My Ten Female Musicians/Composers
1. Valaida Snow (trumpeter)
It was
natural for Valaida Snow to be an entertainer: at the young age of fifteen, she
was already a recognized professional singer and trumpet player. While
Valaida Snow's beauty attracted audiences, it was her incredible talent as a
jazz trumpeter which truly captivated them. She obtained the nickname,
"Little Louis" due to her Louis Armstrong-like playing style. Valaida
toured and recorded frequently in the United States, Europe and the Far East
both with her own bands and other leaders' bands.
2. Dolly Jones (trumpeter)
Trumpeter
Dolly Jones, later known as Dolly Hutchinson, was one of the earliest jazz
women to record.
3. Melba Liston (trombonist)
It
was her talents as a composer and arranger that distinguished her, rather than
her work as an instrumentalist. She wrote scores for innumerable big bands
including those of Quincy Jones, Count Basic, Duke Ellington and Dizzy
Gillespie. By the time she was eight, Liston was good enough to play solo
trombone on the local radio. Her mother had found a trombone teacher for her.
"He wasn't right. I don't know how, but I knew. So I said no, cancelled,
and went on my own. I was always good in my ears, so I could play by ear.
4. Vi Redd (saxophonist)
Vi
Redd, although greatly under-recorded throughout her career, was a passionate
bop-based altoist and an exciting singer. The daughter of drummer Alton Redd,
Vi was surrounded by music while growing up. She played locally, working
outside of music for the board of education during 1957-1960 before returning
to jazz. Redd played in Las Vegas in 1962, was with Earl Hines in 1964, and led
a group in San Francisco in the mid-'60s with her husband, drummer Richie
Goldberg. Among her other associations were Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie (1968),
and Count Basie. In 1969 Vi Redd settled in Los Angeles where she gigged
locally on an occasional basis while being busy as an educator.
5. Paula Hampton (drummer)
This
Drummer/Vocalist is a rarity in the field of jazz. But then, Paula Hampton is
the heir to a rare musical heritage. Ms. Hampton’s illustrious career began at
a very early age, when she performed at the famous Cotton Club in Indianapolis,
Indiana with her uncles’ band. Known as “The Hampton Family Band,” their
extensive national tour culminated in a classic ‘battle of the bands’ pitting
them against another famous Hampton -- her uncle, the late Lionel Hampton. Ms.
Hampton is proof that talent runs in families, hers having a show business
history dating as far back as the days of “Black Vaudeville” to present day.
6. Celia Cruz (vocalist)
For
more than half a century, the Queen
of Salsa carried her title with class and distinction. Her powerful
voice and electrifying rhythm garnered more than 100 worldwide recognitions,
multiple platinum and gold records, three GRAMMY® awards and four Latin GRAMMY®
awards, as well as a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Her boundless
enthusiasm, genuine warmth, and deep-seated humanitarianism made Celia Cruz the
music industry’s most accomplished and revered performer … and the world's most
notable ambassador of Hispanic culture.
7. MC Sha Rock (Sharon Green, first female
rapper/mc)
Her
career began in 1976 as a b-girl (break dancer) in the Bronx, New York. In
1977, she became the first female emcee to join an all male hip-hop group. The
Funky 4 + 1 More was the first organized/synchronized group to change the way
rap was perfected. MC Sha-Rock became the first female Pioneer MC to set the
standards for females to follow. She is credited with being the First Female
Pioneer to go full circle in a MC rhyming battle. She was responsible for
introducing the Hip Hop/rap culture to various nationalities and countries
throughout the world.
8. Caterina Assandra
Was an
Italian composer and Benedictine nun. She was born in Pavia. She wrote a number
of motets, whose text she may have written, as well as a number of organ
pieces, written in German tablature. Her works were among the first to be
written in the Roman style in Milan. She was taught by Benedetto Rè (Reggio),
and was mentioned by the publisher Lomazzo in the dedication of G.P. Cima's
works. She was a nun at Sant'Agata in Lomello.
9. Maria Theresia von Paradis
Maria
Theresia von Paradis was a remarkable figure in music history, for not only did
she attain significant triumphs as both a composer and performer -- rare enough
achievements for a woman living in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe --
but she had to cope with the dreadful handicap of blindness.
10. Thelma Terry (bassist)
Bassist and singer Thelma Terry was one of the
first women to take the lead of her own jazz orchestra. Born Thelma Combes to a
poor family in Chicago, at age 18 Terry was already playing first chair in the
Chicago Women's Symphony Orchestra. She was a student at Austin High School,
and many of the so-called "Austin High Gang" served at one time or another
in Thelma Terry's band. Terry was practically alone in her chosen profession at
her time and hardly found it easy to conduct the business of playing jazz as
she would've liked. The boys in her all-male units sometimes didn't take her
very seriously and, as one old-timer put it, "only played in the band
because they wanted to get into (Thelma's) pants." Terry eventually
wearied of the struggle and in 1929, she married and rang the curtain down on
her musical career. Later attempts to make a comeback were rebuffed for various
reasons.
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