Laura Washington at Grundy's Music Room

Birmingham-born Laura Washington joined the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra as a teenager in 1946, scoring a hit that year for the band with her performance of Joe Liggins’ “I’ve Got a Right to Cry.” (The Hawkins/Washington cover reached #2 on the Billboard “race” charts and #17 in its year-end ranking for 1946.) Washington returned to Birmingham in the 1950s and did not perform publicly again until the early 1980s, when she became a weekend regular at the local Grundy’s Music Room, where this recording was made. Of particular note in this recording is her performance of Erskine Hawkins’ s 1939 hit, “Tuxedo Junction,” named for the once-popular Birmingham area nightspot; the local anthem was co-written by Washington’s husband, saxophonist Julian Dash and other members of the Hawkins band. A bandmember (perhaps venue owner and musician Jerry Grundhofer) jokes, as introduction: “Here’s a tune that Laura learned … yesterday?”

Songlist:

Cry Me a River
Sweet Georgia Brown
Tuxedo Junction
Stormy Monday
Bye Bye Blackbird
What a Difference a Day Makes
Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey
Don't Take Your Love From Me
Blues March (band only)