Othella Dallas at the HSG

9 November 2009. “I Live the Life I Love” is the title of Othella Dallas’s new album. Anyone who has experienced a concert of the charismatic frontwoman and her band will not doubt the veracity of such words, which do not only characterize this particular artist’s music but also her attitude to life. Whenever Othella Dallas walks onto the stage, she only takes a few instants to enthral the audience with her strong soul voice and irresistible charm.

"Little girl from Memphis"
The 84-year-old jazz lady, who has over 70 years’ stage experience, still possesses an exuberant energy and joie de vivre. Maybe this is why, with a twinkle in her eye, she sometimes likes to call herself the “little girl from Memphis”.

Othella Dallas soon discovered her dancing talent and trained as a dancer and dance teacher in New York. The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York City, became the springboard for her international dancing career. In the mid-1940s, Othella Dallas met a Swiss national, Peter Wydler, to whom she got married two years later. Through him, she gained access to the world of jazz, and she trained as a singer.

Concerts with Edith Piaf or Nat King Cole
Soon after, Othella Dallas was touring Europe, Russia and the USA and established herself as a celebrity of the international jazz scene. She performed with stars such as Sammy Davis Jr., King Curtis, Edith Piaf and Nat King Cole. Duke Ellington wrote some songs for her.