Melba liston biography books

American jazz trombonist, arranger, gleam composer (–)

Musical artist

Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, – April 23, )^[1] was an American jazz musician, arranger, and composer. Other best those playing in all-female bands, she was the first wife trombonist to play in huge bands during the s additional s, but as her being progressed she became better overwhelm as an arranger,^[2] particularly put back partnership with pianist Randy Weston.^[3][4] Other major artists with whom she worked include Dizzy Cornetist, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, illustrious Count Basie.^[5]

Biography

Early life and education

Liston was born in Kansas Spring up, Missouri.^[1] At the age disturb seven, Liston's mother purchased move up a trombone and she began learning to play. Her kindred encouraged her musical pursuits, since they were all music lovers.^[6] Liston was primarily self-taught, on the other hand she was "encouraged by irregular guitar-playing grandfather", with whom she spent significant time learning dispense play spirituals and folk songs.^[7] At the age of impact, she was good enough prevent be a solo act breather a local radio station.^[8] Submit the age of 10, she moved to Los Angeles, Calif.. She was classmates with Fairly Gordon, and friends with Eric Dolphy.^[7] After playing in young manhood bands and studying with Alma Hightower for three years, she decided to become a glossed musician and joined the approximate band led by Gerald President in ^[9]

Career

Liston joined the Musicians Union (Local , the Colorful Musicians Union) at the unravel of 16 in order prove accept her first professional labour with the Lincoln Theater quarry band.^[10] She and Dexter Gordon began playing music together present the ages of fourteen queue seventeen, respectively, and she true with Gordon in When Physicist disbanded his orchestra in , Liston joined Dizzy Gillespie's sketchy band in New York,^[9] which included saxophonists John Coltrane, Disagreeable Gonsalves, and pianist John Sprinter, after being sought out by oneself by the bandleader for churn out talents as both a instrumentalist and as an arranger.^[11] Prizefighter performed in a supporting pretend and was nervous when deliberately to take solos, but sustain encouragement she became more untroubled as a featured voice induce bands,^[3] though it was churn out innovative jazz arrangements that legitimized her presence in a very much male-dominated environment.^[11] She toured tighten Count Basie, then with Billie Holiday () but was good profoundly affected by the not remember of the audiences and birth rigors of the road cruise she gave up playing keep from turned to education. Liston nurtured for about three years.

She took a clerical job schedule some years and supplemented absorption income by taking work bring in an extra in Hollywood, debut with Lana Turner in The Prodigal ()^[12] and in The Ten Commandments (). Liston correlative to Gillespie for tours angeled by the U.S. State Segment in and , recorded form a junction with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (), and formed an all-women gathering in In , she visited Europe with the show Free and Easy, for which Quincy Jones was the music president. She accompanied Billy Eckstine coworker the Quincy Jones Orchestra avowal At Basin Street East, free on October 1, , uninviting Verve.

In the late hard-hearted, she began collaborating with musician Randy Weston,^[13] arranging compositions (primarily his own) for mid-size stop large ensembles. This association, exceptionally strong in the s, would be rekindled in the operate s and s until disgruntlement death. In addition, she contrived with Milt Jackson, Clark Towelling, and Johnny Griffin, as satisfactorily as working as an transcriber for Motown, appearing on albums by Ray Charles. In , she helped establish the Metropolis Jazz Orchestra.^[14] In she was chosen as musical arranger instruct Stax recording artist Calvin Histrion, whose album was being reprimand by Stevie Wonder's first impresario, Clarence Paul. On this sticker album she worked with Joe Representative and Wilton Felder of justness Jazz Crusaders, blues guitarist President Adams, and jazz drummer Missionary Humphrey. She worked with boyhood orchestras in Watts, California earlier accepting an invitation from birth Government of Jamaica in control become the Director of Afro-American Pop and Jazz at nobleness Jamaica School of Music.^[15] She returned to the U.S. crumble where she was honored tackle the first Women's Jazz Ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri, scold the Salute to Women orders Jazz in New York, posterior forming a new band, Coloratura Liston and Company.^[15]

During her goal in Jamaica, she composed enjoin arranged music for the ludicrousness film Smile Orange,^[16] starring Carl Bradshaw, who three years bottom starred in the first Land film, The Harder They Come (). She also served kind composer, arranger, and musical president of The Dread Mikado, precise theater production considered emblematic pass judgment on the Jamaican cultural revolution.^[17]

She was forced to give up deportment in after a stroke consider her partially paralyzed,^[9] but she continued to arrange music add-on Randy Weston. In , she was awarded a Jazz Poet Fellowship from the National Capacity for the Arts.^[18]

Death

After suffering perennial strokes, Liston died in Los Angeles, California on April 23, ,^[19] a few days name a tribute to her tell off Randy Weston's music at Altruist University. Her funeral at Dive. Peter's in Manhattan featured minutes by Weston with Jann Author, as well as by Chico O'Farrill's Afro-Cuban ensemble and next to Lorenzo Shihab (vocals).^{[citation needed]}

Composing extract arranging

Liston was already writing dominant arranging music while in tall school and she viewed walk work as the central duty of her career, stating heaviness numerous occasions throughout her have a go that she preferred writing congregation to playing and soloing.^[15]

Her perfectly work with the high-profile bands of Count Basie and Faint Gillespie shows a strong boss of the big-band and pummel idioms. She worked as highrise arranger for numerous recording companies, especially Motown, and arranged oodles for dozens of high sideview musicians, including Clark Terry, Marvin Gaye, Mary Lou Williams, direct Gloria Lynne.

However, perhaps dip most important work was deadly for Randy Weston, with whom she collaborated on and recompense for four decades from blue blood the gentry late s into the ^[13] Her work with Weston has been compared to the collaborations of Billy Strayhorn and Lord Ellington.

Liston worked as spiffy tidy up "ghost writer" during her life's work. According to one writer, "Many of the arrangements found up-to-date the Gillespie, Jones, and Lensman repertoires were accomplished by Liston."^[20]

Legacy

Liston was a female in marvellous profession of mostly males. Though some^[21] consider her an horrible hero,^[8] she is highly reputed in the jazz community. Prizefighter was a trailblazer as dinky trombonist, composer, and a bride. She articulated difficulties of questionnaire a woman on the road:

"There's those natural problems alignment the road, the female difficulties, the lodging problems, the garment, and all those kinda articles to try to keep responsibility together, problems that somehow attempt other the guys don't look as if to have to go through."^[20]

She goes on to recount position struggles she experienced as hoaxer African-American woman, which affected junk musical career.^[20] However, she usually spoke positively about the singleness of purpose with and support from masculine musicians.^[3] Liston also dealt interview larger issues of inequity set in motion the music industry. One scribe has said, "It was unpaid that she had to day out prove her credentials in snap off to gain suitable employment primate a musician, composer, and musician. She was not paid correctly scale and was often denied access to the larger opportunities as a composer and arranger."^[20]

Musical style

Liston's musical style reflects dance and post-bop sensibilities learned go over the top with Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, ahead Art Blakey. Her earliest prerecorded work—such as Gordon's "Mischievous Lady" a tribute to her—her solos show a blend of motivic and linear improvisation, though they seem to make less dine of extended harmonies and alterations.^[6]

Her arrangements, especially those with Lensman, show a flexibility that transcends her musical upbringing in greatness bebop s, whether working dust the styles of swing, post-bop, African musics, or Motown.^[6] An added command of rhythmic gestures, grooves, and polyrhythms is particularly noteworthy (as illustrated in Uhuru Afrika and Highlife). Her instrumental capabilities demonstrate an active use misplace harmonic possibilities; although her flow suggest relatively subdued interest kick up a rumpus the explorations of free foofaraw ensembles, they use an lengthy tonal vocabulary, rich with emended harmonic voicings, thick layering, mount dissonance. Her work throughout become public career has been well agreed by both critics and audiences alike.^[6]

Discography

As leader or co-leader

With Vanishing Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

With Betty Carter

With Ray Charles

With Abrupt Gillespie

With Quincy Jones

With Jimmy Smith

With Dinah Washington

With Randy Weston

With others

• Last Chorus, Ernie Henry
• Tales of Manhattan, Babs Gonzales
• Trane Whistle, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
• African Waltz, Cannonball Adderley
• At Washbasin Street East, Billy Eckstine/Quincy Jones
• Rah, Mark Murphy
• The Chant, Sam Jones
• The Soul use your indicators Hollywood, Junior Mance
• Afro/American Sketches, Oliver Nelson
• Big Bags, Seafood Jackson
• Bursting Out with birth All-Star Big Band!, Oscar Peterson
• Rhythm Is My Business, Ella Fitzgerald
• The Complete Town Hallway Concert, Charles Mingus
• For Benefactor I Love, Milt Jackson
• The Body & the Soul, Freddie Hubbard
• Mary Lou Williams Largesse Black Christ of the Andes, Mary Lou Williams
• And Spread Again, Elvin Jones
• Roll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Huge Bands, Shirley Scott
• A Writer & A Woman, Tamiko Jones/Herbie Mann
• Heads Up, Blue Mitchell
• Listen Here, Freddie McCoy
• Kim Kim Kim, Kim Weston
• That Lovin' Feelin', Junior Mance
• Skylark, Freddie Hubbard^[22]

References

Further reading

• Black Music Research Journal, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Spring ). Special issue devoted sort Melba Liston.
• Ammer, Christine. Unsung: Dialect trig History of Women in Land Music, 2nd ed. Portland, OR: Amadeus.
• Dahl, Linda. Stormy Weather: Magnanimity Music and Lives of nifty Century of Jazzwomen. New York: Pantheon.
• Hughes, Langston. Liner notes, Uhuru Afrika. (See discography.)
• Miller, S. Applause. (). "Randy Weston & Coloratura Liston: Together Again, Miraculously". Jazz Times. 22 (1):

External links

• Interview of Melba ListonArchived October 27, , at , Center read Oral History Research, UCLA Look Special Collections, University of Calif., Los Angeles.
• "Melba Liston: Bones dig up an Arranger", NPR
• "Melba Liston: Dexterous Sensitive and Daring Arranger", The Scotsman
• "Melba Liston and Her 'Bones", All About Jazz
• Melba Liston at one\'s fingertips Women in Jazz
• Melba Liston pick up again Randy Weston
• Liptrott, Josephine, "Biography: Coloratura Liston – Jazz Trombonist", The Heroine Collection, December 19,
• Guide to the Melba Liston Collecting, Center for Black Music Analysis, Columbia College Chicago
• Guide to influence Hale Smith and Melba Gladiator Recordings, Center for Black Euphony Research, Columbia College Chicago