This was a wonderful article Bella.

I must say though that I am rather dissapointed at times that when most people think of Josephine Baker they think of the cute little woman in the banana skirt dancing her heart out, rather than the magnificent ‘Grand diva magnifique’ she became in her later years. This is no disrespect to who Josephine was as a performer in the 1920s and 30s, but from a purely artistic stance, she was somethign completely different by the 1950s.

The average person isnt as familiar with the Josephine Baker of the 1950s on through to the 1970s. By the time she reached her 40s, her singing voice evolved from being a little lithe and sometimes even shrill (a voice typical of female simngers from the 1920s and 30s) into something incredibly opulent, rich, and expressive, with impeccable control and range, capable of all sorts of virtuoso vocals. On top of that her image and style of performing transformed – she became a Diva. That word is tossed around way to much these days, but she really was a DIVA. Diana Ross worshipped(s) Josephine, so did (does) Shirley Bassey, Whitney Houston, and on and on. La Baker was an incredible singer and performer. If anyone has been lucky enough to have seen any footage of her performing live in the 50s or 60s it is often overwhelming, and this is when she was really in her prime as an artist (why there are no DVDs of her performing in these years, I dont know – It would definately teach people today what true ‘DIVA-NESS’ is). She would come on stage dressed in a glittering gown that accentuated her statuesque figure, all topped off with a magnificent head-dress (she was well known back then for her head-gear). And then she would begin singing her wonderful hymns to Paris in french, with colorful accompanyment from the orchestra, usually classically arranged or heavily influenced by samba or exotica. Usually the show would start off with the song “Avec”, my favorite. For those who would like to hear her in her prime, there are two albums on disc which I reccomend – “The Fabulous Josephine Baker” (which has a wonderful cover photo that wonderfully embodies the Josephine Baker of the 1950s-1970s), and “En La Habana”, which was recorded in Cuba when Fidel Castro invited her to perform in Havana in 1966. There are a few others which were released onto LP that have not made it onto CD as of yet – her show at Carnegie Hall from 1973 or her live show as the Tivoli in Copenhagen. I encourage everyone to discover the Josephine Baker of these years.

Hey Bella – perhaps you should ask Jean Claude why there are no live performance films avialable commercially of her!

Josephine Baker *sigh* I wish I could have met her she sounds like such an amazing lady!