Lena Wilson

Lena Wilson (b. c. 1898 in Charlotte, NC, d. c. 1939 in New York City, NY) was a blues singer who performed in the classic female blues style. An African-American, Wilson performed in vaudeville with her brother Danny and his wife, Edith Wilson in the late 1910s and 1920s. Wilson made numerous recordings in the 1920s as a solo artist, for labels such as Black Swan, Paramount, Pathé, Victor, and Vocalion.

Wilson was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was an adopted child. About 1918–1920 she sang with her brother Danny Wilson as a vaudeville act on the Theater Owners Bookers Association circuit in the South. In 1921, they performed in Louisville, Kentucky, on a bill with Edith Goodall, who soon married Danny and joined their act. Danny, a pianist who had been trained at a conservatory in Charleston, South Carolina, encouraged Lena and Edith to sing not just blues but also other song forms. Wilson's major recordings were made between 1922 and 1924 and in 1930. She variously worked with the Nubian Five, Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools, Conaway's Rag Pickers, Fletcher Henderson, Johnny Dunn's Jazz Hounds, Danny Wilson and Edith Wilson. Additionally, she recorded under her own name with the Jazz Hounds, an ensemble featuring Gus Aiken on trumpet, Garvin Bushell on clarinet, Herb Fleming on trombone, John Mitchell on banjo, and Porter Grainger and Cliff Jackson on piano. Among her recordings are "Memphis, Tennessee", "Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do", "Chiropractor Blues", and "Love Ain't Blind No More".

Wilson sang in many Harlem musical revues throughout the 1920s. She married the violinist Shrimp Jones in the 1930s. She remained a regular performer in New York City into the mid-1930s. She died, reportedly of pneumonia, in New York, about 1939. 

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By Ron DePasquale

After touring the vaudeville circuit for four years, Lena Wilson began recording in 1922. For the next two years and in 1930, Wilson recorded with the likes of Perry Bradford's Jazz Phools, Conaway's Rag Pickers, Johnny Dunn's Jazz Hounds, Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, and the Nubian Five. She also recorded as a solo artist with Lena Wilson's Jazz Hounds, which featured trumpet player Gus Aiken, Garvin Bushell on clarinet, Herb Fleming on trombone, and John Mitchell on banjo, along with piano players Porter Grainger and Cliff Jackson. She also performed with her brother Danny Wilson, who married blues singer Edith Wilson, and the act became a trio. Lena Wilson also became a mainstay in New York's black theater scene of the 1920s, appearing in many musical revues. Wilson married violinist Shrimp Jones and continued to perform in New York's clubs until the mid-'30s. She died in 1939.