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Eight remarkable tales of the Empress of Blues Scotland’s national poet Jackie Kay made an unlikely friend when she was 12 years old. But this wasn’t someone she sat with at school. In fact, it was a woman she had never met – the legendary blues singer Bessie Smith. Jackie’s first introduction to Bessie came in the form of a record she was gifted by her father. She fell in love with the stories Bessie told through her songs. In Radio 4's Bessie Smith, it’s Jackie’s turn to do the storytelling, as she narrates the tempestuous tales of "the greatest blues singer in the world". Here ...

What was it about Bessie Smith that made such an impression on you? I think she’s simply the best. I think all the blues singers at the time – Clara Smith, Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters – would have acknowledged that she was the queen of the blues; her tempo, her timing, her understanding of the blues. She wrote a lot of her own blues. Ma Rainey taught her a lot of the ropes, but Bessie was technically, and in every which way, better than any of her contemporaries. And I think Bessie’s life captures us. Alas, we all do love a tragic death. We all like to think, ‘What would have happ...

there are currently three unaccounted for. however officials believe they may have been traveling. the f-18 suffered what is called catastrophic mek ck mechanical malfunction. two navy pilots. student and instructor dumped fuel and ejected just before the jet careened into the apartment complex. we have team coverage on the dramatic jet crash tonight. >> we begin at the scene right now, shamari stone is in virginia beach now with more on what happened down there today. >> reporter: people in virginia beach say it is remarkable no one was seriously injured. the navy jet fighter crashe...