happy 80th, ernestine!
happened upon ernestine anderson’s website today, and found that tomorrow is her 80th birthday (born 11 november 1928). talk about a woman who’s nowhere near as famous as her talent indicates. no idea how that happened. was thinking of her today because through an amazon search fluke i heard barbra streisand sing “A Sleepin’ Bee”. “wow”, was my immediate thought; “me like BS BS’s voice long time, but ernestine kicked living hell out of her on that song, no question.” (that’s how i talk to myself.)
weird thing is that i was also thinking of ms. anderson yesterday, and left a comment on a review of her smokin’ beyond smokin’ 1979 set with the ray brown trio, live at the concord jazz festival. tore down the house, and that’s about all you can say on that without being redundant. if there’s a better version anywhere of “Fly Me To The Moon”, put it in a syringe and inject it. clearly, ernestine anderson has astronaut blood in her veins, and i don’t mean the boondoggle kind.
here’s to at least another 40 years, ms. A. thanks for doing what you do; kept me afloat during many hours of programming, driving, and living.