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Biography
Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival (six times over a 33-year span), as well as at jazz festivals all over the world. In the early 1990s she joined Qwest Records, the label of fellow Garfield High School grad Quincy Jones.
Ernestine Anderson (and her twin sister Josephine) were born, in Houston, Texas. By the age of 3, Anderson showed a knack for singing along with her parent’s old blues 78 rpm records by the likes of Bessie “The Empress of the Blues” Smith. Anderson started singing at a local church, singing solos in its gospel choir.
