Tiny Davis

Tiny Davis
Birth name	Ernestine Carroll
Born	c. 1910 Memphis, Tennessee
Died	January 30, 1994 Chicago, Illinois

Ernestine Carroll, better known as Tiny Davis (born 1909 or 1910 – January 30, 1994) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist.

Carroll was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and picked up trumpet at age thirteen while a student at Booker T. Washington High School. She moved to Kansas City in the 1930s and joined the Harlem Play-Girls in 1935, playing with the group until late 1936 (when she left the group to give birth). She became a member of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm early in the 1940s, playing with the group until 1947 (including on USO tours during World War II and in the film How About That Jive). She then formed her own band from erstwhile members of a group called the Prairie Co-Eds, which she called the Hell Divers. In 1950, Tiny Davis and Her Hell Divers performed at the sixth famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on June 25. Also featured on the same day were Lionel Hampton, PeeWee Crayton's Orchestra, Roy Milton and his Orchestra, Dinah Washington, and other artists. 16,000 were reported to be in attendance. Tiny Davis and Her Hell Divers ensemble recorded for Decca Records and toured through 1952, including in the Caribbean and Central America. Among her sidewomen was bassist Ruby Lucas, who became Davis's lover; they opened a club, Tiny and Ruby's Gay Spot, in Chicago, near the end of the decade. She was active in performance into the 1980s, and died in Chicago.

Discography

• Decca 48122 "DRAGGIN' MY HEART AROUND" (matrix #75440) // "I NEVER GET TIRED DOIN' IT" (75453) [released 12/1949]
• Decca 48220 "RACE HORSE" (75438) // "BUG JUICE" (75454) [released 1950]
• Decca 48246 "HOW ABOUT THAT JIVE" (75439) // "LAURA" (75455) [released 1951] note: all 6 tracks recorded 10/24/1949 (#75438/75439/75440) and 10/27/1949 (#75453/75454/75455).