Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 - October 17, 1984), was a celebrated African-American jazz singer, songwriter and nurse. April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ... LeAnn Rimes singing in concert A singer is a type of musician who uses his or her voice as an instrument to produce music. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... A nurse is a health care professional who is engaged in the practice of nursing. ...

Born in Memphis, she left home while still in her early teens and settled in Chicago. There, she peeled potatoes by day and hounded club owners by night, determined to land a singing job. Her persistence paid off, and Alberta began a climb through some of the city's lowest dives to a headlining job at its most elegant night spot, the Dreamland Café. Her career flourished as both singer and writer (her songs include the memorable double-entendre number "(My Man is Such a) Handy Man") in the 1920s and 1930s, and she appeared in clubs and on stage in musicals in both New York and London. She was active as a volunteer during World War II. Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and...

Following the War, her career lost momentum. By the early 1950s, the death of her mother and career frustrations caused Hunter to abandon the music industry. She prudently reduced her age, "invented" a high school diploma, and enrolled in nursing school, embarking on what was apparently a highly fulfilling career in health care. The music industry is the industry that creates, performs, promotes, and preserves music. ...

She was working at New York's Goldwater Memorial Hospital in 1961 when record producer Chris Albertson asked her to break an 11-year absence from the recording studio. The result was her participation (four songs) on a Prestige Bluesville album entitled "Songs We Taught Your Mother." The following month, Albertson recorded her again, this time for the Riverside label, reuniting her with Lil Armstrong and Lovie Austin, with whom she had performed in the 1920s. Ms. Hunter enjoyed these outings, but had no plans to return to singing. She was prepared to devote the rest of her life to to nursing, but the hospital retired her in 1977, when they believed her to have reached retirement age (she was in fact well over 80). Chris Albertson (born Christiern Gunnar Albertson in Reykjavík, Iceland on October 18, 1931) is a New York City-based jazz journalist, writer and record producer. ... Riverside is a name common to a number of cities and counties. ... Lil Hardin Armstrong (February 3, 1898 - August 27, 1971) was a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader, and the second wife of Louis Armstrong with whom she collaborated on many recordings in the 1920s. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ...

In 1978 Alberta Hunter recorded an album entitled "The Amtrak Blues" (at the age of 83) and, bored by inactivity, decided to resume her singing career. She accepted a brief booking at The Cookery, a small Greenwich Village establishment owned by veteran restaurateur Barney Josephson. Her two-week gig proved a smash, people started flocking into The Cookery as never before, and the two weeks stretched into an open-ended engagement that made her a fixture in New York nightlife.

Alberta Hunter became a star all over again. Columbia Records signed her to a contract, she made a memorable appearance on television's To Tell The Truth (in which panelist Kitty Carlisle had to recuse herself, the two having known each other in Hunter's heyday), director Robert Altman commissioned her to write music for a film, "Remember My Name," and concert offers came from Brazil to Berlin. There was an invitation for her to sing at the Carter White House, and she was visited by Jackie Onassis who wanted to sign her up for an autobiography. Columbia Records is the oldest continually used brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888. ... To Tell the Truth is a classic American television game show that has been seen in various forms on and off since 1956. ... Kitty Carlisle in Die Fledermaus, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1933 Kitty Carlisle Hart (b. ...

Alberta Hunter took it all in stride; she toured in Europe and South America, made more television appearances, and continued a recording career that had started on the Black Star label in 1921. Dressed in her trademark fringed shawls and sporting vast dangling earrings, she performed with a combination of sophistication and sly bawdiness (and without a trace of false nostalgia) that charmed audiences, some less than a quarter of her age.

She continued to perform until shortly before her death on October 17, 1984.

Her life and career is depicted in the biographical musical, Cookin' in the Cookery. Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ...