Sweet Emma Barrett

"Sweet Emma" Barrett (March 25, 1897, New Orleans, Louisiana – January 28, 1983)[1] was an American self-taught jazz pianist and singer who worked with the Original Tuxedo Orchestra between 1923 and 1936,[2] first under Papa Celestin, then William Ridgely.

[4] In 1928, when the Celestin's band split, she began intermittently playing music with Bebe Ridgeley's Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra, which continued for the next 10 years.

[citation needed] Despite the popular exposure she received at concerts and overseas appearances, Barrett continued to feel most comfortable in her native New Orleans, especially the French Quarter.

[citation needed] In 1963, on her album The Bell Gal and Her Dixieland Boys Music, Barrett sings on four of the eight songs and heads two overlapping groups.

The ensemble-oriented renditions of numbers such as "Big Butter and Egg Man", "Bogalusa Strut" and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" are rendered with fun and joy.