A singer who performed with Duke Ellington in both the '40s and '50s, Betty Roché was famous for her strong, dramatic way of putting across blues material, a talent that not every vocalist with this big band had. Ellington, who was sometimes prone to hire vocalists with stilted, nearly classical delivery, described Roché with typical grace: "She had a soul inflection in a bop state of intrigue and every word was understandable despite the sophisticated hip and jive connotations." She was born Mary Elizabeth Roché and began her career by triumphing at an amateur contest at the ~Apollo Theater in Harlem. In 1941, she sang with the Savoy Sultans, then joined Ellington two years later.
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