Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

3. Buffet Flats

Episode 3 of 5

Blues singer Bessie attacks her lover Ruby in a jealous rage and ends up in jail. Written and read by Jackie Kay.

After the end of her marriage, Bessie continued to have relationships with both sexes - It wasn't just the jazz that could 'swing'.

But unfortunately, one love triangle ended in violence and jail ...

Poet Jackie Kay charts the rise and fall of Bessie Smith as she brings to life the dramatic story of the greatest blues singer who ever lived.

Mixing biography, fiction, music and memoir, Jackie remembers the electric thrill of identification when, as a young black girl growing up in Glasgow, she was first gifted the music of the Empress.

Abridged by Rosemary Goring

Read by Jackie Kay

From 2016 to 2021, Jackie Kay was the Makar - Scotland's poet laureate.

Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2021.

14 minutes

Last on

Thu 21 Nov 202403:30
BBC Radio 4 Extra

More episodes

Previous

2. Ma Rainey

Next

4. Richly Talented

See all episodes from Bessie Smith by Jackie Kay

Broadcasts

  • Wed 24 Feb 202109:45
    BBC Radio 4 FM
  • Thu 25 Feb 202100:30
    BBC Radio 4
  • Wed 20 Nov 202408:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Wed 20 Nov 202413:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Wed 20 Nov 202419:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Thu 21 Nov 202403:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra

Eight remarkable tales of the Empress of Blues

Eight remarkable tales of the Empress of Blues

Jackie Kay narrates the life story of the troubled blues singer, Bessie Smith.