Dinah Washington
Ruth Jones became Dinah Washington, a pianist-turned-vocalist whose sharp, unsentimental phrasing crossed blues, jazz, R&B, and pop without ever losing its edge. Crowned the 'Queen of the Blues,' she racked up dozens of R&B hits through the late 1940s and '50s before 'What a Diff'rence a Day Makes' carried her into the pop mainstream in 1959. She died young in 1963, but her genre-agnostic artistry left a blueprint for the vocalists who followed.
the sound in question
1959
What a Diff'rence a Day MakesDinah Washington
we haven’t charted Dinah Washington yet
this stretch of the river isn’t mapped. we trace the watershed one artist at a time — and we’re always heading further upstream.