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LISTEN: This butch 1920s blues singer had the Harlem Renaissance in the palm of her hands
She sang, she played the keys, and she rocked a suit like the best of them. Whatever Gladys Bentley did, she did with absolute aplomb.
She knew from a young age that she ran a bit on the butch side; by nine years old, she was already walking around in her brother’s suits.
That personal style had only been amplified by the time she was ready to hit the stage in her 20s, as she began to take the New York gay speakeasy scene by storm with her blues piano and vocals.
Bentley found herself playing through a full underground club circuit, sharply dressed and crooning out raunchy twists on popular songs to get the ladies in the audience swooning.
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