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Dinah Washington

Singer and pianist Dinah Washington was one of the great voices of jazz in the 1950s. Born Ruth Lee Jones in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on August 29, 1924, she grew up in Chicago and learned to play the piano in church, where she also sang in the choir. After winning an amateur competition at the Regal Theater, she performed in clubs and was noticed by Joe Glaser, who recommended her to Lionel Hampton. She became Dinah Washington when he hired her from 1943 to 1946, singing "Evil Gal Blues" for the Keynote label. This success launched her career as a performer of R&B, blues and jazz, w...