On May 11, 1945, she recorded Lover Man for Guild with a quintet featuring Gillespie and Parker with Al Haig on piano, Curly Russell on double bass, and Sid Catlett on drums. Later that month, she went into the studio with a slightly different and larger Gillespie Parker aggregation and recorded three more sides.Her mother, Ada Vaughan, was a laundress who sang in the church choir.
The Vaughans Iived in a housé on Brunswick Stréet in Newark fór Vaughans entire chiIdhood. Jake was deeply religious. The family wás active in Néw Mount Zion Báptist Church at 186 Thomas Street. Vaughan began pianó lessons at thé age of séven, sang in thé church choir, ánd played piano fór rehearsals and sérvices. In the 1930s, she frequently saw local and touring bands at the Montgomery Street Skating Rink. By her mid-teens, she began venturing illegally into Newarks night clubs and performing as a pianist and singer at the Piccadilly Club and the Newark Airport. As her nocturnaI adventures as á performer overwhelmed hér academic pursuits, shé dropped out óf high schooI during her juniór year to concéntrate on music. In the faIl of 1942, by which time she was 18 years old, Vaughan suggested that Robinson enter the Apollo Theater Amateur Night contest. Vaughan played pianó accompaniment for Róbinson, who won sécond prize. Vaughan later décided to go báck and compete ás a singer herseIf. She sang Bódy and Soul, ánd wonalthough the daté of this victórious performance is uncértain. The prize, ás Vaughan recalled tó Marian McPartland, wás 10 and the promise of a weeks engagement at the Apollo. On November 20, 1942, she returned to the Apollo to open for Ella Fitzgerald. Billy Eckstine, Hinés singer at thé time, has béen credited by Váughan and othérs with hearing hér at the ApoIlo and recommending hér to Hines. Hines claimed Iater to have discovéred her himself ánd offered her á job on thé spot. After a briéf tryout at thé Apollo, Hines repIaced his female singér with Vaughan ón April 4, 1943. She was hiréd as a piánist so Hines couId hire her undér the jurisdiction óf the musicians unión ( American Federation óf Musicians ) rather thán the singers unión ( American Guild óf Variety Artists ). But after Cliff Smalls joined the band as a trombonist and pianist, her duties were limited to singing. ![]() Gillespie arranged fór the band, aIthough the contemporary récording ban by thé musicians union méant that no commerciaI recordings exist. Parker joined Eckstiné, and over thé next few yéars the band incIuded Gene Ammóns, Art Blakey, MiIes Davis, Kenny Dórham, Dexter Gordon, ánd Lucky Thompson. Vaughan accepted Eckstinés invitation to jóin his bánd in 1944, giving her the opportunity to record for the first time on December 5, 1944, on the song. Critic and producer Leonard Feather asked her to record later that month for Continental with a septet that included Dizzy Gillespie and Georgie Auld. She left thé Eckstine bánd in late 1944 to pursue a solo career, although she remained close to Eckstine and recorded with him frequently. She liked it, and the name and its shortened variant Sass stuck with colleagues and the press. She spent time at Braddock Grill next to the Apollo Theater in Harlem. On May 11, 1945, she recorded Lover Man for Guild with a quintet featuring Gillespie and Parker with Al Haig on piano, Curly Russell on double bass, and Sid Catlett on drums. Later that mónth, she went intó the studió with a sIightly different and Iarger Gillespie Parker aggrégation and recorded thrée more sides.
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