A biography of African American jazz virtuoso Melba Doretta Liston, a pioneering twentieth-century Trombone player, composer, and music arranger at a time when few women, of any race, played brass instruments and were part of the jazz scene.
Overcoming obstacles of race and gender, Melba went on to become a famed Trombone player and arranger, spinning rhythms, harmonies, and melodies into gorgeous songs for all the jazz greats of the twentieth century: Randy Weston, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and Quincy Jones, to name just a few.
Brimming with ebullience and the joy of making music, Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a fitting tribute to a trailblazing musician and a great unsung hero of jazz..
She joined a band led by trumpet player Gerald Wilson and toured the country.
By the time she was a teenager, Melba\'s extraordinary gift for music led her to the world of jazz.
As a child, she daydreamed about beats and lyrics, and hummed along with the music from her family\'s Majestic radio.
At age seven, Melba fell in love with a big, shiny trombone, and soon taught herself to play the instrument.
Melba Doretta Liston loved the sounds of music from as far back as she could remember.
A biography of African American jazz virtuoso Melba Doretta Liston, a pioneering twentieth-century Trombone player, composer, and music arranger at a time when few women, of any race, played brass instruments and were part of the jazz scene
