Dynamic Women of Early Jazz and Classic Blues, Pt 1

Concealed in the shadows of Jazz and Blues history are dynamic women who nurtured, guided and developed the music. Several of the most talented and accomplished are profiled including Blanche Calloway, the first woman to lead an all-male jazz band; “Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith; the Basie-style International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the high-water mark of the “all-girl” orchestras; and Ina Rae Hutton, leader of the all-female Melodears Swing orchestra. Blanche Calloway: The First Woman to Lead an All-male Band Singer, composer and bandleader Blanche Calloway (1902-1978) is recognized today as the first woman to successfully lead an all-male Jazz orchestra under her own name. Waxing a couple dozen sides, Blanche Calloway and Her Joy Boys were quite successful working out of Kansas City in the Midwestern region during the early 1930s. But she was eclipsed by the superstardom of her much more famous younger brother. Cab Calloway borrowed key elements from his elder sister’s act -- her bravura vocal style and Hi-de-Ho call-and-response motifs. In his memoir (Of Minnie the Moocher and Me, 1976) Cab acknowledged Blanche’s influence, declaring her an all-around entertainer who was “vivacious, lovely, personality plus and a hell of a singer and dancer . . . fabulous, happy and extroverted.” Blanche Ca