Teddy Grace w/ Mal Hallett & His Orchestra

A Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. audience from the Dreamtime team - Jailbait, Curly, Bear and Your Host. Jailbait is preparing our gobbler even as I write, and the Top Cats and I are trying to stay out of her way, and thus are hiding out in the studio.


Although not connected to TTRH, I thought the above clip might be of interest. It features Teddy Grace, a white woman "of privilege," as they say in the South, who sang white-boy swing and, at her best, black-girl blues, and led a life that ended in a California nursing home, where she was known by her fourth, final and sadly appropriate name - Stella Hurt. The 9-minute clip may be a little tough to get through, unless you're an aficionado of obscure big band one-reelers, but you can also catch Grace's individual segments here and here.

If you like TTRH, you'll love Issue 58 of The Oxford American magazine - their 2007 music edition - where you can learn more about the life and times of Teddy Grace through Derek Jenkins' excellent article in that issue. Jenkins is the person who uploaded Grace's video clips, and maintains a personal blog here.

The magazine also contains equally interesting articles on the great Thelonious Monk, as well as an exhaustive account of the making of Blonde on Blonde in Nashville, Tennesse. TTRH aficionados will note familiar names in the credits on page 145, including Diane Lapson and Robert Bowers.