New York Jazz · Sept 29, 1956 · A Woman on Trombone, a Room Full of Legends

New York Jazz · Sept 29, 1956 · A Woman on Trombone, a Room Full of Legends    • New York Jazz · Sept 29, 1956 · A Woman on...   Saturday, September 29, 1956. Broadway at 44th Street, steps from the lights of Times Square. In 1956, a woman playing trombone on a jazz bandstand was almost unheard of. Melba Liston — trombonist, arranger, and fresh from touring the world with Dizzy Gillespie's big band — was billed that night at Childs Paramount alongside a room full of swing legends, including Coleman Hawkins, Bobby Hackett, Pee Wee Russell, Bud Freeman, Billy Butterfield, Vic Dickenson, Joe Marsala, Cliff Jackson and Sonny Greer. The floor was open for dancing. She held her own among the giants, and over the following decades she became one of the most respected arrangers in jazz, still too rarely remembered today. This is an imagined soundtrack of her night: from the first riff at the door, through the midnight cutting contest where trombone, tenor and trumpet trade blows, to the last slow dance before the doors swing shut. 🎺 Who's your favorite woman in jazz history? Tell us in the comments. 🎷 New York Jazz & Ink Retrospective — one city, one week, one night at a time, 1955–1963. All music is original, AI-assisted instrumental jazz; illustrations are watercolor and ink. #MelbaListon #WomenInJazz #JazzTrombone #NewYorkJazzAndInk #JazzHistory #1950sJazz #SwingJazz #FemaleMusicians #JazzLegends #VintageNYC #TimesSquare #GoldenAgeOfJazz #NewYorkHistory #JazzArchive #ColemanHawkins