Babs Gonzales

About

American jazz singer. Born: October 27, 1919 in Newark, New Jersey. Died: January 23, 1980 in Newark, New Jersey. American be-bop vocalist, poet, and self-published author. His books portrayed the jazz world that many black musicians struggled in, portraying disk jockeys, club owners, liquor, drugs, and racism. Born Lee Brown, he and his two brothers were all nicknamed after a basketball player named Big Babbiad. He studied piano at a young age and learned to play drums. He sang in clubs; wore a turban in Hollywood late '40s, calling himself Ram Singh, passing as an Indian National; worked as chauffeur for Errol Flynn; called himself Ricardo Gonzales (Mexican rather than 'Negro') so as to get a room in a good hotel. He popularized Bop and was a pioneer in the scat vocalese style.

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