There was a time not too long ago when it was roundly believed that women did not have the physical capabilities to play most horn instruments other than the flute. While jazz history prior to 1960 includes many female pianists and some violinists, the trumpet was considered a male instrument. Despite audio proof to the contrary, female trumpeters were looked down upon and largely consigned to “all-girl” bands that were, with a few exceptions, thought of as novelty acts.
While the three women profiled in this article were each talented jazz soloists, their careers were hampered by sexism. Unlike many other early female jazz artists who are completely lost to history, they were lucky enough to be documented so today one can enjoy and admire their musical talents.
Dolly Jones was born Nov. 27, 1902, in Chicago. Her father was a saxophonist while her mother, who also taught Valaida Snow, was a trumpeter who gave her daughter some important lessons. Dolly gained early experiencing playing with her parents in the Jones Family Band which in 1919 accompanied the young Josephine Baker. In the early 1920s while in Kansas City she went out on her own and formed a trumpet-violin-piano trio called the Three Classy Misses. Jones was also a skilled trombonist, working with Ma Rainey in Chicago.
On June 25, 1926, Dolly Jones became the first female jazz trumpeter to record. She is featured with Albert Wynn’s Gutbucket Five on “That Creole Band” and “When,” displaying a warm tone and swinging in a group with trombonist Wynn and Barney Bigard (doubling on tenor and soprano). But rather than helping to launch her career, this turned out to be the only commercially released recordings of her career even though she would continue performing for nearly another half century. A few writers have said that she later led an album called Creole Blue but I have been unable to find any information on this recording or proof of its existence.
However Dolly Jones had a busy career for a time. She toured with Ida Cox in 1928, was with Lil Hardin Armstrong’s Harlem Helicans in the early 1930s, led her own group the Twelve Spirits of Rhythm in 1932, and for a time headed the Disciples of Swing. She was sometimes billed as Dolly Hutchinson, taking the last name of saxophonist Jimmy “Hook” Hutchinson from a short-lived marriage.
Fortunately and somewhat miraculously, her playing was preserved in the 1937 film Swing. Billed as Doli Armenra, she takes hot solos during impressive features on “I May Be Wrong” and “China Boy.” The trumpeter does not have any lines and does not attempt to clown around, defying the stereotypes of the era by looking classy and concentrating on the music which she gets to play without any interruptions. But, other than two songs from a 1941 radio broadcast with violinist Stuff Smith’s group, that is all that one can hear from Dolly Jones.
Valaida Snow had a much higher profile in her career, at least during her prime period. She was born on June 2, 1904, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her sisters Lavaida, Alvaida, and Hattie all became professional singers. Her mother was a music teacher and her father was a minster who led a group comprised of child performers that had the name of the Pickaninny Troubadours. Valaida grew up on the road, performing with her father’s ensemble starting when she was five. Very gifted musically, she could play ten instruments by the time she was 15: trumpet, saxophones, clarinet, accordion, harp, banjo, violin, cello, mandolin, and bass. As if that were not enough, she also sang and danced.
By the time that she began her solo career a few years later, Valaida Snow was concentrating on her singing, dancing and trumpet playing. She performed in the revue Holiday in Dixieland and worked in Harlem. Snow was in the musical Bamville, a Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake show that was a follow-up to Shuffle Along that included Josephine Baker. She performed in such productions as Rambling Round, Will Mastin’s Follow Me revue, and the Chocolate Dandies.
An exciting performer whose trumpet playing was inspired by Louis Armstrong (who was an admirer), she visited London and Paris with Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds revue in 1926 and toured China, Singapore, and India with Jack Carter’s Serenaders. She was the headliner at Chicago’s Sunset Café in 1928 and performed in the Soviet Union, the Middle East and Europe in 1929. Snow was one of the stars of the Sissle/Blake revue Rhapsody In Black and in 1933 she made her recording debut, singing “Maybe I’m To Blame” with the Earl Hines big band, her only recording in the United States until 1946.
It must have been apparent to Valaida Snow at this point that she had gone about as far as she could in her career in the U.S. due to racism and prejudice against female trumpeters. She moved to move to Europe where during the next eight years she had success that was unimaginable for most black performers in her homeland. She appeared in the Blackbirds of 1934 in England, worked with Noble Sissle the following year, and was considered a bit of a celebrity.
Snow led a series of record dates in London (1935-37), Stockholm (1939), and Copenhagen (1940). On such numbers as her trademark “High Hat, Trumpet and Rhythm,” “I Wish I Were Twins,” “I Can’t Dance,” “Some Of These Days,” “Swing Is The Thing,” “Nagasaki,” “I Got Rhythm,” and “You’re Driving Me Crazy,” Valaida Snow showed that she was a hot swing trumpeter in addition to being a colorful jazz singer who scatted well. She would certainly have been well worth seeing perform live.
Foolishly, Valaida Snow stayed in Europe after the start of World War II. and twice turned down opportunities to return to the US. She apparently thought that she would be able to continue her lifestyle and success during the war years. Her luck ran out in 1942 when she was imprisoned in a jail in Copenhagen. When she was released within a year and sent to the US, she claimed that she had been in a Nazi concentration camp and part of a prisoner exchange. The truth was more mundane. Snow had become addicted to drugs and, starting in March 1942, she was detained by Danish authorities for theft and possession of illegal drugs. She was sent to a treatment center until she had kicked the habit and then deported. The experience was bad enough with her becoming physically weak and losing a great deal of weight, but the Nazi story gave her a bit of publicity.
Billie Rogers was born as Zelda Louise Smith on May 31, 1917, in North Plains, Oregon, growing up in Rainier, Washington. As with Dolly Jones and Valaida Snow, she was part of a musical family. Her father played violin, alto and banjo, her mother was a pianist and accordionist, and two of her brothers played saxophones. She studied the piano starting when she was six, took up the trumpet at eight, played a bit of soprano sax (which she eventually gave up), and was part of the family band, Smith’s Rainier Entertainers, as a trumpeter and singer.
After graduating high school at the age of 16 (having skipped two grades), she played low-level jobs for a time in Washington, and was married and soon divorced. Moving to Los Angeles, Rogers worked with a quartet at a bar, attracting large crowds and celebrities. Woody Herman’s road manager Jack Archer caught her, was impressed, and invited her to audition for Herman’s big band. She passed and became the very first female trumpeter to be employed by a major jazz orchestra that was not an all-woman band.
While Billie Rogers, being white, did not have to deal with racism, sexism was unavoidable. However her stint with Woody Herman during 1941-43 had relatively few incidents despite the rigorous traveling. Rogers was on eight record dates with the orchestra, taking vocals on “Even Steven,” “Let Me Love You Tonight,” “Be Not Discouraged” and, most notably, “We’ll Meet Again.” The musicians’ recording strike that begin in mid-1942 meant that the records stopped at that point but on surviving broadcasts she is featured on “I Can’t Get Started,” “Taking A Chance On Love,” “I Lost My Sugar In Salt City,” “I Don’t Believe In Rumors,” and “Let’s Get Lost.” Although Rogers was a solid swing trumpeter and a decent singer, none of her recordings became hits. The Woody Herman Orchestra was in a gradual transition period from being a second-level swing band into becoming the First Herd, but Rogers left before the new Herman big band became a major musical force.
She went out on her own in Oct. 1943, moving to Chicago and marrying Jack Archer six months later. She then formed the Billie Rogers Orchestra, one of the very few female-led big bands of the time that had an otherwise all-male personnel. The 14-15 piece orchestra’s personnel was mostly obscure other than Johnny Mandel (who was one of the trumpeters), bassist Harry Babasin, and drummer Roy Harte. Their Aug. 20, 1944, radio broadcast which has five Rogers vocals plus instrumental versions of “Blue Moon,” “Perdido,” and “Pelham Panic,” displays the band’s potential but otherwise they only had one four-song record date. The latter was comprised of three vocals numbers (two by the leader) plus a lone but worthy instrumental, “Rogers Corners,” that was arranged by Ray Conniff.
The Billie Rogers Orchestra did not last long. By the end of 1944 it broke up and she joined a group led by clarinetist Jerry Wald, recording a dozen little-known performances during Feb.-March 1945. In October, the trumpeter-singer left to form her own sextet. She freelanced in the Los Angeles area and made her last recorded appearance on a V-Disc in 1947 led by trombonist Tommy Pederson, “Tone-Bone.”
As 1951 began, Dolly Jones was 48, Valaida Snow was 46, and Billie Rogers was just 33. While they all should have had busy and productive careers from then on that resulted in fame and many accomplishments, their moments in the spotlight were over. Other than a single song by Snow, none of the three performers would record again. There was no demand for female trumpeters even as a novelty act and it would still be quite a few years before female players of their stature would be taken seriously and given the opportunities that they deserved.
After her return to the United States, Valaida Snow was able to work but was no longer a headliner. Snow appeared on a couple of Soundies in 1946: the ballad “If I Only Knew” and a swinging “Patience and Fortitude,” taking a trumpet solo on the latter. She recorded 20 numbers during 1945-50 as a vocalist and one final selection in 1953 without creating a stir. It does seem a bit crazy that no label took advantage of her availability to turn the colorful personality loose in a recording studio and let her engage in heated swing trumpet playing. She passed away on May 30, 1956 while backstage during a performance at the Palace Theater, three days before her 52nd birthday.
Dolly Jones stayed active as a trumpeter for many decades yet remained in complete obscurity. The closest thing to a high profile job was working with clarinetist Eddie Barefield in the 1970s, and he was not actually a household name. She lived until August 1975 when she was 73, not making a single recording during her final 49 years.
Billie Rogers played trumpet on an infrequent basis in the 1950s, gradually dropping out of the music scene. She lived a long life, passing away on Jan. 18, 2014, at the age of 96, 69 years after the breakup of her big band.
Fortunately, female jazz trumpeters are not such a rarity these days with Bria Skonberg, Gunhild Carling, and (in more modern jazz) Ingrid Jensen being bright lights and famous names. At least progress has been made, but it definitely took way too long!
Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.
Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.
