Music Monday With The Delectable Dodo Greene!

Greetings, music trollops, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday. Are you still bloated from the holidays? Do you just want to kick back and drink and chillax with a jazz songstress who knows her stuff and can whisk you away to Happyville? Then pay a visit to "Apres Holiday Boink-Boink," the Manor's exclusive pop-up lounge and donut eatery. Tonight only, DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing tunes by a cult songstress prized by jazz aficionados worldwide. Presenting the delightfully named Dodo Greene.

She's been forgotten by many, but give a listen: her voice is at once jazzy and bluesy and rock 'n' roll. She almost defies categorization, what with her husky, rhythmic, and always emotive, vocal delivery. In other words, she's an astonishing original. And if that's not worth celebrating, then I don't know what is.

Born in Buffalo, New York in the early 1920s, she first turned heads while singing as a tween in her church choir, quickly gaining notice for her "blues-drenched voice," as it was called by those who heard her. By the time she was a teenager and in her early 20s, she was a star in the vibrant Buffalo club circuit, with stints at The Town Casino, Club Moonglo, and the "transgressive" Ralph Martin's, where she performed a rhythm & blues, jazz-inflected blues, and gospel-influenced repertoire.

Word of mouth spread like fire, and soon after, she was on the road and in demand, later wowing crowds in New York City. Her first LP in 1959, "Ain't What You Do," is fantastic. Give a listen to her slay "Is You Or Is You Ain't My Baby:"

Following that, she made history, becoming the first woman ever to be signed by Blue Note Records for her follow-up LP, "My Hour Of Need," considered her crowning achievement by jazz devotees, though I like both of her albums equally.

She didn't record any more LPs after these two efforts, but kept performing at gigs throughout North America for her many loyal fans - amongst her most devoted being Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald, thankyouverymuch - for the rest of her life. She may well be obscure at this point, but if you give a listen, you'll hear a master at work. Click through Spotify below to hear "My Hour Of Need," and since "Ain't What You Do" is out-of-print and available nowhere, feel free to download it HERE or HERE. In fact, I insist that you do!

What are you listening to this week? DJ Li'l Scratch wants to know.
Till next time...purr, bitches, purr! 🐾

Photo Credits: Getty Images; Time Records; Blue Note