International Sweethearts of Rhythm
International Sweethearts of Rhythm | |
---|---|
Also known as | Sweethearts of Rhythm |
Origin | Piney Woods, Mississippi, U.S. |
Genres | Jazz |
Years active | 1937 | –1949
Labels | Rosetta |
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was an American jazz ensemble, believed to be the first racially-integrated all-female band in the United States.
During the 1940s, the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day.
History
Early years
The original members of the band had met in Mississippi in 1938 at the
Leaving Piney Woods
In 1941, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm became a professional act and severed connections with Piney Woods.
The first composer for the band was
The venues where they performed were predominantly, if not only, for black audiences. These included the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C., the Regal Theatre in Chicago, the Cotton Club in Cincinnati, the Riviera in St. Louis, the Dreamland in Omaha, the Club Plantation and Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles.[7]: 6 Critic Leonard Feather wrote, "if you are white, whatever your age, chances are you have never heard of the Sweethearts[...]".[6]
The Sweethearts swiftly rose to fame, as evidenced by one
Although the International Sweethearts of Rhythm were successful, as they made two coast-to-coast tours in their bus, a few impediments remained.[7]: 157 According to pianist Johnnie Mae Rice, because of the Jim Crow laws in the southern states of the former Confederacy, the band "practically lived on the bus, using it for music rehearsals and regular school classes, arithmetic and everything".[6] Segregation laws prevented them from using certain restaurants and hotels.[16] During the 1980 Kansas City Women's Jazz Festival, saxophonist Roz Cron said, "We white girls were supposed to say 'My mother was black and my father was white' because that was the way it was in the South. Well, I swore to the sheriff in El Paso that that's what I was. But he went through my wallet and there was a photo of my mother and father sitting before our little house in New England with the picket fence, and it just didn't jell. So I spent my night in jail."[6] Because of situations like this, the band members took precautions. For example, the white women in the band wore dark makeup on stage to avoid arrest.[17][18] They made relatively little money as a traveling band. According to saxophonist Willie Mae Wong Scott, "The original members received $1 a day for food plus $1 a week allowance, for a grand total of $8 a week. That went on for years, until we got a substantial raise—to $15 a week. By the time we broke up, we were making $15 a night, three nights a week."[6]
Popularity
After Stone left in 1943 he was replaced by Maurice King, who continued the tradition of professionalism that Stone brought to the group.
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm performed in 1948 with Dizzy Gillespie at the fourth annual Cavalcade of Jazz concert at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles on September 12.[20] They also performed at the eighth Cavalcade of Jazz concert on June 1, 1952 when Anna Mae Winburn was leading.[21] In 1980, jazz pianist Marian McPartland convinced the organizers of the third annual Women's Jazz Festival in Kansas City to reunite the Sweethearts.[6] Included in this interview were nine of the original members as well as six of the band's later members (four were Caucasian).[6]
Disbanding
Among the reasons given for the band's breakup were aging, deaths of members, weariness of life on the road, marriage, career changes, problems with managers, and lack of funds.[7]: 165–166 Tiny Davis turned down the opportunity to tour with the band in 1946.[22] Rae Lee Jones continued to fight for the Sweethearts, but after 1946 the key instrumentalists had left and the band began to unravel with Jones's death in 1949. Guitarist Carline Ray Russell said musical tastes were changing.[7]: 165 Jazz writer Frank Tirro said that bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and Kenny Clarke were trying to change jazz from dance music to a chamber music art form.[7]: 167
Legacy
Despite the impact of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm being mostly ignored in popular histories of jazz, the band enjoyed a resurgence in popularity among
[T]hrough serious study of jazzwomen's oral histories, scholars might learn new narrative strategies for imagining and telling jazz histories in which women and men are both present. Because women who played instruments other than piano were seldom the 'favored artists' of the 'superior genres,' and because they were hardly ever recorded, they have had little access to the deceptive 'coherence' of mainstream histories. Therefore, they are uniquely positioned to suggest new frameworks for telling and interpreting jazz history.[19]: 68
The feminist era also brought to attention the work of producer
There has also been considerable scholarship conducted regarding the "International" aspect of their name and the effect it had on the band's acceptance among African Americans and whites in the South.[27] According to one jazz historian the band membership included "Willie Mae Wong, Chinese saxophonist; Alma Cortez, Mexican clarinet player; Nina de LaCruz, Indian saxophonist; and Nova Lee McGee, Hawaiian trumpet player. They were all children of mixed parents; the rest were Afro-American."[28] A publicity poster for the band's September 1940 performance in Emporia, Virginia included the text "America's Greatest Female Band, The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, In Whose Veins Flow the Blood of Many Races: Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Negro".[7]: 119 The first white musicians joined in 1943.[7]: 119
There were also several lesbians in the band, including Tiny Davis, whose independent music career and partnership with Ruby Lucas were later the subject of Schiller and Weiss' documentary Tiny and Ruby: Hell Divin' Women.[29]
In 2004 the Kit McClure Band released The Sweethearts Project on Redhot Records. It is a tribute album recorded entirely with an all-female band using only songs the Sweethearts recorded.[30]
In March 2011, six of the surviving members of the band donated memorabilia and artifacts from their touring years to the National Museum of American History. The ceremony marking the donations was the kick-off event of the Smithsonian Institution's Jazz Appreciation Month, and the band members received a standing ovation from attendees.[31] The International Sweethearts of Rhythm Collection at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History makes available to the public for research news clippings, photographs, correspondence, ephemera from USO travels, newsletters, books related to the group, and sound recordings.
In 2012, the compilation album International Sweethearts of Rhythm: Hottest Women’s Band of the 1940s was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[32]
In May 2021, the Urban One Honors ceremony recognized the band for their contributions as a symbol of success over adversity.[33]
Personnel
The lineup of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm changed throughout the band's career. The names listed below are how the members were billed at the time; names after marriage may be different.
- Virginia Audley † – vocalist
- Grace Bayron – saxophone
- Judy Bayron – trombone
- Pauline Braddy † – drums
- Lorraine Brown – tenor and baritone saxophone
- Nancy Brown – trumpet
- Clora Bryant – trumpet and vocalist
- Vi Burnside – tenor saxophone
- Toby Butler – trumpet
- Ina Belle Byrd † – saxophone, trombone
- Ray Carter – trumpet
- Ester Louise Cooke – trumpet and trombone
- Alma Cortez † – clarinet and saxophone
- Rosalind "Roz" Cron ‡ – alto saxophone
- Ernestine "Tiny" Davis– trumpet
- Nina de La Cruz † – saxophone
- Lucille Dixon – bass
- Amy Garrison – saxophone
- Margaret "Trump" Gipson – bass
- Ione Grisham † – alto saxophone
- Irene Grisham † – tenor saxophone
- Helen Jones † – trombone
- Zena Latto[34] – saxophone
- Roxanna Lucas – guitar
- Evelyn McGee † – vocalist
- Nova Lee McGee † – trumpet
- Colleen Murray – tenor saxophone
- Sadie Pankey † – trumpet
- Geneva Frances Perry – alto and tenor saxophone
- Marge Pettiford – saxophone
- Mim Polak – trumpet
- Corinne Posey – trombone
- Lena Posey – trombone
- Carline Ray – double bass
- Johnnie Mae Rice † – piano
- Bernice Rothchild † – bass
- Jane Sager – trumpet
- Helen Saine – baritone and alto saxophone
- Edna Smith – bass
- Mabel Louise "Big Maybelle" Smith – vocalist
- Ernestine Snyder †
- Lucy Snyder †
- Johnnie Mae Stansbury – trumpet
- Jean Starr – trumpet
- Jean Travis – trombone
- Edna Williams † – trumpet, accordion, singer, arranger
- Selma Lee Williams – tenor saxophone
- Anna Mae Winburn – band leader, singer, piano, guitar
- Willie Mae Wong † – baritone saxophone
- Myrtle Young – tenor saxophone
Arrangers/musical directors:
- Eddie Durham
- Maurice King
- Jesse Stone
Discography
The band recorded four songs.[36]: 19
- International Sweethearts of Rhythm: Hottest Women's Band of the 1940s (Rosetta Records)
Track listing
- "Galvanizing" (Maurice King)
- "Sweet Georgia Brown" (Bernie, Pinkard, Casey)
- "Central Avenue Boogie" (Buck Clayton)
- "Bugle Call Rag" (Meyers, Pettis, Schoebel)
- "She's Crazy with the Heat" (Maurice King)
- "Jump Children" (Sweethearts and King)
- "Vi Vigor" (Maurice King)
- "Lady Be Good" ( George and Ira Gershwin)
- "Gin Mill Special" (Erskine Hawkins)
- "Honeysuckle Rose" (Razaf and Waller)
- "That Man of Ine" (Maurice King)
- "Diggin' Dykes" (Vi Burnside)
- "Don't Get It Twisted" (Maurice King)
- "Tuxedo Junction" (Dash, Johnson, Hawkins, Feyne)
- "Slightly Frantic" (Maurice King)
- "One O'Clock Jump" (Count Basie)
The following album is a compilation of live radio appearances:
- Hot Licks 1944–1946: Rare Recordings from One of the Best American All Girl Bands of the Swing Era[37]
Filmography
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm were featured in several short films (including
: 261 and two documentary films. They were:- Harlem Jam Session (1946 Associated Artists Productions - Soundie)
- How About That Jive (1947 Associated Artists Productions - Soundie)
- International Sweethearts of Rhythm (1946 Associated Artists Productions - Soundie)
- Jump Children (1946 Alexander Productions - Soundie)
- That Man of Mine (1946 Alexander Productions - feature film)
- That Man of Mine (1946 Alexander Productions - Soundie)
- Harlem Carnival (1949)
- International Sweethearts of Rhythm (1986 documentary directed by Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss)
- The Girls in the Band (2011 documentary directed by Judy Chaikin; includes segments on the band)
A 2004 DVD called Swing Era: Sarah Vaughan features Vaughan, along with little-seen material from the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.[38]
See also
- List of all-female bands
- Music in Omaha
Further reading
- Nelson, Marilyn (2009). Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World. illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Dial Books. OCLC 269282146. (young adult book)
- Deans, Karen (2015). Swing Sisters: The Story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. illustrated by Joe Cepeda (First ed.). New York: Holiday House. OCLC 843785531. (juvenile book)
References
- ISSN 0741-8639.
- ^ Berger, Jon (2000). "Remembering the Sweethearts of Rhythm". www.womanrock.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- OCLC 24068468.
- ^ OCLC 55800901.
- ISSN 1559-1603.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Feather, Leonard (April 13, 1980). "The Memories of Sweethearts." Los Angeles Times, p. 64.
- ^ OCLC 39024855.
- OCLC 32154404.
- ^ "The Founders of All-Female Brass Bands". Smithsonian Music. March 1, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
- ^ Harllee, Teri (July 2000). "Sweethearts". www.allaboutjazz.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2001. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ Clarke, Donald (2005). "International Sweethearts of Rhythm". MusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular Music. Archived from the original on October 20, 2005. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- OCLC 60550731.
- ^ a b "International Sweethearts of Rhythm". www.jezebel.org. Jezebel Productions. 1986. Archived from the original on July 11, 2006. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ JSTOR 1215120.
- OCLC 49750925.
- OCLC 123905581.
- ^ a b "2005 Inductee Helen (Jones) Woods". www.omahablackmusic.com. Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame. 2007. Archived from the original on June 25, 2005. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- JSTOR 1214974.
- ^ JSTOR 3675691.
- OCLC 866922945.
- ^ "Largest Jazz Cavalcade in History To Feature Nation's Top Entertainers", The California Eagle, May 29, 1952.
- OCLC 8280679.
- ^ Bustard, Clarke (February 7, 2003). "D. Antoinette Handy". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
- ^ OCLC 276339398.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (September 19, 1986). "Film Festival Vibrates With Musical Accents". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ^ "International Sweethearts of Rhythm (1986): Release Info". IMDb.com. 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- OCLC 42397506.
- ^ Reitz, Rosetta (1984). International Sweethearts of Rhythm (album liner notes). New York: Rosetta Records. RR 1312.
- OCLC 42035800.
- ^ Kit McClure Band (2004). "The Sweethearts Project". CD Baby. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
- ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (March 30, 2011). "The stories and artifacts of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm added to the Smithsonian collections". The Washington Post. Washington, DC. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ Richards, Chris (May 23, 2012). "Library of Congress's National Recording Registry adds new picks". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
- ^ "The Pioneering Legacy Of The International Sweethearts of Rhythm". NPR.org. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
- ^ Linked Jazz (March 25, 2015). "Linked Jazz Interview with Zena Latto, 2015". Internet Archive. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
- ^ "Honoring Jazz's Historic Sweethearts". DownBeat. Vol. 78, no. 4. Chicago, Illinois. April 2011. p. D8.
- ^ OCLC 55886358.
- ^ Woolf, Jonathan (n.d.). "The International Sweethearts of Rhythm: Hot Licks 1944-1946". musicweb-international.com. Music on the Web. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Deming, Mark (n.d.). "Swing Era: Sarah Vaughan (2004)". AllMovie. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
External links
- Video of a conversation with six band members as part of the Smithsonian Institution's Jazz Appreciation Month events, 2011
- Promotional photo, c. 1946.
- Band photo
- Profile of Carline Ray (of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm) by Arnold Jay Smith (www.jazz.com)
- "Women in Jazz" by Sherrie Tucker at PBS.org