Hunter, Alberta (aka Beatty, Josephine)

Hunter, Alberta (aka Beatty, Josephine), jazz-blues singer; b. Memphis, April 1, 1895; d. Oct. 17, 1984. She ran away to Chicago at the age of 11, where she performed in various clubs as a teenager. Around 1920, she moved to N.Y and throughout the 1920s did regular recordings (occasionally using her sister’s name, Josephine Beatty, as a pseudonym) and club dates. She began recording in 1923 on Black Swan in N.Y. with Fletcher Henderson and recorded with Louis Armstrong’s Jazz Babies (as Josephine Beatty) in 1924. She recorded again with Armstrong in 1926, and a year later was accompanied by Fats Waller’s pipe organ. In 1928, she traveled to London where she worked in clubs and concert halls, and appeared with Paul Robeson in Showboat at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1928-29. Except for a brief period in 1934, she remained primarily in London (although she also visited Paris), performing in clubs and revues. In 1936, she returned to N.Y. and was featured at Connie’s Inn. Towards year’s end, she briefly returned to Europe, but was back in the U.S. in 1937. During the late 1930s she played long residencies in N.Y, and was also featured on an NBC radio series. During World War II she did extensive touring for the USO, including the Pacific and Europe. In the early 1950s, she toured Britain and Canada, but mostly worked out of Chicago. In 1954-55 she was an understudy for the Broadway Show Mrs. Patterson.In 1956, she retired from music and began working as a professional nurse. Hunter made a few recordings in the early 1960s, but made a major comeback in 1977 when she began appearing in N.Y. clubs and on the road. She made several recordings late in life and also toured South America and Europe.

—John Chilton who’s who of Jazz/Lewis Porter