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Liner Notes by Melanie Berzon
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Program Director, KCSM Jazz Radio, 91.1 FM
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The Montclair Women's Big Band is one of jazz's best kept secrets. Since
1998, the ensemble has upheld a lofty tradition dating back to 1884, when the
first "Ladies Orchestra" was formed in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The Roaring
20s gave birth to bands like The Parisian Redheads, later known as the
Bricktops. The Swing era produced bands such as the all Black Dixie Sweethearts and
the Harlem Playgirls. Ina Rae Hutton and her Melodears, an integrated band,
had to fudge the identities of their members of color, passing them off as
white. With many men overseas during World War II, Women's Big Bands
proliferated. One of the better known groups was the International Sweethearts of
Rhythm, under the baton of Anna Mae Winburn. With the end of the war, the return
of the male troops and changing tastes, women's big bands began to disappear.
But by the 1970's, with the second wave of feminism, groups like Ann
Patterson's LA band, Maiden Voyage, were back on the scene. 1980s New York saw
Seeling's collaboration with Cobi Narita and the Universal Jazz Coalition,
producing the Big Apple Jazzwomen. Sherrie Maricle and Diva have continued this
resurgence from the 90s to the present. This is the Montclair Women's Big
Band's first CD and it's a winner! With Director Ellen Seeling at the helm, the
band's groovin' rhythm section and outstanding soloists smoke their way through
14 classic arrangements. The band burns on Ernie Wilkins' rhythm tune, The
Brownsville Express, featuring Mad Duran (alto), Christy Dana (trumpet) and
Allison Miller (drums). The group breathes new life into String of Pearls with
trumpeter Marina Garza and tenor saxophonist Jean Fineberg, who also shines
on Lady is a Tramp. Dueling trombonists Mara Fox and Sarah Cline battle
playfully on Horace Silver's Filthy McNasty. And Vicki Randle's chops go way
beyond her skill as the percussionist in "The Tonight Show" band. Just check out
her vocal on For Once In My Life. From Sonya Jason's soulful alto and Tammy
Hall's back-to-church piano on Percy Mayfield's Rivers Invitation to
Seeling's haunting interpretation of Antonio Carlos Jobim's Quiet Nights, this band
can do it all. So open up your heart and fasten your seat belt for a wild
ride with the Montclair Women's Big Band. They honor the past paying tribute to
all the women's big bands of the 20s, 30s, and 40s. They acknowledge the
present, putting their own unique, modern day stamp on the music. And they
inspire the future encouraging young girls to follow in their footsteps.
They're the cream of the crop and they are not to be missed!
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