THE great blues singer Bessie Smith will be celebrated in a narrated music show at Dorchester Corn Exchange.

Ma Bessie and her Blues Troupe comes to the theatre on Saturday, January 27 at 7.30pm.

In this show, Bessie Smith (played by Julia Titus) and her band, will perform alongside narration. It features authentic music from the era, including many of Bessie’s songs and nationally acclaimed musicians.

This evening of music and story promises to be an absolute treat for all music lovers with Bessie’s Blues troupe made up from internationally acclaimed drummer, Sam Kelly with Paul Jobson on keyboards, Tony Qunta on guitar, Richard Sadler on upright bass, with a special horn section.

Bessie Smith (1894 – 1937) was an American blues singer. Known as the Empress of the Blues, she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s and is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on other jazz singer.

The production chronicles her life from a one-room shack in Blue Goose Hollow, through to becoming the highest-paid black entertainer of that time, to the tragic accident on Route 61 in September 1937 which resulted in her untimely death aged 43 years.

*Ma Bessie and her Blues Troupe, Dorchester Corn Exchange, Saturday January 27. Call the box office for tickets and more information.