Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Bertha “Chippie” Hill was born on March 15, 1905 in Charleston, South Carolina, one of sixteen children. Her family moved to New York City in 1915 and she began her musical career working as a dancer in Harlem. By the time she turned 14 in 1919 she was working with Ethel Waters and while working a t stint at then popular nightclub Leroy’s, was given her nickname Chippie because of her young age.

Chippie performed with Ma Rainey as part of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels before establishing her own song and dance act and touring on the TOBA (Theater Owners Booking Association) circuit in the early 1920s. Settling in Chicago around 1925 she worked at various venues with King Oliver’s Jazz Band, first recorded with Okey Records and was backed by Louis Armstrong and pianist Richard M. Jones. She also recorded a vocal duet in 1927 with Lonnie Johnson, another duet in 1928 with Tampa Red in 1928. Over the course of four years from 1925 to 1929 she recorded twenty-three titles.

In the 1930s she retired from singing to raise her seven children, however in 1946 Bertha Hill staged a comeback in 1946 with Lovie Austin’s Blues Serenaders, recorded for Rudi Blesh’s Circle label and began appearing on radio, in clubs and concerts in New York, including the 1948 Carnegie Hall concert with Kid Ory. She sang at the Paris Jazz Festival, and worked with Art Hodes in Chicago.

Bertha “Chippie” Hill returned to New York City in 1950 and was tragically run over by a car and killed on May 7, 1950 at the age of 45.

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