Darlings of Rhythm
The Darlings of Rhythm were an African American women's big band from the swing era.
The Darlings of Rhythm were founded in Harlem in 1943 by the saxophonist Lorraine Brown, who was with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm and wanted to improve the working conditions for colored musicians. Like other early band members, she came from Eddie Durham's all-star girl band . They played mainly in front of black audiences and, like their better-known competition, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, toured mainly in the southern states and the American Midwest . In 1944 Clarence Love , former big band leader and now with the Ferguson agency, took over the musical direction.
Tenor saxophonist Margaret "Padjo" Backstrom and trumpeter Toby Butler (from 1945) played in it. However, because Butler was white , this resulted in constant trouble in the southern states due to the Jim Crow laws, which required strict segregation . Backstrom was an excellent soloist and also performed cutting contests with Vi Burnside from the Sweethearts in jam sessions . Alto saxophonist Josephine Boyd previously played in Eddie Durham's all-girl band and was also an excellent soloist. The trumpeter Jean Ray Lee (sometimes Gene Lee), who was with the foundation, was previously with the Harlem Playgirls . Drummer Henrietta Fountain played in 1937/38 with the Dixie Rhythm Girls and also with the Harlem Playgirls. Trombonist Jessie Turner was also previously in Durham's band.
Other band members were the pianist Ozzie "Bumps Huff", who later married Clarence Love, Lula Roberts and Grace Wilson on saxophone, Marie Johnson and Thelma Lewis on trumpet , Lillian Jones and Vi Wilson on bass and Aurora Bell on trombone . The singers were Joan Lunceford (who also conducted as the front woman) and Helen Taborn. In 1945 Hetty Smith took over the drums.
On one occasion they accompanied Billie Holiday at the Grand Terrace in Chicago. In 1945 they toured the west coast, supported by the USO troop support.
They competed with the better known other colored all-girl band, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and some of the musicians (such as Backstrom and Butler) also played in the Sweethearts.
In contrast to the Sweethearts, they couldn't afford a sophisticated cloakroom and expensive arrangements , which is why they improvised more often (to head arrangements ).
literature
- Sherrie Tucker Nobody's Sweethearts: Gender, Race, Jazz and the Darlings of Rhythm , American Music, Volume 16, 1998, No. 3
- Sherrie Tucker Swing Shift. All-girl bands in the 1940s , Duke University Press 2000
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sherrill Tucker Swing Shift , p. 201. According to another version, the Ferguson agency was looking for girl bands with Clarence Love and founded the Darlings . The pay of the musicians in the Sweethearts was bad.
- ↑ Connie Crothers, Review by Sherrie Tucker Swing Shift
- ↑ according to Frank Driggs identical to Babe Briscoe from the Harlem Playgirls