(January 22nd 1895 - October 31st 1977)

Born in St. Louis, Missouri in January 1895, Irene Joy Gibbons began touring with different shows and theater troupes when she was only three. Irene had already visited Europe, New Zealand, and Australia by the time she reached her teens. She toured extensively with a vaudeville act called "Josephine Gassman and Her Pickaninnies" before permanently relocating to New York in 1920. Once there she established herself as a top performer in Harlem nightclubs and in 1921 married jazz pianist and Okeh Records' producer Clarence Williams. Starting out performing as newlyweds the couple would continue to appear together on record and radio through the 1930's. In 1922 under her adopted stage name Eva Taylor and billed as "The Dixie Nightingale", Irene made her debut recording for the African-American owned Black Swan label. Eva went on to have a prosperous recording career which included releases by "Clarence Williams' Blue Five" a band at times featuring Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet.