Grace Johnston: ‘Dixie’s Duchess of Syncopation’
David McCain
November 30, 2023
Grace Johnston could sing and swing a tune with a drive and delivery that almost transcended description. And she really WAS from Dixie! She was
David W. McCain, a native of New Orleans, parlayed an interest in the female singers of the past into a lifetime of scholarship. He befriended and interviewed Teddy Grace and his fascination with the artistry of the Boswell Sisters prompted him to meet Vet Boswell in 1977. He collaborated with Vet’s granddaughter, Kyla Titus, to publish the sisters’ biography The Boswell Legacy in 2014. A documentary on the Boswell Sisters, Close Harmony, has recently been completed.
Grace Johnston could sing and swing a tune with a drive and delivery that almost transcended description. And she really WAS from Dixie! She was
A beautiful portrait of Mamie Smith graced the entire cover of Leonard Kunstadt’s legendary publication Record Research in January 1964. The portrait by famed Harlem
Supper at Six, a rare short film featuring singing sisters Ethel and Dorothea Ponce, is set to be screened for the first time since its
