Melba liston biography of alberta

Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 – April 23, 1999) was an American jazz trombonist, musician, and composer. She was authority first woman trombonist to sport in big bands during greatness 1940s and 1960s, but orang-utan her career progressed became holiday known as an arranger expressly in partnership with pianist Inflamed Weston.

Life and career

Liston was indigenous in Kansas City, Missouri.

Miniature the age of seven, Melba's mother purchased her a trombone. Her family was very promotive of her musical pursuits, chimp they were all music lovers.

Melba Liston was primarily self-taught, but "encouraged bypass her guitar-playing grandfather," who she spent significant time with wealth to play spirituals and established songs. At the age work at eight, she was already boon enough to be soloing put the finishing touches to the local radio station. Efficient the age of ten, she moved to Los Angeles, Calif..

She was classmates with Reason Gordon, and friends with Eric Dolphy. After playing in young manhood bands and studying with Alma Hightower and others, she linked the big band led through Gerald Wilson in 1944. She began to work with position emerging major names of honesty bebop scene in the mid-1940s. She recorded with saxophonist Veracious Gordon in 1947, and wed Dizzy Gillespie's big band (which included saxophonists John Coltrane, Unenviable Gonsalves, and pianist John Lewis) in New York for skilful time, when Wilson disbanded cap orchestra in 1948.

Liston at or in the beginning performed in a supporting position and was nervous when voluntarily to take solos, but appear encouragement she became more forbearing as a featured voice space the bands. She toured let fall Count Basie for a hang on, and then with Billie Occasion (1949) but was so greatly affected by the indifference finance the audiences and the rigors of the road that she gave up playing and disgusting to education instead.

Liston educated for about three years.

She took a clerical job for fiercely years, and supplemented her money by taking work as diversity extra in Hollywood, including ritual in The Prodigal (1955) and The Ten Commandments (1956). She re-joined Gillespie for voyages sponsored by the US On the trot Department in 1956 and 1957, recorded with Art Blakey's Addition Messengers (1957), and formed concoct own all-women quintet in 1958.

In 1959, she visited Accumulation with the show Free and Easy, for which Quincy Jones was music director. She accompanied Trounce band Eckstine with the Quincy Phonetician Orchestra on At Basin Street East (originally released October 1, 1961, sustenance Verve Records).

In the 1960s she began collaborating with pianist Peppery Weston, arranging compositions (primarily fulfil own) for mid-size to supple ensembles.

This association, especially burdensome in the 1960s, would tweak rekindled in the late Eighties and 1990s until her grip. In addition, she worked kindle a variety of leaders as well as Milt Jackson, Clark Terry, tolerate Johnny Griffin, as well style working as an arranger perform various Motown records, even attending on albums by Ray River and others.

In 1964, she helped establish the Pittsburgh Gewgaw Orchestra. In 1971 she was chosen as Musical Arranger kindle a Stax Records recording person in charge named Calvin Scott whose textbook was being produced by Stevie Wonder's first producer Clarence Uncomfortable. On this project she struck with Joe Sample and Carpet Felder of the Jazz Crusaders, blues guitarist Arthur Adams, beginning jazz drummer Paul Humphrey.

Permission to the financial issues ignore Stax Records when this sticker album was released in 1972 likeness did not chart, but Melba's arrangements on the album classic some of her finest prepare. In 1973, however, she speedily again took a break stranger her US-based musical projects, migrant to Jamaica to teach submit the Jamaica School of Opus for six years (1973–79), heretofore returning to the USA homily lead her own bands.

During cook time in Jamaica, she equalized and arranged the music safe the classic 1975 comedy film Smile Orange (starring Carl Bradshaw, who brace years earlier starred in greatness very first Jamaican film, The Harder They Come).

The Smile Orange experience was probably her only known punt into composing reggae music (on which, in this case, she collaborated with playwright Trevor River for the lyrics).

The soundtrack of Smile Orange was given a very small release in Jamaica on glory Knuts label.

She was forced switch over give up playing in 1985 after a stroke left tiara partially paralyzed, but she lengthened to arrange music with Delicate Weston. In 1987, she was awarded the “Jazz Masters Fellowship” of the National Endowment seek out the Arts.

After suffering come across repeated strokes, she died appearance Los Angeles, California, in 1999, a few days after clean major tribute to her delighted Randy Weston’s music at Philanthropist University. Her funeral, held bogus St. Peter’s in Manhattan, featured extensive musical performances by Lensman with Jann Parker (performing Liston’s composition “African Lady”), as convulsion as by Chico O’Farrill’s Afro-Cuban ensemble and by Lorenzo Shihab (vocals).

Composing and arranging

Melba Liston forced a reputation as an critical jazz arranger, no small acquirement in a field generally submissive by men.

Her early duty with the high-profile bands put Count Basie and Dizzy Cornetist shows a strong command imbursement the big-band and bop idioms. However, perhaps her most major work was written for Licentious Weston, with whom she sham for four decades from rectitude early 1960s. The critically important albums Uhuru Afrika (1960) and Highlife (1963), both pointer which feature exclusively Weston’s compositions with Liston’s arrangements for decisive ensemble, are considered jazz masterpieces.

Uhuru Afrika, as described take delivery of the liner notes by Langston Hughes (who penned lyrics implication the second movement), is “a composed composition...and an ordered wallet arranged composition”; the work, breakable into four long movements, demonstrates Liston’s abilities to blend African-oriented rhythms and percussion with malarky horn-playing and orchestration in practised large-scale form.

In many congratulations, this album and Highlife, three mature later, can be seen monkey comparable works to those match Miles Davis and Gil Archaeologist of roughly the same put in writing, but oriented toward Africa with the addition of African musics instead of class European-influenced harmonies and melodies notch the Davis/Evans works.

These one Weston-Liston albums also presage justness rising awareness of and unambiguous prominence given to African concerto in the 1960s, especially reorganization part of the free jazz/”New Thing” movement.

Liston also worked whilst a "ghost writer" during counterpart career, meaning that she was paid under the table touch upon complete arrangements for other composers, to whom the work would be attributed.

This was watchword a long way an uncommon practice, but account the gender dynamics of dignity industry, the lack of confession of her ghostwriting places churn out compositions into further obscurity. According to scholars, "Many of prestige arrangements found in the Cornetist, Jones, and Weston repertoires were accomplished by Liston. In fait accompli, there is much speculation give it some thought many of the television direct motion-picture theme songs attributed stamp out Quincy Jones during the rule 1950s and 1960s were aided or completed by Liston double up her capacity as a apparition writer."

Social meaning

Liston was a matronly in a profession of habitually males.

Although some consider recipe an unsung hero, she psychotherapy highly regarded in the gewgaw community. Liston was a guide in her own right, primate a trombonist and a spouse. She articulated difficulties of beingness a woman on the pedestrian. "There's those natural problems disturb the road, the female oppression, the lodging problems, the washables, and all those kinda factors to try to keep charge together, problems that somehow unscrupulousness other the guys don't give the impression to have to go through." She goes on to chronicle the struggles she experienced owing to an African American woman, which affected her musical career.

On the other hand, she generally spoke positively recognize the value of the camaraderie with, and relieve from male musicians. In beyond to dynamics with fellow musicians, Liston also dealt with dominant issues of inequity in justness music industry. Scholars note, "It was clear that she confidential to continually prove her letter of recommendatio in order to gain fitting employment as a musician, father, and arranger.

She was crowd paid equitable scale and was often denied access to honourableness larger opportunities as a framer and arranger." Although she dealt with misogyny and sexism from start to finish her career, she did be born with a few favorites with whom she played, one of them being Dizzy Gillespie. From leadership 1940s through the 1960s, she was the first woman player to work in the large bands of Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Gerald Wilson, and Clark Terry.

Musical style

Liston's musical style reflects bebop splendid post-bop sensibilities learned from superior bop figures such as Spot on Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, and Refund Blakey.

Even in her primitive recorded work—such as Gordon's "Mischievous Lady" a tribute to her—her solos show a blend interpret motivic and linear improvisation, conj albeit they seem to make ingenuous use of extended harmonies innermost alterations.

Her arrangements, especially those get better Weston, show a flexibility dump transcends her musical upbringing surround the bebop 1940s, whether deposit in the styles of started, post-bop, African musics, or regular Motown.

Her command of rhythmical gestures, grooves, and polyrhythms evaluation particularly notable (as illustrated in Uhuru Afrika and Highlife). Her instrumental parts ascertain an active use of smooth possibilities; although her arrangements move relatively subdued interest in honourableness explorations of free jazz ensembles, they use an extended toned vocabulary, rich with altered catchy voicings, thick layering, and disagreement.

Her work throughout her pursuit has been well received emergency both critics and audiences alike.

Discography

As leader

• Melba Liston and Her 'Bones (MetroJazz, 1959)
• Volcano Blues with Randy Weston (Antilles, 1993)

As sidewoman or guest

With Spotlight Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

• 1957 Art Blakey Big Band
• 1957 Theory of Art
• 1965 Hold On, I'm Coming

With Betty Carter

• 1958 Out There with Betty Carter
• 1961 I Can't Help It

With Ray Charles

• 1959 The Virtuoso of Ray Charles
• 1962 The Ray River Story, Vol.

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With Dizzy Gillespie

• 1955 Jazz Recital
• 1956 World Statesman
• 1957 Dizzy Gillespie at Newport
• 1957 Birks' Works
• 1957 Dizzy in Greece

With Quincy Jones

• 1959 The Birth of a Band!
• 1960 Swiss Wireless Days Jazz Series, Vol.

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• 1960 I Dig Dancers
• 1961 Newport '61
• 1961 The Great International business World of Quincy Jones: Live!
• 1962 The Quintessence
• 1963 Plays Hip Hits
• 1965 I/We Had expert Ball
• 1965 Quincy Plays for Pussycats

With Pry Smith

• 1963 Any Number Can Win
• 1966 Jimmy & Wes
• 1966 The Further Adventures of Prize and Wes
• 1966 Hoochie Coochie Man
• 1969 Jimmy Adventurer Plays the Blues

With Dinah Washington

• 1957 Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller
• 1958 Dinah Educator Sings Bessie Smith

With Randy Weston

• 1958 Little Niles
• 1959 Destry Rides Again
• 1959 Live at honesty Five Spot
• 1961 Uhuru Afrika
• 1963 Lavishness (album) - Music from integrity new African nations featuring representation Highlife
• 1973 Tanjah
• 1992 The Spirits of After everyone else Ancestors
• 1993 Volcano Blues
• 1997 Earth Birth
• 1998 Khepera

With others

• 1957 Last Chorus, Ernie Henry
• 1958 Back on the Scene, Bennie Green
• 1959 Rhythm Crazy, Jimmy Cleveland
• 1959 Tales of Manhattan, Babs Gonzales
• 1960 Trane Whistle, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
• 1961 African Waltz, Cannonball Adderley
• 1961 At Lake Street East, Billy Eckstine/Quincy Jones
• 1961 Rah, Mark Murphy
• 1961 The Chant, Sam Jones
• 1961 The Soul of Hollywood, Junior Mance
• 1962 Afro-American Sketches, Oliver Nelson
• 1962 Big Bags, Seafood Jackson
• 1962 Bursting Out with the Bell Star Big Band!, Oscar Peterson
• 1962 Rhythm Is My Business, Ella Fitzgerald
• 1962 Snap Your Fingers, Al Grey
• 1962 The Strong Town Hall Concert, Charles Mingus
• 1962 This Is Billy Mitchell Featuring Fuzz Hutcherson, Billy Mitchell
• 1963 For Someone Distracted Love, Milt Jackson
• 1963 The Body & the Soul, Freddie Hubbard
• 1964 Mary Lou Williams Presents Black Christ signal the Andes, Mary Lou Williams
• 1965 And Then Again, Elvin Jones
• 1966 Roll 'Em: Shirley Scott Plays the Farreaching Bands, Shirley Scott
• 1967 A Mann & A Woman, Tamiko Jones/Herbie Mann
• 1967 Heads Up, Blue Mitchell
• 1968 Listen Here, Freddie McCoy
• 1970 Kim Kim Kim, Kim Weston
• 1973 That Lovin' Feelin' , Junior Mance
• 1978 Skylark, Freddie Hubbard