'Spirit of the Blues' with Julia Titus, Mike Denham & Steve Graham

Julia Titus is an actress, poet, singer and songwriter. Among her gifts are the voice (and verve!) to put over the songs of the great blues & vaudeville performer of the 1920s, Bessie Smith.

Smith sang about the things her audiences were living and feeling, decades before hip-hop artists rapped about black working-class life.

With lyrics both dark and humorous, Smith and her sister blues-women advanced the revolutionary idea that black women's lives mattered.

The phenomenal Bessie Smith, billed as the "Empress of the Blues", hit the big time a hundred years ago. She recorded many discs with piano and trumpet backing. Here's a chance to hear that combination, with two of the best in the field, Mike Denham and Steve Graham.

Expect to hear classics including 'Careless Love', 'Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out', 'Gimme A Pig Foot (And A Bottle Of Beer)', and of course 'Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight', all delivered with verve and style. The programme will include a few Gospel numbers, another uplifting genre in which the three musicians delight!