Liston, Melba (1926–)

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Liston, Melba (1926–)

African-American jazz trombonist and arranger. Name variations: Melba Doretta Liston. Born in Kansas City, MO, Jan 13, 1926.

One of only a handful of African-American female trombonists and a brilliant arranger, had a career that spanned over 40 years; launched career in a theater-pit orchestra led by Bardu Ali (1942); played with Gerald Wilson's band (1943–48), then joined up with Dizzy Gillespie; after a tour with Billie Holiday (1949), gave up playing before rejoining Gillespie in 1956; went out on her own (1958), forming an all-woman quintet; worked with a series of band leaders (1960s), including Quincy Jones, Johnny Griffin, Milt Jackson, and Randy Weston; also did arrangements for singers and tv commercials; settled in Jamaica (1974), where she established a music program at University of West Indies and headed up the African-American pop and jazz department at Jamaica School of Music; moved to NY (1979) and formed her own septet, Melba Liston and Company.

See also Women in World History.

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