West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, (WMHOF) Class of 2008
Big band singer and jazz vocalist, Ann Baker, was one of the most popular and hardest working musicians of the 1940’s. Her’s was a career that included being “discovered” by Louis Armstrong in Pittsburgh; finding true love, and ultimately a new home, in Charleston, WV while on tour with Count Basie; and having America’s favorite entertainer of the ’40s, tell a national radio audience that his favorite jazz singer was Ann Baker. She married and moved to Charleston in the late 1940’s, and became appropriately known as Charleston’s “first lady of Jazz”. But while West Virginia’s capital city claimed her, in truth, she was a jazz vocalist with an international reputation. Ann Baker sang with some of the giants of 20th century music.
Ann Baker was born (1915) and raised in Washington, PA, about 25 miles from the West Virginia state line. A talented young singer, she knew that to pursue her dream of a career in music, she needed to move to Pittsburgh to find work in one of the many clubs located in the vibrant Hill District neighborhood of the city. This area of Pittsburgh was known as “Little Harlem” from the 1920’s through the 1950’s. It was slow at first, but she found a good day job, and the singing gigs slowly became her primary source of income.
Then it happened. In mid 1941, Louis Armstrong was on a long tour that called for a few nights off in Pittsburgh. When in the Steel City, “Louie” would always go to the Hill District and frequent his favorite club/bar/restaurant, the legendary Crawford Grill. During this visit Armstong saw Ann Baker perform twice in a small Pittsburgh club, and was so impressed he offered her a job. She accepted, and by 1943, Ann Baker was making her Broadway debut, singing in Louis Armstong’s big band. During her time with Armstrong, he always introduced her as “Little ol’ Ann Baker’ ‘. She was never fond of this “Satchmo” endearment, as she was more often described, correctly, as “tall, regal and elegant”. Regardless, the nickname hung around. In 1946, Bob Hope, that “America’s favorite entertainer of the ’40s” I referenced earlier, told an interviewer his favorite jazz singer was “Little ol’ Ann Baker”.
After her time with Armstrong, she joined bands led by Lionel Hampton and Count Basie. It was during her time with Basie that she had a fateful two week gig singing at the El Patio Club, in Charleston, WV. On opening night, spring of 1946, Ann Baker met a customer, who 18 months later, became her husband. She had fallen in love with Charleston restaurateur, and tennis star Delaney “Wags” Wagner.
Also in 1946, she landed her signature gig, replacing Sarah Vaughn in Billy Eckstine’s band. Known as “The Dream Band”, the lineup included at times jazz legends Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Art Blakey, and Dexter Gordon. During her time with Eckstine, Baker was also featured singing “I Cried For You” in the 1946 film Rhythm in a Riff. (See Recommended Listening link).
As big bands went out of vogue toward the end of the 1940’s, Baker retired from the road and she and her husband owned and operated Wag’s Barbecue, a Charleston downtown hot spot. The couple later opened a west side club, The Shalimar, where Baker continued to perform from time to time, sitting in with Errol Garner and Nat King Cole. She inspired a busy Charleston jazz scene, working with local combos like The Earl Tate Trio and The Francis Taylor Trio.
During the 1970’s Baker was a regular on Mountain Stage, and later had a jazz series at the Charleston Multifest named in her honor. She was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
Baker died in August of 1999. She and “Wags” are buried in Charleston.
Ann Baker and Louis Armstrong remained lifelong friends. They would get together whenever he toured through the Mountain State. Once in 1957 he did a few shows in Charleston at the Municipal Auditorium. Ann and Wags were at one of those shows. At one point Armstrong stopped the show, singled out Baker from the stage, and introduced “Little ‘ol Ann Baker” to her new, hometown audience.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING – by the author.
“Someone To Watch Over Me” Lounge Live From Mountain Stage
“I Cried For You”. Ann Baker singing with the Billy Eckstine “Dream Band”. From the movie Rhythm in a Riff. 1946. Jazz singer Ann Baker w/ Billy Eckstine 1946 (youtube.com)
“What’s The Good Word” Louis Armstrong Big Band with Ann Baker vocal 1943.
Miles Davis- The 1946 Earl Coleman/ ANN BAKER Final Takes.
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