May Alix
| May Alix | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Liza Mae Alix |
| Born | August 31, 1902 |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois |
| Died | November 1, 1983 (aged 81) |
| Genres | Jazz, cabaret |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Singer |
Liza Mae "May" Alix (August 31, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois - November 1, 1983) was an American cabaret and jazz vocalist.
She began her career as a singer with the Jimmie Noone band in the clubs of Chicago. Soon she teamed up with Ollie Powers performing as a duo in cabarets. In 1926, she recorded with Louis Armstrong's Hot Five. One of the recordings, "Big Butter and Egg Man," became Armstrong's first chart hit. She collaborated with Jimmie Noone on half a dozen recordings for Vocalion Records (1929–1930). During the 1930s and early 1940s, she performed mainly in New York City.
Confusingly, the jazz singer Alberta Hunter sometimes recorded under the name May Alix, although with the real May Alix's permission. The two singers were friends, and evidently Hunter thought the switch might help out her friend's career, as well as get Hunter out of exclusive recording contracts. In the 1940s "[Alex] was often billed as "The Queen of the Splits," a name that could have originated with the moves she made on-stage, a skill at getting out of clubs quickly when the show was over, or maybe because she was "splitting" the use of her name with Hunter."[1]
References
- Komara, Edward (Ed.) (2006), Encyclopedia of the Blues, Routledge
- May Alix on allmusic.com