Ada Leonard

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Ada Leonard (born July 22, 1915 in Lawton , Oklahoma , † November 29, 1997 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American bandleader, best known for founding a women's big band in the swing era (Ada Leonard and her All American Girls).

Live and act

Leonard was the daughter of an actor and a dancer and musician and appeared on stage for the first time at the age of three. She learned the piano and cello, but was not gifted enough as a musician to make a career out of it, and began performing burlesque in Chicago. Her performances were classy and gave her a reputation as a burlesque queen . After seeing Rita Rio 's women's band in 1939 , she decided to do something similar and in 1940 also founded a (Euro-American) women's big band. The musicians had reservations at first; Leonard turned out to be a die-hard businesswoman who was loyal to her musicians. In 1941 they began to look after the troops ( USO) and increasingly turned into a real swing band. She led her All American Girl Orchestra until the mid-1950s, when the orchestra switched back to a more shallow repertoire. 1952 to 1954 she had her own TV show with her band. After that, she considered retiring for a short time, but then took over the leadership of a new band, this time only made up of men.

Members of her band included trumpeter Jane Sage, saxophonist Ethel Kirkpatrick, drummer Fagle Liebman, saxophonist Roz Cron (later with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm ) and trumpeters Norma Carson and Fran Shirley.

literature

  • Sherrie Tucker: Swing shift: "All-Girl" Bands of the 1940s , Duke University Press 2000

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Leonard, Ada
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American band leader
DATE OF BIRTH July 22, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Lawton , Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 1997
Place of death Santa Monica , California