Edythe Baker

Edythe Baker (August 25, 1899–August 15, 1971) was an American pianist and dancer.

Early life Baker was born in Girard, Kansas. Her parents divorced around 1905, and Edith moved to Kansas City, Missouri with her mother. From ages 8 to 14, Baker was educated at St. Mary's Convent in Independence, Missouri, receiving piano and voice lessons.

There are varying accounts of her musical development during her early teenage years. One describes her work at Nowlin Music Co. in Kansas City as a musician and saleswoman. Another account claims she received lessons from the performer Ernie Burnett. She supposedly also regularly visited the Orpheum Theatre in Kansas City, where she listened to different piano styles. Allegedly, she could support her mother and brother by age 15, playing ragtime piano in small cabarets. Her "peculiar style" along with her good looks made her "a favorite among cabaret regulars."

Professional career In September 1919, "Edythe Baker" was billed with Willie Smith in a Vaudeville act in Fall River, MA.

One observer noted that Baker practiced five or six hours daily and "developed a system of playing that was entirely her own. She was one of the first pianists to 'play against time' to achieve that 'heartbreak rhythm.'"

Just a month later, Baker is noted as having signed a two-year contract with Aeolian Records to make player piano rolls. "After leaving here [Kansas City, MO] two years ago" Baker "has been headlining on the Keith circuit as a pianist and composer... she will be featured in theaters in New York and vicinity by the Aeolian company." She is described as 19 years old.

Aeolian extolled her as "the foremost ragtime pianist of vaudeville" and claimed that "Miss Baker's conception of the various kind of 'Blues' so much in vogue at present is considered the most unique of its kind. Her playing is both snappy and artistic, while her charming personality is apparent in everything she interprets".

Personal life In 1928, Baker married a scion from a wealthy banking family Gerard d'Erlanger and became a fixture in London high society, allegedly teaching the Prince of Wales how to dance the popular dance known as the Black Bottom. She and her husband divorced in 1934.

Baker returned to the United States in August 1945. She married Girard S. Brewer in Orange, California, on December 2, 1961. The couple resided there through the time of Baker's death in 1971.