United States, 39.76, -98.51923Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (center) made an incredible impression before she even began singing, with her thick straightened hair sticking out all over, her huge teeth capped in gold, an ostrich plume in her hand, and a long triple necklace of shining gold coins sparkling against her sequined dress.Photograph of blues singer Ma Rainey with her band. From left to right: Ed Pollack, Albert Wynn, Thomas A. Dorsey, Ma Rainey, Dave Nelson, and Gabriel Washington in 1923. The six musicians stand against a cloth backdrop.Styled as the "Mother of the Blues," Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett Rainey, better known as "Ma" Rainey, was one of the most important of the early blues singers. In her thirty-five years of touring and recordings she made with Paramount, the Georgia native did much to establish the "classic" blues in American musical life.image/jpeghttp://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/gertrude-ma-rainey-1886-1939Forms part of: New Georgia Encyclopediahttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/gertrude-ma-rainey-1886-1939Forms part of: New Georgia EncyclopediaMusicians--United StatesAfrican American musiciansWomen musicians--United StatesAfrican American women musiciansSingers--United StatesWomen singers--United StatesAfrican American singersAfrican American women singersBlues (Music)African Americans--MusicBlues musicians--United StatesDrum--United StatesDrummers--United StatesTrombone--United StatesTrombonists--United StatesTrumpet--United StatesTrumpeters--United StatesPiano--United StatesPianists--United StatesSaxophone--United StatesSaxophonists--United StatesMen--United StatesWomen--United StatesAfrican American menAfrican American womenRainey, Ma, 1886-1939Wynn, Albert, 1907-1973Nelson, Dave, 1905-1946Pollack, EdDorsey, Thomas AndrewGertrude "Ma" RaineyStillImage