Ottilie patterson biography books

Ottilie showed talent as an artist, and in 1949 began studies in that subject at Belfast College of Technology. It was while a student that she was exposed to 78 rpm records of jazz and blues for the first time and in 1951 she began singing with several local bands, including Jimmy Compton's Jazz Band and The Muskrat Ramblers.

Ottilie kept singing in her spare time after graduation alongside her work as an art teacher and was captivated by the sound of the Chris Barber Jazz Band whose records were coming to prominence at that time. I remember her telling me that that was "the band" and she vowed to spend her summer holiday in 1954 travelling to London to find them. This she did and after hearing them she went to the stage as they were packing-up and began singing with pianist Johnny Parker, who had been appearing on the same programme as the band. One by one they unpacked their instruments once again and joined in. Although she was asked to join immediately, Ottilie had to return home to work out her notice. She joined the Chris Barber Band full-time on 1 January 1955 and her first public appearance was at the Royal Festival Hall on 9 January 1955, this concert also being her first appearance on record with the band.

Between 1955 and 1965 Ottilie appeared and recorded prolifically all over Europe as well as during a 1959 trip to the USA and won herself a permanent and unshakable niche in the affections of the British jazz public by the authenticity and emotional impact of her fabulous blues singing.

Her fascination with the works of William Shakespeare led to her setting some of his texts to music and recording them in 1964, and in the mid-1960s she recorded

Ottilie Patterson is a blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late-1950s and early-1960s. The vocalist Patterson joined in 1954 the Chris Barber band when she was Barber's girlfriend, (they married in 1959). Aided by remarkably consistent personnel, the Barber band was soon one of the UK's leading traditional groups and was well placed to take advantage of the surge of interest in this form of jazz in the late 50s and early 60s. Barber experienced a "freak" hit in the pop charts in 1959 when his arrangement of Sydney Bechet's "Petite Fleur" became a huge hit (No. 3 in the UK).

Anna Ottilie Patterson was born in Comber, County Down, Northern Ireland on January 31, 1932. She was the youngest child of four. Her father, Joseph Patterson, was from Northern Ireland, and her mother, Jūlija Jgers, was from Latvia. Both sides of the family were musical, and Ottilie trained as a classical pianist from the age of eleven, but never received any formal training as a singer.

In 1949 Ottilie went to study art at Belfast College of Technology, where a fellow student introduced her to the music of Bessie Smith, Jelly Roll Morton, and Meade Lux Lewis. In 1951 she began singing with Jimmy Compton's Jazz Band, and in August 1952 she formed the Muskrat Ramblers with Al Watt and Derek Martin.

In the summer of 1954 while holidaying in London Ottilie met Beryl Bryden, who introduced her to the Chris Barber Jazz Band.

She joined the Barber Band full-time on January 1, 1955 and her first public appearance was at the Royal Festival Hall on January 9, 1955. Between 1955 and 1962 Ottilie toured extensively with the Chris Barber Jazz Band and issued many recordings: those featuring her on every track include the EPs Blues(1955), That Patterson Girl(1955), That Patterson Girl Volume 2(1956), Ottilie(1959), and the LP Chris Barber's Blues Book(1961); she also appeared o

Ottilie Patterson (31 January 1932 – 20 June 2011) was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She has been called the godmother of British blues and the greatest of all British blues singers, often surprising audiences with her large soulful voice and instinctive feeling for the genre. 

Born Anna Ottilie Patterson in Comber, County Down, Northern Ireland, on 31 January 1932, she was the youngest child of four. Her father, Joseph Patterson, was from Northern Ireland, and her mother, Jūlija Jēgers, was from Latvia. They met in southern Russia. Ottilie's name is an Anglicised form of the Latvian name "Ottilja". Both sides of the family were musical, and Ottilie trained as a classical pianist from the age of nine, but never received any formal training as a singer.Aged 11, she wowed American troops at the nearby Clandeboye camp with a rendition of 'Boogie woogie bugle boy'. 

After the family moved to Avondale Gardens, Newtownards, County Down, Ottilie was educated locally at the Model Primary School and the Regent House School. She had a talent for drawing, and in 1949 won a scholarship to study art at Belfast Municipal College of Technology, where a fellow student, Derek Martin, introduced her to Bessie Smith, 'Empress of the Blues', Jelly Roll Morton, and Meade Lux Lewis and taught her to play boogie-woogie piano. 

In 1951, she began singing with Jimmy Compton's Jazz Band, and in August 1952 she formed the Muskrat Ramblers with Al Watt and Derek Martin. In the summer of 1954, while holidaying in London, Ottilie met Beryl Bryden, who introduced her to the Chris Barber Jazz Band. She joined the Barber band full-time on 28 December 1954, and her first public appearance was at the Royal Festival Hall on January 9, 1955. 

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Northern Irish singer (1932–2011)

Musical artist

Anna Ottilie Patterson (31 January 1932 – 20 June 2011) was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She has been called the godmother of British blues and the greatest of all British blues singers, often surprising audiences with her large soulful voice and instinctive feeling for the genre.

Biography

Anna Ottilie Patterson was born in Comber, County Down, Northern Ireland on 31 January 1932. She was the youngest child of four. Her father, Joseph Patterson, was from Northern Ireland, and her mother, Jūlija Jēgers, was from Latvia. They had met in Georgia while Joseph was serving in the British army in the Caucasus mountains. They were married in 1919. Ottilie's name is an Anglicised form of the Latvian name "Ottilja". Both sides of the family were musical, and Patterson trained as a classical pianist from the age of eleven. She never received any formal training as a singer but was captivated by the blues from the age of ten.

In 1949, Patterson went to study art at Belfast College of Technology where a fellow student introduced her to the music of Bessie Smith, Jelly Roll Morton and Meade Lux Lewis. In 1951 she began singing with Jimmy Compton's Jazz Band, and in August 1952 she formed the Muskrat Ramblers with Al Watt and Derek Martin. After graduating, she worked