| Biography | Billy Banks was an American jazz singer. Banks is most prominently remembered for being a successful female impersonator on record.
Banks recorded in 1932 with the Rhythmakers; an all-star, multi-racial jazz lineup made up of Red Allen on trumpet, Pee Wee Russell on clarinet, Tommy Dorsey on trombone, Joe Sullivan on piano, Zutty Singleton on drums, and Fats Waller, also on piano; most of the black musicians were from Luis Russell's retinue, while the white ones had been brought to the studio by producer Irving Mills. The vocals were once thought to have been performed by Una Mae Carlisle, but Banks is the actual vocalist. |