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{{short description|American jazz trumpeter and vocalist (1909-1994)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Tiny Davis
| name = Tiny Davis
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Ernestine Carroll
| birth_name = Ernestine Carroll
| birth_date = {{Birth date |1909|08|05}}
| birth_date = [[circa|c.]] 1910
| birth_place = [[Memphis, Tennessee]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age |1994|01|30|1909|08|05}}
| birth_place = Memphis, Tennessee
| death_date = January 30, 1994
| death_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois
}}
}}


'''Ernestine Carroll''', better known as '''Tiny Davis''' (born 1909 or 1910 &ndash; January 30, 1994)<ref>"Her application for social security (filed in 1941) gives a birth year of 1910, but other sources, including a film interview, give 1909." Howard Rye, "Tiny Davis". ''[[The New Grove|The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz]]''. 2nd edition, ed. [[Barry Kernfeld]], 2004.</ref> was an American [[jazz]] trumpeter and vocalist.
'''Ernestine Carroll Davis''', (August 5, 1909 - January 30, 1994)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |quote=Her application for social security (filed in 1941) gives a birth year of 1910, but other sources, including a film interview, give 1909. |first=Howard |last=Rye |title=Tiny Davis |encyclopedia=[[The New Grove|The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz]] |edition=2nd |editor=[[Barry Kernfeld]] |year=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |people=Tiny Davis |date=1988 |title=Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin' Women |type=DVD |language=en |url= |time=2:10 |location=New York |publisher=Jezebel Productions |via=Kanopy |oclc=123905581|quote=I was born in Memphis Tennessee, August 5, 1909}}</ref> better known as '''Tiny Davis''', was an American [[jazz]] [[trumpet]]er and vocalist.


==Early life and education==
Carroll was born in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], and picked up trumpet at age thirteen while a student at [[Booker T. Washington High School (Memphis, Tennessee)|Booker T. Washington High School]]. She moved to [[Kansas City]] in the 1930s and joined the [[Harlem Play-Girls]] in 1935, playing with the group until late 1936 (when she left the group to give birth). She became a member of the [[International Sweethearts of Rhythm]] early in the 1940s, playing with the group until 1947 (including on [[USO]] tours during [[World War II]] and in the film ''How About That Jive''). She then formed her own band from erstwhile members of a group called the Prairie Co-Eds, which she called the Hell Divers. This ensemble recorded for [[Decca Records]] and toured through 1952, including in the Caribbean and Central America. Among her sidewomen was bassist Ruby Lucas, who became Davis's lover; they opened a club, Tiny and Ruby's Gay Spot, in Chicago, near the end of the decade. She was active in performance into the 1980s, and died in Chicago.
Carroll was born in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref name= Fascinating>{{cite news |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |title=Fascinating Women |first=Ted |last=Scheinman |page=20 |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |date=January–February 2021}}</ref> Born to George and Leanna (née White) Carroll, she was the youngest of seven children: four sisters and two brothers.<ref name=":0" />

She began playing trumpet at age thirteen while a student at [[Booker T. Washington High School (Memphis, Tennessee)|Booker T. Washington High School]].

==Career==
She moved to [[Kansas City]] in the 1930s and joined the [[Harlem Play-Girls]] in 1935, playing with the group until late 1936, when she left the group to give birth.

In 1937, the Piney Woods Country Life School of Mississippi founded the 16-piece band known as [[International Sweethearts of Rhythm|The International Sweethearts of Rhythm]]. The purpose of the band was to financially support the school, which educated the poor and orphaned Black children in that state. But in 1941, the Sweethearts severed their ties with the Piney Woods Country Life School, moved to Virginia, and recruited seasoned professionals to join their band. This is when Ernestine "Tiny" Davis joined. The Sweethearts were unique for the time as all-female and racially integrated group, featuring Latina, Asian, Caucasian, Black, Native American and Puerto Rican players.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=A Woman with serious swing, Ernestine Davis |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/a-woman-with-serious-swing-ernestine-davis/ |website=AAregistry.org}}</ref>

Tiny played and toured with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm until 1947, including on [[USO]] tours during [[World War II]] and in the film ''How About That Jive''. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm also played [[the Apollo Theater]] in New York City, the Regal Theater in Chicago, and the Howard Theater in Washington, DC, where their debut set a box office record of 35,000 patrons in one week.<ref name=":0" /> In the 40s, [[Louis Armstrong]] and [[Cab Calloway]], among others, came and stood in the wings to listen to her. Later, her all-female band played opposite Armstrong and [[Fletcher Henderson]] and jammed with many jazz greats. "I could have played with [[Count Basie]], Cab Calloway—the greatest," Tiny said. "But I loved them gals too much. They were some sweet gals."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hamlish Levinsohn |first=Florence |date=October 6, 1988 |title=Reel Life: Tiny and Ruby and how they played |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/reel-life-tiny-and-ruby-and-how-they-played/Content?oid=872851 |work=[[Chicago Reader]] |access-date=December 30, 2020}}</ref>

After the Sweethearts disbanded in 1949, she formed her own all-female band from some erstwhile members of the [[Prairie View Co-eds]], which she called the Hell Divers. On June 25, 1950, Tiny Davis and Her Hell Divers performed at the sixth famed [[Cavalcade of Jazz]] concert held at [[Wrigley Field (Los Angeles)|Wrigley Field]] in Los Angeles which was produced by [[Leon Hefflin, Sr.]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Identity & Affirmation: Post War African American Photography |last1=Kirkton |first1=Kent |last2=Willis |first2=Deborah |publisher=Institute for Arts & Media, California State University |year=2011 |location=Northridge, California |page=19 |oclc=767736688}}</ref> Also featured on the same day were [[Lionel Hampton]], [[Pee Wee Crayton|PeeWee Crayton's]] Orchestra, [[Roy Milton]] and his Orchestra, [[Dinah Washington]], and other artists. 16,000 were reported to be in attendance. Tiny Davis and her Hell Divers ensemble recorded for [[Decca Records]] and toured through 1952, including in the Caribbean and Central America.

Tiny Davis was active in performance into the 1980s.

==Filmography==
Davis was featured in two [[Independent film|independent]] short [[documentary film]]s produced and directed by [[Greta Schiller]] and [[Andrea Weiss (filmmaker)|Andrea Weiss]]. ''[[International Sweethearts of Rhythm (film)|International Sweethearts of Rhythm: America's Hottest All-Girl Band]]'' (1986) presented a history of the first [[Racial integration|racially integrated]] [[All-female band|all-female jazz band]] in the United States.<ref name="Sher">{{cite journal |last=Sher |first=Liz |date=Spring 1987 |title=The International Sweethearts of Rhythm |journal=Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=59–60 |issn=0741-8639}}</ref> Davis was one of six surviving band members interviewed in the film.

In 1988, she was the co-featured artist in the documentary ''Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin' Women'' that focused primarily on Davis' career after leaving the Sweethearts, as well as her 40+-year relationship with Ruby Lucas. ''Tiny & Ruby'' had its premiere at the 1988 [[Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival|Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival]], with Chicago residents Davis and Lucas in attendance.<ref name="Smith">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Patricia |date=October 2, 1988 |title='Tiny & Ruby' relives era of hot jazz and fast living |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |location=Chicago |page=Show section, 8}}</ref>

==Personal life==
As a young woman, she married Clarence Davis, and they had a son and two daughters.<ref name=":0" />

Later, bassist Ruby Lucas became Davis's [[life partner]]. Lucas was among the musicians in Davis' Hell Divers group. Davis and Lucas opened a club in Chicago, Tiny and Ruby's Gay Spot, in the late 1940s, which they ran through the 1950s. The couple were together over 40 years, until Tiny's death in Chicago on January 30, 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tiny Davis |url=https://jazzwomenarchives.wordpress.com/2019/01/16/tiny-davis/ |website=Jazz Women Archives|date=January 16, 2019 }}</ref>

==Discography==
* Decca 48122 "DRAGGIN' MY HEART AROUND" (matrix #75440) // "I NEVER GET TIRED DOIN' IT" (75453) [released 12/1949]
* Decca 48220 "RACE HORSE" (75438) // "BUG JUICE" (75454) [released 1950]
* Decca 48246 "HOW ABOUT THAT JIVE" (75439) // "LAURA" (75455) [released 1951] note: all 6 tracks recorded 10/24/1949 (#75438/75439/75440) and 10/27/1949 (#75453/75454/75455).


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
⚫
{{authority control}}
*[https://jezebelproductions.org/tiny-ruby-hell-divin-women/ Official website for ''Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin' Women'']
*[https://jezebelproductions.org/international-sweethearts-of-rhythm/ Official website for ''International Sweethearts of Rhythm'' documentary]
*{{AllMusic|id=mn0000929214|title=Tiny Davis}}
*{{Discogs artist}}
*[https://womenshistory.si.edu/spotlight/international-sweethearts-of-rhythm International Sweethearts of Rhythm Collection Spotlight, Because of Her Story, Smithsonian Institution]

⚫
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Tiny}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Tiny}}
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[[Category:American jazz saxophonists]]
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[[Category:American jazz singers]]
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[[Category:American female singers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Tennessee]]
[[Category:Musicians from Tennessee]]
[[Category:LGBT African Americans]]
[[Category:African-American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:African-American female singers]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women singers]]
[[Category:LGBT musicians from the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:LGBT people from Tennessee]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:African-American musicians]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ musicians]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Tennessee]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:International Sweethearts of Rhythm members]]
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[[Category:American jazz trumpeters]]
[[Category:American women jazz musicians]]
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[[Category:American women jazz singers]]
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[[Category:American jazz singers]]
[[Category:Women trumpeters]]
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]

Latest revision as of 20:14, 24 September 2024

Tiny Davis
Birth nameErnestine Carroll
Born(1909-08-05)August 5, 1909
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedJanuary 30, 1994(1994-01-30) (aged 84)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Ernestine Carroll Davis, (August 5, 1909 - January 30, 1994)[1][2] better known as Tiny Davis, was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist.

Early life and education

[edit]

Carroll was born in Memphis, Tennessee.[3] Born to George and Leanna (née White) Carroll, she was the youngest of seven children: four sisters and two brothers.[4]

She began playing trumpet at age thirteen while a student at Booker T. Washington High School.

Career

[edit]

She moved to Kansas City in the 1930s and joined the Harlem Play-Girls in 1935, playing with the group until late 1936, when she left the group to give birth.

In 1937, the Piney Woods Country Life School of Mississippi founded the 16-piece band known as The International Sweethearts of Rhythm. The purpose of the band was to financially support the school, which educated the poor and orphaned Black children in that state. But in 1941, the Sweethearts severed their ties with the Piney Woods Country Life School, moved to Virginia, and recruited seasoned professionals to join their band. This is when Ernestine "Tiny" Davis joined. The Sweethearts were unique for the time as all-female and racially integrated group, featuring Latina, Asian, Caucasian, Black, Native American and Puerto Rican players.[4]

Tiny played and toured with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm until 1947, including on USO tours during World War II and in the film How About That Jive. The International Sweethearts of Rhythm also played the Apollo Theater in New York City, the Regal Theater in Chicago, and the Howard Theater in Washington, DC, where their debut set a box office record of 35,000 patrons in one week.[4] In the 40s, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway, among others, came and stood in the wings to listen to her. Later, her all-female band played opposite Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson and jammed with many jazz greats. "I could have played with Count Basie, Cab Calloway—the greatest," Tiny said. "But I loved them gals too much. They were some sweet gals."[5]

After the Sweethearts disbanded in 1949, she formed her own all-female band from some erstwhile members of the Prairie View Co-eds, which she called the Hell Divers. On June 25, 1950, Tiny Davis and Her Hell Divers performed at the sixth famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr.[6] Also featured on the same day were Lionel Hampton, PeeWee Crayton's Orchestra, Roy Milton and his Orchestra, Dinah Washington, and other artists. 16,000 were reported to be in attendance. Tiny Davis and her Hell Divers ensemble recorded for Decca Records and toured through 1952, including in the Caribbean and Central America.

Tiny Davis was active in performance into the 1980s.

Filmography

[edit]

Davis was featured in two independent short documentary films produced and directed by Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss. International Sweethearts of Rhythm: America's Hottest All-Girl Band (1986) presented a history of the first racially integrated all-female jazz band in the United States.[7] Davis was one of six surviving band members interviewed in the film.

In 1988, she was the co-featured artist in the documentary Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin' Women that focused primarily on Davis' career after leaving the Sweethearts, as well as her 40+-year relationship with Ruby Lucas. Tiny & Ruby had its premiere at the 1988 Chicago Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival, with Chicago residents Davis and Lucas in attendance.[8]

Personal life

[edit]

As a young woman, she married Clarence Davis, and they had a son and two daughters.[4]

Later, bassist Ruby Lucas became Davis's life partner. Lucas was among the musicians in Davis' Hell Divers group. Davis and Lucas opened a club in Chicago, Tiny and Ruby's Gay Spot, in the late 1940s, which they ran through the 1950s. The couple were together over 40 years, until Tiny's death in Chicago on January 30, 1994.[9]

Discography

[edit]
  • Decca 48122 "DRAGGIN' MY HEART AROUND" (matrix #75440) // "I NEVER GET TIRED DOIN' IT" (75453) [released 12/1949]
  • Decca 48220 "RACE HORSE" (75438) // "BUG JUICE" (75454) [released 1950]
  • Decca 48246 "HOW ABOUT THAT JIVE" (75439) // "LAURA" (75455) [released 1951] note: all 6 tracks recorded 10/24/1949 (#75438/75439/75440) and 10/27/1949 (#75453/75454/75455).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Rye, Howard (2004). "Tiny Davis". In Barry Kernfeld (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (2nd ed.). Her application for social security (filed in 1941) gives a birth year of 1910, but other sources, including a film interview, give 1909.
  2. ^ Tiny Davis (1988). Tiny & Ruby: Hell Divin' Women (DVD). New York: Jezebel Productions. Event occurs at 2:10. OCLC 123905581 – via Kanopy. I was born in Memphis Tennessee, August 5, 1909
  3. ^ Scheinman, Ted (January–February 2021). "Fascinating Women". Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institution. p. 20.
  4. ^ a b c d "A Woman with serious swing, Ernestine Davis". AAregistry.org.
  5. ^ Hamlish Levinsohn, Florence (October 6, 1988). "Reel Life: Tiny and Ruby and how they played". Chicago Reader. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  6. ^ Kirkton, Kent; Willis, Deborah (2011). Identity & Affirmation: Post War African American Photography. Northridge, California: Institute for Arts & Media, California State University. p. 19. OCLC 767736688.
  7. ^ Sher, Liz (Spring 1987). "The International Sweethearts of Rhythm". Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women. 4 (1): 59–60. ISSN 0741-8639.
  8. ^ Smith, Patricia (October 2, 1988). "'Tiny & Ruby' relives era of hot jazz and fast living". Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago. p. Show section, 8.
  9. ^ "Tiny Davis". Jazz Women Archives. January 16, 2019.
[edit]
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