Ivie Anderson (sometimes Ivy) (January 16, 1904 - September 28, 1949) was a jazz performer and singer, best known as performing with Duke Ellington's band between 1931 and 1942.

Anderson was born in Gilroy, California. With a sweet clear singing voice, she was a popular attraction with Ellington's band. Her performance of Stormy Weather in the short film Bundle of Blues (1933) was eclipsed by the later and far better known version sung by Lena Horne in Horne's movie also entitled Stormy Weather (1943).

She also appeared as a singer in the Marx Brothers movie A Day at the Races (1937) and the same year in Hit Parade of 1937 (as Ivy Anderson).

Other of Anderson's songs that were recorded include It Don’t Mean a Thing , My Old Flame , When My Sugar Walks Down the Street , Mood Indigo and I Got It Bad & That Ain’t Good .

She developed chronic asthma, which forced her to retire in August 1942. She ran a chicken restaurant but continued singing in nightclubs on the west coast, but deteriorating health limited her engagements and led to her untimely death in Los Angeles, California.

External link

• For the Love of Ivie by Nat Hentoff