Bailey, Mildred

Mildred Bailey Singer Tekoa, Washington, February 27, 1907; Poughkeepsie, New York, December 12, 1951. A warm, jazz-tinged vocalist, Bailey had a big career throughout the 1930s. Her family moved to Spokane, Washington, where, in 1923, she played piano in movie houses. She later was a sheet music demonstrator in a shop, where she was discovered by a nightclub owner. In 1929, she became Paul Whiteman’s first female vocalist. Bailey had her first record success with the band in 1931 on “When It’s…