Emmaline Maultsby was born in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1925, and by age 17 with a head full of song and aspiration, she decided to travel to New York in hopes of becoming a singer. Hitting the Big Apple with obvious talent, she was able to have some success in the clubs, and went on to perform with the bands of Earl Hines, and Count Basie. This experience would explain her distinctive sense of jazz voicing and impeccable timing in her phrasing. Her stage name of Debby Moore was bestowed upon her by none other than Louis Armstrong, who befriended her after appearing on the same bill. With exposure came opportunities which led to a tour of Japan, and a recording contract.

After an initial record that fizzled, in 1959 the determined Debby Moore began to assemble a repertoire of standards, write her own songs, and under the tutelage of arranger Don Donaldson, went into the studio to lay down the tracks that would be My Kind Of Blues, originally on the Top Rank Records label. With an all-star cast of accompanists as legendary trumpet man Harry "Sweets" Edison, versatile pianist Jimmy Jones, Barry Galbraith on understated guitar, and anchored by George Duvivier on bass and the stellar Elvin Jones on drums [...] Moore had a peculiar vocal style in that she often gasped at the end of a lyric, which added a trace of sensuality to her songs. In the context of the era in which this was recorded, these songs were hits, and very much as the norm today, people like to hear songs they are familiar with.

My Kind Of Blues would be Debby Moore's swan song in the music business, as she would eventually return to Florida, and lead a quiet life far away from the wild nightlife of New York City that gave her a brief glimpse at artistic fame. An investigative article in the St. Augustine Record in May 2015, by Kimeko McCoy, reveals that she is now in retirement back in her hometown, and living under her married name of Debbie McDade. This record is her testament in the annals of jazz, and is a swinging session of sweet blues that has withstood the test of time.

James Nadal -All About Jazz