Rose Hardaway & Ada Lee - It’s Time for Rose Hardaway / Ada Lee Comes On! (2019)

Born in Arkansas in 1931 and raised in Chicago, Rose Hardaway became a well-known shake dancer in ‘elite black entertainment’, traveling to New York, Paris and London. By the mid ‘50s she had grown tired of dancing, and made the transition to singing. Her exciting voice became an overnight sensation after she appeared on various network TV shows. Singing with deep feeling and sincerity, with a distinctive vocal quality and emphasis on personality, Miss Hardaway left us a memorable performance in her only album —IT’S TIME FOR ROSE HARDAWAY. She brought her rich, earthy voice to a group of standards and lesser known oldies, revealing herself as a fine, swinging performer, while in ballads, she delivers each lyric with sensitivity and a warm tone that blends beautifully with the orchestra arranged and conducted by her coach, Sammy Lowe.

Ada Lee was born in Springfield, Ohio where she grew in a musical family. Her real “discovery” came in 1960 when George Wein, organizer of —among others— the Newport jazz festival, heard her in Buffalo. He not only booked her for the Buffalo Jazz Festival that year, but he also became her personal manager. A year later she made her debut on record with the album ADA LEE COMES ON!, under the musical direction of the versatile and talented composer-arranger Dick Hyman. The material Ada chose was as moving as her voice and interpretation. Of the sessions, she said, “we sure had a lot of fun. It was like those old time after-hours jam sessions. The musicians enjoyed my letting my hair down.” That much is clear from the spontaneous feeling of this impressive set of recordings that launched Ada Lee’s career off to a beautiful start.