Melodears

The Melodears, also known as Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears, was an American all-female band. The band was led by singer Ina Ray Hutton and featured several musicians during its existence. The band formed in 1934, originally as a 15-member band, and was disbanded in 1939 by Hutton, who soon afterwards formed an all-male orchestra.[1] They were the first all-girl band to be recorded when they do so for Vocalion Records in 1934[2] and then again for Victor Talking Machine Company.

Band members

Hutton was the bandleader and singer. When the band was first formed in 1934, she was 18 years old.[3] She was often billed as the "Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm".[4]

The band recruited several top female musicians from the United States and Canada. The original 1934 band consisted of trumpeters Kay Walsh, Estelle Slavin, and Elvirah Roh, trombonists Ruth McMurray and Althea Heuman, Ruth Bradley, saxophonists and clarinetists Betty Stitcht, Helen Ruth, and Audrey Hall, pianists Jerrine Hyde and Miriam Greenfield, guitarists Helen Baker, bassist Marie Lebz, and drummer Lil Singer.[1]

Later notable band members included trumpet player Frances Klein, pianist Ruth Lowe Sandler, who played from 1934 to 1938, saxophonist Jane Cullum, guitarist Marian Gange, trumpeter Mardell "Owen" Winstead, and trombonist Alyse Wells. Mirian Stiglitz Saperstein also toured with the band as a saxophonist in the 1930s.[2] In 1936, Ruth Lowe became the band's new pianist after the previous pianist took ill. Virginia Mayers became the drummer after Lil Singer.[5]

History

In 1934 Hutton was approached by Irving Mills and vaudeville agent Alex Hyde to lead an all-girl orchestra, the Melodears. The group disbanded in 1939.

Hutton and her Melodears were one of the first all-girl bands to be filmed. They filmed several shorts for Paramount Pictures including Feminine Rhythm (1935), Accent on Girls (1936) and Swing Hutton Swing (1937). The also filmed on feature-length movie The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Linda Dahl (1984). Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen. Limelight Editions. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-87910-128-2.
  2. 1 2 Kristin A. McGee (1 March 2010). Some Liked It Hot: Jazz Women in Film and Television, 1928–1959. Wesleyan University Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-8195-6967-7.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Carolyn (25 March 2012). "All-women bands enjoyed popularity during WWII". The Lawton Constitution.
  4. ↑ William H. Young; Nancy K. Young (2010). World War II and the Postwar Years in America: A Historical and Cultural Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-313-35652-0.
  5. ↑ Angela Smith (10 April 2014). Women Drummers: A History from Rock and Jazz to Blues and Country. Scarecrow Press. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-8108-8835-7.
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