With her combined singing and acting career stretching over six decades Della
Reese was a household name in her native US. She was born in the historic Black
Bottom district of Detroit, an area named by early French settlers because of
the rich black top soil. The area became more famous in the 20th century due to
an extraordinary amount of successful African American singers and musicians who
came from there and the name Black Bottom became synonymous with blues, big band
and jazz during the 1930s right through to the late '50s.
Reese followed in the footsteps of many other B...