SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SPRING, 2017
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
SPRING, 2017
VOLUME FOUR NUMBER TWO
JOHN COLTRANE
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
EARTH WIND AND FIRE
(May 20-May 26)
JACK DEJOHNETTE
(May 27-June 2)
ALBERT AYLER
(June 3-June 9)
VI REDD
(June 10-June 16)
LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS
(June 17-June 23)
JULIAN “CANNONBALL” ADDERLEY
(June 24-June 30)
JAMES NEWTON
(July 1-July 7)
ART TATUM
(July 8-July 14)
SONNY CLARK
(July 15-July 21)
JASON MORAN
(July 22-July 28)
SONNY STITT
(July 29-August 4)
BUD POWELL
(August 5-August 11)
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/vi-redd-mn0001175117/biography
The story of alto saxophonist Vi Redd illustrates yet another way in which women jazz instrumentalists have been excluded from the dominant discourse on jazz history. Although she performed with such jazz greats as Count Basie, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Earl Hines, she is rarely discussed in jazz history books except for those focusing specifically on female jazz musicians. One reason for her omission is that jazz historiography has heavily relied on commercially produced recordings. Despite her active and successful career in the 1960s, Redd released only two recordings as a bandleader, in 1962 and 1964. Reviews of these recordings, along with published accounts of her live performances and memories of her fellow musicians illuminate how Redd's career as a jazz instrumentalist was greatly shaped by the established gender norms of the jazz world.
Elvira "Vi" Redd was born in Los Angeles in 1928. Her father, New Orleans drummer Alton Redd, worked with such jazz greats as Kid Ory, Dexter Gordon, and Wardell Gray. Redd began singing in church when she was five, and started on alto saxophone around the age of twelve, when her great aunt gave her a horn and taught her how to play. Around 1948 she formed a band with her first husband, trumpeter Nathaniel Meeks. She played the saxophone and sang, and began performing professionally. She had her first son when she was in her late twenties, and a second son with her second husband, drummer Richie Goldberg, a few years later. It was in the 1960s that Redd's popularity as a jazz saxophonist/singer peaked.
The Los Angeles Sentinel's coverage of her musical career starts in August 1961, when she had a weekly gig with Goldberg and an organ player at the Red Carpet jazz club. In the same year, Redd appeared at the club Shelly's Manne-Hole. In 1962 she performed at the Las Vegas Jazz Festival with her own group. The Los Angeles Sentinel reported, "Another first for the Las Vegas Festival on July 7 and 8 is achieved when Vi Redd, an attractive young girl alto sax player, becomes the first femme to be one of the instrumental headliners at a jazz festival. As a matter of fact, Miss Redd, may well be the first gal horn player in jazz history to establish herself as a major soloist."1 Here, Redd, a 34-year-old woman with two young children, is described as an "attractive young girl." Moreover, as is often the case with any male dominated field, being the "first" female is emphasized. A few months later the Sentinel wrote, "Vi Redd, first woman instrumentalist in participating in the recent Las Vegas Jazz Festival is jumping with joy as she was placed 5th in the Down Beat critics poll," confirming her status in the jazz scene.2
In 1964 Redd toured with Earl Hines in the U.S. and Canada, including engagements in Chicago and New York. The Chicago Defender reported on their appearance at the Sutherland Room: "Featured with ‘Fatha' Hines in his showcase are Vi Redd, a sultry singer who also plays the saxophone as well or better than many male musicians."3 In 1966, she played at the Monterey Jazz Festival with her own band, and the next year she traveled to London by herself to play with local musicians at the historic Ronnie Scott's jazz club. She was initially invited there as a singer and was scheduled to perform for only two weeks, but due to popular demand her performance was extended to ten weeks. Typically, Ronnie Scott's featured an instrumental group with a lesser-known vocalist as an opening act. Bassist Dave Holland, who played with Redd, recalled that she both played and sang and was enthusiastically accepted by the London audience. Prominent jazz critic Leonard Feather, a prominent white male jazz critic/producer, wrote "Booked in there (Ronnie Scott's)...only as a supporting attraction...she often earn[ed] greater attention and applause than several world famous saxophonists who appeared during that time playing the alternate sets."4 Jazz critic/photographer Valerie Wilmer echoed that sentiment in Down Beat, noting that Redd "came to London unheralded, an unknown quantity, and left behind a reputation for swinging that latecomers will find hard to live up to."5 Redd's London appearance was clearly extremely successful.
The summer of 1968 was another high point in Redd's music life. She made a guest appearance with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet at the Newport Jazz Festival in early July. This performance caught the eye of writers and critics who attended the Festival, including photographer/writer Burt Goldblatt:
In the accompanying photograph, Redd was wearing a very short dress, fishnet stockings, and high heels. Pianist Mike Longo remembered the concert very well. According to him, Redd sat in with Gillespie's band on many occasions whenever they toured California. "She always sounded good and she was very cool as a musician and a person."7 More interestingly, he denied Gillespie's chauvinistic attitude mentioned in Goldblatt's history of the Newport Festival book. "That was a routine joke Dizzy made every night. Vi was tuning up with me and Dizzy said that's close enough for jazz, meaning it doesn't have to be as accurate as Western classical music. Dizzy was one of the very few people who hired female musicians like Melba Liston. He had so much respect for Vi."8
Two renowned jazz critics, Stanley Dance and Dan Morgenstern, also reported on this performance in Jazz Journal in the UK and Down Beat in the US respectively. Dance wrote, "[Gillespie] provoked loud guffaws from the crowd by introducing ‘a young lady who has been enjoyed many times before.' Vi Redd seemed to take this gallantry in her stride ..."9 Despite Longo's statement, Gillespie's introduction of Redd and the audience's reaction do suggest a chauvinistic atmosphere. Dance's description of Redd's saxophone performance is neutral, mentioning only that she is "Bird-influenced." Morgenstern, on the other hand, called Redd a "guest star" and states, "Miss Redd sings most pleasantly...and plays excellent, Parker-inspired alto. To say she plays well for a woman would be patronizing—she'd get a lot of cats in trouble."10 Certainly, that Redd was a female saxophonist wearing feminine clothing evoked male-female tensions on the stage in these writers' minds. However, as suggested in Longo's statement, some open-minded musicians actually did not care that Redd was a female saxophonist, and did not let it affect their professionalism.
Later in the summer of 1968, Redd traveled to Europe and Africa with the Count Basie Orchestra as a singer. She performed publicly at several prestigious clubs and jazz festivals, attracting writers' attention and eliciting passionate reaction from audiences, especially in Europe during the late 1960s.
Around 1970, she started to perform less in order to stay home with her children and teach at a special education school. About five years later, at the age of forty-seven, she gradually resumed her performing career. In 1977 Redd was appointed as a Consultant Panelist to the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities in Washington, DC. For the past thirty years she has been working as a musician and educator, giving concerts, touring abroad, and lecturing at colleges. In 2001, she received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award.
Regardless of her exposure at public concerts during the 1960s, she did not have many opportunities to be recorded. In his 1962 Down Beat article, Leonard Feather offered an anecdote revealing how difficult it was for female jazz instrumentalists to get recorded. "Redd sat in with Art Blakey, who promptly called New York to rave about her to a recording executive. The record man's reaction was predictable: ‘Yes, but she's a girl...only two girls in jazz have ever really made it, Mary Lou Williams and Shirley Scott...I wonder whether to take a chance....'"11 This story demonstrates that female jazz instrumentalists, with the exception of a few keyboardists, did not fit into the dominant gender ideology of the period's jazz recording industry.
Redd's two recordings as a leader were produced by Feather, who discovered Redd through the recommendation of drummer Dave Bailey. Bailey explained, "I met Vi probably at a jam session in LA around 1962. Everyone told me that she sounded like Bird. When I heard her play, I was blown away. I thought she deserved attention, so I mentioned her to Leonard."12 After his experience at the Red Carpet, Feather helped Redd sign with United Artists, produced her two records, and wrote glowingly about her for Down Beat. He also paved the way for her to perform at Ronnie Scott's as well as booking her for the Beverly Hills Jazz Festival in 1967.
On her first album, Bird Call (United Artists, 1962), Redd recorded ten tunes: five were instrumentals, one was a vocal, and she both sang and played on four others. When she was asked if she "had control over what [she] wanted to play" on the record, she answered that Feather had the idea of recording Charlie Parker related tunes.13 Her second album, Lady Soul, was released in 1963. On this record, Redd sang on the majority of tracks; out of eleven tracks, three were vocal tunes, two instrumental, and six combined vocals and saxophone. Even on these six tunes, her saxophone solos were limited. Interestingly, four tunes were blues. Jazz critic John Tynan reviewed Lady Soulin Down Beat's "column of vocal album reviews" and wrote, "A discovery of Leonard Feather, Vi Redd may be more celebrated in some quarters as a better-than-average jazz alto saxophonist than as a vocalist. In Lady Soul Miss Redd the singer dominates on all tracks excepting two instrumentals, ‘Lady Soul,' a deep-digging blues, and the ballad ‘That's All'."14 Dave Bailey, who played drums on this recording, recalled, "I think Ertegun, the owner of Atlantic, selected the tunes we recorded. I think they were trying to get her more recognized as a singer."15 Leonard Feather confirmed in his liner notes for Lady Soul that Nesuhi Ertegun had suggested the inclusion of "Salty Papa Blues" and "Evil Gal's Daughter Blues," both written by Feather and his wife. The change from the more instrumental album to a more vocal and bluesy approach hints at their effort to follow traditional gender categories in the recording industry. In fact, Redd herself did not like the second album, only mentioning that "it wasn't the right thing to do."16
As a sidewoman, Redd participated in several important recordings. For example, she performs on two songs, "Put It on Mellow" and "Dinah," on trombonist Al Grey's Shades of Grey (1965), with a large ensemble of musicians featuring many members of the Count Basie Orchestra. Sally Placksin wrote that Redd considered these two instrumental songs to be her best recorded performances.17 "Put It on Mellow" is a slow ballad, in which Redd demonstrates her saxophone's "raw, gutty quality,"18 for which she was frequently praised. Her rendition of "Dinah" showcases Redd's ability as a well-rounded jazz instrumentalist. Though this old popular song is often played in a medium to up tempo, on this recording "Dinah" is a ballad that features Redd's alto saxophone. Backed by a richly textured harmony of tenor sax, trumpet, and three trombones, Redd beautifully embellishes the melodies with her distinctively resonant and silky sound. After the first chorus, she improvises on the bridge section over the rhythm section's double time feel. Toward the end, Redd creates an emotional and climactic moment with a fast ascending phrase and a repeated two-note figure in the high register, demonstrating her technical mastery and expressiveness.
In 1969, she joined the recording session of multiinstrumentalist Johnny Almond's jazz-rock album, Hollywood Blues, playing alto sax on two tunes. Her last recording was on Marian McPartland's Now's the Time, which was recorded immediately after Redd resumed her performing career. McPartland organized an "all-female band" for a jazz festival in Rochester, New York. On this live recording album, Redd played alto sax on several songs.
Redd's singing can be heard on three CDs: The Chase! by Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons, Live in Antibes, 1968 and Swingin' Machine: Live by the Count Basie Orchestra. The Chase! is a live album recorded in 1970 (reissued as a CD in 1996) on which Redd sings "Lonesome Lover Blues." Count Basie's Live in Antibes was recorded when Redd toured Europe with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1968. The first two tunes display her excellence as a blues singer: resonant and husky voice, shouting, bending, and twisting notes, melismatic singing, story telling, call and response with the band, and the delivery of bluesy feeling. The last song, "Stormy Monday Blues," however, stands out because she also plays a two chorus saxophone solo.19 She skillfully improvises using both bebop and blues inspired melodies.
One wonders why Redd had more opportunities to perform in public than to record. It is possible that musicians recognized her excellence as a saxophonist and invited her to sit in with them. Who gets recorded, however, is not necessarily determined by recognition and reputation among musicians. In the end, Redd's two recordings as a leader were made with the help of Feather. Strangely, she did not have the chance to record as a leader at the peak of her career in the late 1960s. Moreover, most of her recordings went out of print and became collector's items.20 Both recording opportunities and reissues reflect traditional gender norms in the recording industry. Redd has been obscured and forgotten precisely because she did not have those opportunities.
In an extensive interview with Monk Rowe of the Hamilton College Jazz Archives, Redd explained how she joined the Count Basie Orchestra: "They needed somebody that could sing the blues, and I mostly sang rather than played, those guys had some problems with me playing."21 Further reflecting on her experience with the Basie Orchestra, she said, "He [Basie] didn't let me play [alto saxophone] much because Marshal [Royal, the lead alto player for the Basie band] didn't like it. When I was singing, they were happy, but as soon as I started playing, they didn't like that."22 Clearly she was accepted more as a singer than as a saxophonist.
Feather stated "she [Redd] has too much talent. Is she a soul-blues-jazz singer who doubles on alto saxophone? Or is she a Charlie Parker-inspired saxophonist who also happens to sing?"23 There are mixed views on whether her main instrument was saxophone or voice. When pianist Stanley Cowell recalled Redd performing in London, his impression was that Redd only sang. This is possibly because he thinks that she was a better singer than a saxophonist. Cowell lived in Los Angeles from 1963 to 1964, where he saw Redd performing at local jazz clubs. He suggested, "She was a good saxophonist. But too many great saxophon- ists were around. And she could really sing."24 On the other hand, Mike Longo stated, "I didn't know she was a singer. I always thought she was a saxophon- ist because she always came to sit in with us and only played saxophone."25 It is difficult to imagine that Redd never sang with Gillespie's band until the Newport Jazz Festival. Longo continued, "You know, gender doesn't matter to music. It doesn't matter who plays."26 Perhaps Longo's gender-neutral attitude led him to recognize Redd as a jazz instrumentalist more than others.
Dave Bailey recently recalled, "She could have made it either way. She could play as good as the guys. And she was an awesome singer."27 He compares her to men only when he describes her saxophone performance, suggesting the saxophone's specific association with male performance. Bailey does not hesitate to say that "women don't associate themselves with the instruments."28 Although Redd was raised in an exceptional environment—family members, neighbors, and classmates were established musicians — even her father was unwilling at first to hire her in his band. Redd said, "I guess he had his chauvinist thing going, too."29
Cowell also recalled that Redd played very strongly "like a man, and that was what I liked about her."30 Although Redd demonstrates sensitivity and elegance in her beautiful ballad playing, it is her strength and gutsy blues feeling that seem to be most appreciated as a talented saxophonist. Cowell continued, "She was tough, soulful, and culturally black. She could curse you out, cut you down with her words."31 His description fits a stereotypical image of black womanhood, particularly a blues performers. As Patricia Hill Collins contends, blues provided black women with safe spaces where their voices could be heard, and in the classic blues era, more women than men were recorded as singers in the idiom.32 Redd's strong connection with the blues, however, was sometimes taken negatively among musicians. Cowell stated, "Some young musicians weren't willing to work with Vi, because they thought her music was not progressive enough."33 Cowell also thought that Redd did not develop her musical style adequately and remained within the comfortable realm of the blues. Indeed, the blues might have remained her comfort zone not only musically but also culturally and socially.
In addition to black women's association with the blues, the stereotypical dichotomy "men are instrumentalists, women are singers" continued to persist throughout the jazz world of the 1960s and 1970s. Because of these cultural constructions, Redd was perceived as a vocalist more than a jazz saxophonist, despite her considerable talents and contributions as an instrumentalist. Vi Redd's career path exemplifies how the music of female jazz instrumentalists remains largely invisible to jazz history.
Claire Daly, Tineke Postma, Tia Fuller, Virginia Mayhew are just a few of the strong women jazz saxophone players on the scene today. Rewind 40 – 50 years and you’ll find very few names. Elvira “Vi” Redd was one of those few. Now I know that there were many women sax players during the ’40’s – 60’s who were part of the “all girl” big bands and novelty acts. What I’m talking about are women who stepped out there on the front line with the men and recorded as leaders. Vi Redd was a pioneer.
Ms. Redd is the daughter of Alton Redd, who was a New Orleans drummer and the co-founder of the Big Easy’s legendary Clef Club. Vi was born in Los Angeles in 1928. With her father being a major part of the Central Avenue jazz scene, Vi was exposed to many of the greats of jazz from an early age. Young Vi was also blessed with an aunt, Elma Hightower, who was considered one of the foremost L.A. music teachers of her time. Ms. Hightower was instrumental in Vi’s decision to play the saxophone.
Like many sax players of her generation, Ms. Redd’s sound is heavily influenced by Charlie Parker. So, it was no accident that the first of her two albums as a leader was titled Bird Call. Recorded in 1962, it’s a good album, that features Herb Ellis on guitar; Leroy Vinnegar on bass; Carmell Jones on trumpet; Russ Freeman on piano and a young, pre-fusion Roy Ayers on vibes. In addition to her solid work on alto, Ms. Redd also sings on a few numbers, which is not a bad thing, as she is a fine vocalist with a compelling grit to her sound. The tunes penned by producer Leonard Feather are the only selections that miss the mark.
The next year, she recorded her second and apparently final album, Lady Soul. It’s the more polished of the two albums, with great playing and singing by Ms. Redd and first-rate support from Dave Bailey, Bucky Pizzarelli and Ben Tucker. Unfortunately, Lady Soul has slipped into obscurity and is extremely hard to find..
When one does research on the career of Vi Redd, the term that recurs more than any other is “under-recorded”. How true that is. For though Ms. Redd has played and toured with artists such as Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Sarah Vaughan and Max Roach, she has only two albums to her name and a scant four more with other artists. Notable among these is Now’s The Time; an all female session led by Marian McPartland, in 1977. Throughout the years, she gigged around the Los Angeles area and supported herself as a schoolteacher between engagements. She finally received a bit of long overdue recognition in 2000, when she was honored at “Instrumental Women: Celebrating Women-N-Jazz“, a concert at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
As of this writing, Vi Redd is retired and living in the L.A. area. And as we can see in this heartwarming interview conducted by a family member in 2009, she is still sharp, delightful and energetic.
Female jazz instrumentalists have been in short supply almost since the music began. And when one looks past the pianists who have gained some prominence--Mary Lou Williams, Marian McPartland, Toshiko Akiyoshi and more recent arrivals such as Geri Allen, Renee Rosnes and Eliane Elias--the view becomes even more sparse, with horn players especially difficult to find.
But not completely, and "Instrumental Women: Celebrating Women-N-Jazz"--a concert at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Goldenson Theater Saturday night--was a lively and largely successful effort to celebrate the roles that women have played and continue to play as vital performers on every jazz instrument.
Appropriately, the program's star and its honoree were the same artist: alto saxophonist and singer Vi Redd. A veteran who has performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie to Rahsaan Roland Kirk and McPartland, she has been acknowledged far too rarely for the sterling qualities of her music.
Although Redd, 71, did not appear until the closing segment of a lengthy program, her Charlie Parker-influence alto saxophone playing on "Misty," "The Shadow of Your Smile" and an ebullient blues jam was the evening's highlight. Blending crowd-pleasing riffing with sudden bursts of bop phrases, singing the blues with robust assuredness, her performance was the work of a first-rate jazz artist. Its fine quality emphasized the event's largely unspoken subtext--that, until very recently, the male club aspect of jazz made it difficult for even the most talented female instrumentalists to break through.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi_Redd
Elvira "Vi" Redd (born September 20, 1928) is an American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist and educator. She has been active since the early 1950s and is known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post-bop styles. She is highly regarded as an accomplished veteran who has performed with Count Basie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Linda Hopkins, Marian McPartland and Dizzy Gillespie.[1][2]
After working for the Board of Education from 1957 to 1960, Redd returned to jazz. She played in Las Vegas in 1962, toured with Earl Hines in 1964 and led a group in San Francisco in the mid-1960s with her husband, drummer Richie Goldberg. During this time, Redd also worked with Max Roach. While active, she toured as far as Japan, London (including an unprecedented 10 weeks at Ronnie Scott's), Sweden, Spain and Paris. In 1969, she settled in Los Angeles where she played locally while also working as an educator.[1][5] She led albums for United Artists (1962) and Atco (1962–63). Her 1963 album Lady Soul features many prominent jazz figures of the day, including Bill Perkins, Jennell Hawkins, Barney Kessel, Leroy Vinnegar, Leroy Harrison, Dick Hyman, Paul Griffin, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ben Tucker and Dave Bailey. The liner notes are by Leonard Feather.[6][7]
Redd graduated from California State University, Los Angeles, and earned a teaching certificate from University of Southern California. She taught and lectured for many years from the '70s onward upon returning to Los Angeles.[2][5] She served on the music advisory panel of the National Endowment for the Arts in the late 1970s.[8][9] In 1989 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Jazz Society.[10] In 2001 she received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award from the Kennedy Center.[11]
Scott Yanow. "Allmusic: Vi Redd – Biography". Allmusic.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
James Nadal. "All About Jazz: Vi Redd – Biography". All About Jazz. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
Isoardi, Steven L. (2005). "Central Avenue Sounds: Vi Redd". Center for Oral History Research, University of California Los Angeles and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
Sherrie Tucker (Winter 1996–97). "West Coast Women: A Jazz Genealogy" (PDF). Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology. 8 (1): 10. ISSN 1096-1291. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
Yoko Suzuki (Spring 2013). "Invisible Woman: Vi Redd's Contributions as a Jazz Saxophonist". American Music Review. XLII (2). Archived from the original on April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
"Allmusic: Vi Redd – Bird Call". Allmusic.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
"Allmusic: Vi Redd – Lady Soul". Allmusic.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
"National Endowment for the Arts, Annual Report 1978" (PDF). arts.gov. September 1979. p. 31. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
"National Endowment for the Arts, Annual Report 1980" (PDF). arts.gov. February 1981. p. 205. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
"Los Angeles Jazz Society – Lifetime Achievement Award". lajazz.org. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
EARTH WIND AND FIRE
(May 20-May 26)
JACK DEJOHNETTE
(May 27-June 2)
ALBERT AYLER
(June 3-June 9)
VI REDD
(June 10-June 16)
LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS
(June 17-June 23)
JULIAN “CANNONBALL” ADDERLEY
(June 24-June 30)
JAMES NEWTON
(July 1-July 7)
ART TATUM
(July 8-July 14)
SONNY CLARK
(July 15-July 21)
JASON MORAN
(July 22-July 28)
SONNY STITT
(July 29-August 4)
BUD POWELL
(August 5-August 11)
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/vi-redd-mn0001175117/biography
Vi Redd
(b. September 20, 1928)
Artist Biography by Scott Yanow
Vi Redd,
although greatly under-recorded throughout her career, was a passionate
bop-based altoist and an exciting singer. The daughter of drummer Alton Redd, Vi
was surrounded by music while growing up. She played locally, working
outside of music for the board of education during 1957-1960 before
returning to jazz. Redd played in Las Vegas in 1962, was with Earl Hines in 1964, and led a group in San Francisco in the mid-'60s with her husband, drummer Richie Goldberg. Among her other associations were Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie (1968), and Count Basie. In 1969 Vi Redd
settled in Los Angeles where she gigged locally on an occasional basis
while being busy as an educator. She led albums for United Artists
(1962) and Atco (1962-1963), and later appeared on the Gene Ammons/Dexter Gordon duo album The Chase! (1970) and Marian McPartland's Now's the Time (1977).
American Music Review
Vol. XLII, No. 2, Spring 2013
Invisible Woman: Vi Redd's Contributions as a Jazz Saxophonist
by Yoko Suzuki, University of PittsburghThe story of alto saxophonist Vi Redd illustrates yet another way in which women jazz instrumentalists have been excluded from the dominant discourse on jazz history. Although she performed with such jazz greats as Count Basie, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, and Earl Hines, she is rarely discussed in jazz history books except for those focusing specifically on female jazz musicians. One reason for her omission is that jazz historiography has heavily relied on commercially produced recordings. Despite her active and successful career in the 1960s, Redd released only two recordings as a bandleader, in 1962 and 1964. Reviews of these recordings, along with published accounts of her live performances and memories of her fellow musicians illuminate how Redd's career as a jazz instrumentalist was greatly shaped by the established gender norms of the jazz world.
Elvira "Vi" Redd was born in Los Angeles in 1928. Her father, New Orleans drummer Alton Redd, worked with such jazz greats as Kid Ory, Dexter Gordon, and Wardell Gray. Redd began singing in church when she was five, and started on alto saxophone around the age of twelve, when her great aunt gave her a horn and taught her how to play. Around 1948 she formed a band with her first husband, trumpeter Nathaniel Meeks. She played the saxophone and sang, and began performing professionally. She had her first son when she was in her late twenties, and a second son with her second husband, drummer Richie Goldberg, a few years later. It was in the 1960s that Redd's popularity as a jazz saxophonist/singer peaked.
The Los Angeles Sentinel's coverage of her musical career starts in August 1961, when she had a weekly gig with Goldberg and an organ player at the Red Carpet jazz club. In the same year, Redd appeared at the club Shelly's Manne-Hole. In 1962 she performed at the Las Vegas Jazz Festival with her own group. The Los Angeles Sentinel reported, "Another first for the Las Vegas Festival on July 7 and 8 is achieved when Vi Redd, an attractive young girl alto sax player, becomes the first femme to be one of the instrumental headliners at a jazz festival. As a matter of fact, Miss Redd, may well be the first gal horn player in jazz history to establish herself as a major soloist."1 Here, Redd, a 34-year-old woman with two young children, is described as an "attractive young girl." Moreover, as is often the case with any male dominated field, being the "first" female is emphasized. A few months later the Sentinel wrote, "Vi Redd, first woman instrumentalist in participating in the recent Las Vegas Jazz Festival is jumping with joy as she was placed 5th in the Down Beat critics poll," confirming her status in the jazz scene.2
In 1964 Redd toured with Earl Hines in the U.S. and Canada, including engagements in Chicago and New York. The Chicago Defender reported on their appearance at the Sutherland Room: "Featured with ‘Fatha' Hines in his showcase are Vi Redd, a sultry singer who also plays the saxophone as well or better than many male musicians."3 In 1966, she played at the Monterey Jazz Festival with her own band, and the next year she traveled to London by herself to play with local musicians at the historic Ronnie Scott's jazz club. She was initially invited there as a singer and was scheduled to perform for only two weeks, but due to popular demand her performance was extended to ten weeks. Typically, Ronnie Scott's featured an instrumental group with a lesser-known vocalist as an opening act. Bassist Dave Holland, who played with Redd, recalled that she both played and sang and was enthusiastically accepted by the London audience. Prominent jazz critic Leonard Feather, a prominent white male jazz critic/producer, wrote "Booked in there (Ronnie Scott's)...only as a supporting attraction...she often earn[ed] greater attention and applause than several world famous saxophonists who appeared during that time playing the alternate sets."4 Jazz critic/photographer Valerie Wilmer echoed that sentiment in Down Beat, noting that Redd "came to London unheralded, an unknown quantity, and left behind a reputation for swinging that latecomers will find hard to live up to."5 Redd's London appearance was clearly extremely successful.
The summer of 1968 was another high point in Redd's music life. She made a guest appearance with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet at the Newport Jazz Festival in early July. This performance caught the eye of writers and critics who attended the Festival, including photographer/writer Burt Goldblatt:
"At one point he (Gillespie) introduced female sax player Vi Redd as "a young lady who has been enjoyed many times before..." Later while she warmed up with pianist Mike Longo, Dizzy interjected, "That's close enough to jazz," convulsing the audience once again. But despite all the male-chauvinist-inspired humor she encountered, Vi fluffed it off and played a fine, Bird-inspired solo on "Lover Man."6
In the accompanying photograph, Redd was wearing a very short dress, fishnet stockings, and high heels. Pianist Mike Longo remembered the concert very well. According to him, Redd sat in with Gillespie's band on many occasions whenever they toured California. "She always sounded good and she was very cool as a musician and a person."7 More interestingly, he denied Gillespie's chauvinistic attitude mentioned in Goldblatt's history of the Newport Festival book. "That was a routine joke Dizzy made every night. Vi was tuning up with me and Dizzy said that's close enough for jazz, meaning it doesn't have to be as accurate as Western classical music. Dizzy was one of the very few people who hired female musicians like Melba Liston. He had so much respect for Vi."8
Two renowned jazz critics, Stanley Dance and Dan Morgenstern, also reported on this performance in Jazz Journal in the UK and Down Beat in the US respectively. Dance wrote, "[Gillespie] provoked loud guffaws from the crowd by introducing ‘a young lady who has been enjoyed many times before.' Vi Redd seemed to take this gallantry in her stride ..."9 Despite Longo's statement, Gillespie's introduction of Redd and the audience's reaction do suggest a chauvinistic atmosphere. Dance's description of Redd's saxophone performance is neutral, mentioning only that she is "Bird-influenced." Morgenstern, on the other hand, called Redd a "guest star" and states, "Miss Redd sings most pleasantly...and plays excellent, Parker-inspired alto. To say she plays well for a woman would be patronizing—she'd get a lot of cats in trouble."10 Certainly, that Redd was a female saxophonist wearing feminine clothing evoked male-female tensions on the stage in these writers' minds. However, as suggested in Longo's statement, some open-minded musicians actually did not care that Redd was a female saxophonist, and did not let it affect their professionalism.
Later in the summer of 1968, Redd traveled to Europe and Africa with the Count Basie Orchestra as a singer. She performed publicly at several prestigious clubs and jazz festivals, attracting writers' attention and eliciting passionate reaction from audiences, especially in Europe during the late 1960s.
Around 1970, she started to perform less in order to stay home with her children and teach at a special education school. About five years later, at the age of forty-seven, she gradually resumed her performing career. In 1977 Redd was appointed as a Consultant Panelist to the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities in Washington, DC. For the past thirty years she has been working as a musician and educator, giving concerts, touring abroad, and lecturing at colleges. In 2001, she received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award.
Regardless of her exposure at public concerts during the 1960s, she did not have many opportunities to be recorded. In his 1962 Down Beat article, Leonard Feather offered an anecdote revealing how difficult it was for female jazz instrumentalists to get recorded. "Redd sat in with Art Blakey, who promptly called New York to rave about her to a recording executive. The record man's reaction was predictable: ‘Yes, but she's a girl...only two girls in jazz have ever really made it, Mary Lou Williams and Shirley Scott...I wonder whether to take a chance....'"11 This story demonstrates that female jazz instrumentalists, with the exception of a few keyboardists, did not fit into the dominant gender ideology of the period's jazz recording industry.
Redd's two recordings as a leader were produced by Feather, who discovered Redd through the recommendation of drummer Dave Bailey. Bailey explained, "I met Vi probably at a jam session in LA around 1962. Everyone told me that she sounded like Bird. When I heard her play, I was blown away. I thought she deserved attention, so I mentioned her to Leonard."12 After his experience at the Red Carpet, Feather helped Redd sign with United Artists, produced her two records, and wrote glowingly about her for Down Beat. He also paved the way for her to perform at Ronnie Scott's as well as booking her for the Beverly Hills Jazz Festival in 1967.
Vi Redd's first album Bird Call (1962)
On her first album, Bird Call (United Artists, 1962), Redd recorded ten tunes: five were instrumentals, one was a vocal, and she both sang and played on four others. When she was asked if she "had control over what [she] wanted to play" on the record, she answered that Feather had the idea of recording Charlie Parker related tunes.13 Her second album, Lady Soul, was released in 1963. On this record, Redd sang on the majority of tracks; out of eleven tracks, three were vocal tunes, two instrumental, and six combined vocals and saxophone. Even on these six tunes, her saxophone solos were limited. Interestingly, four tunes were blues. Jazz critic John Tynan reviewed Lady Soulin Down Beat's "column of vocal album reviews" and wrote, "A discovery of Leonard Feather, Vi Redd may be more celebrated in some quarters as a better-than-average jazz alto saxophonist than as a vocalist. In Lady Soul Miss Redd the singer dominates on all tracks excepting two instrumentals, ‘Lady Soul,' a deep-digging blues, and the ballad ‘That's All'."14 Dave Bailey, who played drums on this recording, recalled, "I think Ertegun, the owner of Atlantic, selected the tunes we recorded. I think they were trying to get her more recognized as a singer."15 Leonard Feather confirmed in his liner notes for Lady Soul that Nesuhi Ertegun had suggested the inclusion of "Salty Papa Blues" and "Evil Gal's Daughter Blues," both written by Feather and his wife. The change from the more instrumental album to a more vocal and bluesy approach hints at their effort to follow traditional gender categories in the recording industry. In fact, Redd herself did not like the second album, only mentioning that "it wasn't the right thing to do."16
As a sidewoman, Redd participated in several important recordings. For example, she performs on two songs, "Put It on Mellow" and "Dinah," on trombonist Al Grey's Shades of Grey (1965), with a large ensemble of musicians featuring many members of the Count Basie Orchestra. Sally Placksin wrote that Redd considered these two instrumental songs to be her best recorded performances.17 "Put It on Mellow" is a slow ballad, in which Redd demonstrates her saxophone's "raw, gutty quality,"18 for which she was frequently praised. Her rendition of "Dinah" showcases Redd's ability as a well-rounded jazz instrumentalist. Though this old popular song is often played in a medium to up tempo, on this recording "Dinah" is a ballad that features Redd's alto saxophone. Backed by a richly textured harmony of tenor sax, trumpet, and three trombones, Redd beautifully embellishes the melodies with her distinctively resonant and silky sound. After the first chorus, she improvises on the bridge section over the rhythm section's double time feel. Toward the end, Redd creates an emotional and climactic moment with a fast ascending phrase and a repeated two-note figure in the high register, demonstrating her technical mastery and expressiveness.
In 1969, she joined the recording session of multiinstrumentalist Johnny Almond's jazz-rock album, Hollywood Blues, playing alto sax on two tunes. Her last recording was on Marian McPartland's Now's the Time, which was recorded immediately after Redd resumed her performing career. McPartland organized an "all-female band" for a jazz festival in Rochester, New York. On this live recording album, Redd played alto sax on several songs.
Redd's singing can be heard on three CDs: The Chase! by Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons, Live in Antibes, 1968 and Swingin' Machine: Live by the Count Basie Orchestra. The Chase! is a live album recorded in 1970 (reissued as a CD in 1996) on which Redd sings "Lonesome Lover Blues." Count Basie's Live in Antibes was recorded when Redd toured Europe with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1968. The first two tunes display her excellence as a blues singer: resonant and husky voice, shouting, bending, and twisting notes, melismatic singing, story telling, call and response with the band, and the delivery of bluesy feeling. The last song, "Stormy Monday Blues," however, stands out because she also plays a two chorus saxophone solo.19 She skillfully improvises using both bebop and blues inspired melodies.
One wonders why Redd had more opportunities to perform in public than to record. It is possible that musicians recognized her excellence as a saxophonist and invited her to sit in with them. Who gets recorded, however, is not necessarily determined by recognition and reputation among musicians. In the end, Redd's two recordings as a leader were made with the help of Feather. Strangely, she did not have the chance to record as a leader at the peak of her career in the late 1960s. Moreover, most of her recordings went out of print and became collector's items.20 Both recording opportunities and reissues reflect traditional gender norms in the recording industry. Redd has been obscured and forgotten precisely because she did not have those opportunities.
In an extensive interview with Monk Rowe of the Hamilton College Jazz Archives, Redd explained how she joined the Count Basie Orchestra: "They needed somebody that could sing the blues, and I mostly sang rather than played, those guys had some problems with me playing."21 Further reflecting on her experience with the Basie Orchestra, she said, "He [Basie] didn't let me play [alto saxophone] much because Marshal [Royal, the lead alto player for the Basie band] didn't like it. When I was singing, they were happy, but as soon as I started playing, they didn't like that."22 Clearly she was accepted more as a singer than as a saxophonist.
Feather stated "she [Redd] has too much talent. Is she a soul-blues-jazz singer who doubles on alto saxophone? Or is she a Charlie Parker-inspired saxophonist who also happens to sing?"23 There are mixed views on whether her main instrument was saxophone or voice. When pianist Stanley Cowell recalled Redd performing in London, his impression was that Redd only sang. This is possibly because he thinks that she was a better singer than a saxophonist. Cowell lived in Los Angeles from 1963 to 1964, where he saw Redd performing at local jazz clubs. He suggested, "She was a good saxophonist. But too many great saxophon- ists were around. And she could really sing."24 On the other hand, Mike Longo stated, "I didn't know she was a singer. I always thought she was a saxophon- ist because she always came to sit in with us and only played saxophone."25 It is difficult to imagine that Redd never sang with Gillespie's band until the Newport Jazz Festival. Longo continued, "You know, gender doesn't matter to music. It doesn't matter who plays."26 Perhaps Longo's gender-neutral attitude led him to recognize Redd as a jazz instrumentalist more than others.
Dave Bailey recently recalled, "She could have made it either way. She could play as good as the guys. And she was an awesome singer."27 He compares her to men only when he describes her saxophone performance, suggesting the saxophone's specific association with male performance. Bailey does not hesitate to say that "women don't associate themselves with the instruments."28 Although Redd was raised in an exceptional environment—family members, neighbors, and classmates were established musicians — even her father was unwilling at first to hire her in his band. Redd said, "I guess he had his chauvinist thing going, too."29
Cowell also recalled that Redd played very strongly "like a man, and that was what I liked about her."30 Although Redd demonstrates sensitivity and elegance in her beautiful ballad playing, it is her strength and gutsy blues feeling that seem to be most appreciated as a talented saxophonist. Cowell continued, "She was tough, soulful, and culturally black. She could curse you out, cut you down with her words."31 His description fits a stereotypical image of black womanhood, particularly a blues performers. As Patricia Hill Collins contends, blues provided black women with safe spaces where their voices could be heard, and in the classic blues era, more women than men were recorded as singers in the idiom.32 Redd's strong connection with the blues, however, was sometimes taken negatively among musicians. Cowell stated, "Some young musicians weren't willing to work with Vi, because they thought her music was not progressive enough."33 Cowell also thought that Redd did not develop her musical style adequately and remained within the comfortable realm of the blues. Indeed, the blues might have remained her comfort zone not only musically but also culturally and socially.
In addition to black women's association with the blues, the stereotypical dichotomy "men are instrumentalists, women are singers" continued to persist throughout the jazz world of the 1960s and 1970s. Because of these cultural constructions, Redd was perceived as a vocalist more than a jazz saxophonist, despite her considerable talents and contributions as an instrumentalist. Vi Redd's career path exemplifies how the music of female jazz instrumentalists remains largely invisible to jazz history.
Notes
- 1 "Vi Redd Headlines Jazz Bash," Los Angeles Sentinel, 28 June 1962, C1.
- 2 "Gertrude Gipson...Candid Comments," Los Angeles Sentinel, 9 August 1962, A18.
- 3 "Last Chance to See ‘Fatha,'" The Chicago Defender, 29 August 1964, 10.
- 4 Leonard Feather, liner notes for Vi Redd, Bird Call (1969 Reissue, Solid State 3518038).
- 5 Valerie Wilmer, "Caught in the Act," Down Beat Vol. 34, No. 4 (1968), 34-35.
- 6 Burt Goldblatt, Newport Jazz Festival: The Illustrated History (New York: The Dial Press, 1977), 154.
- 7 Mike Longo, personal communication with author (6 May 2005).
- 8 Ibid.
- 9 Stanley Dance, "Lightly & Politely: Newport, '68," Jazz Journal, Vol. 21, No. 9 (1968), 4.
- 10 Dan Morgenstern, "Newport Roundup," Down Beat Vol. 35, No. 18 (1968), 34.
- 11 Leonard Feather, "Focus on Vi Redd," Down Beat Vol. 29, No. 24 (1962), 23.
- 12 Dave Bailey, personal communication with author (1 June 2005).
- 13 Vi Redd, interview with Monk Rowe (13 February 1999).
- 14 John Tynan, "Vi Redd-Lady Soul," Down Beat, 31/4 (1964), 33.
- 15 Bailey, 2005.
- 16 Vi Redd, personal communication with author (5 September 2009).
- 17 Leonard Feather, liner notes for Lady Soul (Atco 33-157, 1963).
- 18 Sally Placksin, American Women in Jazz: 1900 to the Present (New York: Wideview Books, 1982), 259.
- 19 Redd is credited only as a singer in the liner notes. Therefore, people who are unfamiliar with Redd's playing may not realize she played the saxophone solo.
- 20 Her two recordings as a leader have gone out of print. The first album was reissued by Solid State (a division of United Artists) in the late 1960s. One tune from the second album was included on a compilation album titled Women in Jazz: Swing Time to Modern, Volume 3 in 1978. However, these albums also went out of print soon thereafter.
- 21 Redd, interview with Monk Rowe (13 February 1999).
- 22 Vi Redd, 2009.
- 23 Leonard Feather, liner notes for Lady Soul (Atco 33-157, 1963).
- 24 Stanley Cowell, personal communication with author (15 May 2005).
- 25 Longo, 2005.
- 26 Ibid.
- 27 Bailey, 2005.
- 28 Ibid.
- 29 Redd, 1999.
- 30 Cowell, 2005.
- 31 Ibid.
- 32 Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought (New York and London: Routledge, 2000), 105.
- 33 Cowell, 2005.
Unsung Women of Jazz #7 – Vi Redd
“This record is a sterling example of what the music [jazz] lost in the name of its phallocentricity. Vi Redd demonstrates a thoughtful tone and a careful respect for those around her. Her solos are pithy and directly to the point…Quite honestly, there’s really nothing quite like her records.” – From Rob Ferrier’s All Music guide Review of Vi Redd’s Lady Soul LP
Claire Daly, Tineke Postma, Tia Fuller, Virginia Mayhew are just a few of the strong women jazz saxophone players on the scene today. Rewind 40 – 50 years and you’ll find very few names. Elvira “Vi” Redd was one of those few. Now I know that there were many women sax players during the ’40’s – 60’s who were part of the “all girl” big bands and novelty acts. What I’m talking about are women who stepped out there on the front line with the men and recorded as leaders. Vi Redd was a pioneer.
Ms. Redd is the daughter of Alton Redd, who was a New Orleans drummer and the co-founder of the Big Easy’s legendary Clef Club. Vi was born in Los Angeles in 1928. With her father being a major part of the Central Avenue jazz scene, Vi was exposed to many of the greats of jazz from an early age. Young Vi was also blessed with an aunt, Elma Hightower, who was considered one of the foremost L.A. music teachers of her time. Ms. Hightower was instrumental in Vi’s decision to play the saxophone.
Like many sax players of her generation, Ms. Redd’s sound is heavily influenced by Charlie Parker. So, it was no accident that the first of her two albums as a leader was titled Bird Call. Recorded in 1962, it’s a good album, that features Herb Ellis on guitar; Leroy Vinnegar on bass; Carmell Jones on trumpet; Russ Freeman on piano and a young, pre-fusion Roy Ayers on vibes. In addition to her solid work on alto, Ms. Redd also sings on a few numbers, which is not a bad thing, as she is a fine vocalist with a compelling grit to her sound. The tunes penned by producer Leonard Feather are the only selections that miss the mark.
The next year, she recorded her second and apparently final album, Lady Soul. It’s the more polished of the two albums, with great playing and singing by Ms. Redd and first-rate support from Dave Bailey, Bucky Pizzarelli and Ben Tucker. Unfortunately, Lady Soul has slipped into obscurity and is extremely hard to find..
When one does research on the career of Vi Redd, the term that recurs more than any other is “under-recorded”. How true that is. For though Ms. Redd has played and toured with artists such as Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Sarah Vaughan and Max Roach, she has only two albums to her name and a scant four more with other artists. Notable among these is Now’s The Time; an all female session led by Marian McPartland, in 1977. Throughout the years, she gigged around the Los Angeles area and supported herself as a schoolteacher between engagements. She finally received a bit of long overdue recognition in 2000, when she was honored at “Instrumental Women: Celebrating Women-N-Jazz“, a concert at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
As of this writing, Vi Redd is retired and living in the L.A. area. And as we can see in this heartwarming interview conducted by a family member in 2009, she is still sharp, delightful and energetic.
Jazz Review
Vi Redd Leads Celebration of Women Players
Female jazz instrumentalists have been in short supply almost since the music began. And when one looks past the pianists who have gained some prominence--Mary Lou Williams, Marian McPartland, Toshiko Akiyoshi and more recent arrivals such as Geri Allen, Renee Rosnes and Eliane Elias--the view becomes even more sparse, with horn players especially difficult to find.
But not completely, and "Instrumental Women: Celebrating Women-N-Jazz"--a concert at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Goldenson Theater Saturday night--was a lively and largely successful effort to celebrate the roles that women have played and continue to play as vital performers on every jazz instrument.
Appropriately, the program's star and its honoree were the same artist: alto saxophonist and singer Vi Redd. A veteran who has performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie to Rahsaan Roland Kirk and McPartland, she has been acknowledged far too rarely for the sterling qualities of her music.
Although Redd, 71, did not appear until the closing segment of a lengthy program, her Charlie Parker-influence alto saxophone playing on "Misty," "The Shadow of Your Smile" and an ebullient blues jam was the evening's highlight. Blending crowd-pleasing riffing with sudden bursts of bop phrases, singing the blues with robust assuredness, her performance was the work of a first-rate jazz artist. Its fine quality emphasized the event's largely unspoken subtext--that, until very recently, the male club aspect of jazz made it difficult for even the most talented female instrumentalists to break through.
The
full program embraced a wide range of talented players. Among the best
were those who functioned primarily as a rhythm team: drummer Terri Lyne
Carrington, bassist Leslie Baker and percussionist Bobbye Hall.
Covering every style of music thrown at them, from straight-ahead to
Latin to fusion, they performed with quiet but dependable excellence.
Other participants included violinist Karen Briggs, saxophonists Cece Worrall and Jacqueline Klimek, flutist Valarie King, keyboardists Karen Hernandez and Vanessa Burch, singer Phyllis Battle and the trio of bassist Jennifer York. KLON disk jockey James Janesse served as master of ceremonies.
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/viredd
Vi Redd
Biography
An accomplished altoist and vocalist, Vi Redd's impressive music career has flourished for over four decades. A veteran who has performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie to Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Marian McPartland, she has been acknowledged far too rarely for the sterling qualities of her music.
From her performances with the legendary Count Basie to her personal friendship with the late Sarah Vaughn, Ms. Redd is well-known and well-respected within the annals of jazz. Daughter of New Orleans jazz drummer and Clef Club co-founder, Alton Redd, Vi Redd was born in Los Angeles and was deeply influenced during her formative years by her father who was one of the paramount figures on the Central Avenue jazz scene. Another dominant musical mentor was her aunt, Elma Hightower, one of the most sought after music teachers in the Los Angeles area during the same time. Under her aunt's watchful eye and guidance, Ms. Redd picked up the saxophone as a child and hasn't put it down since.
Redd is a Cal State LA graduate, and went on to earn a teaching certificate from USC. She relocated to Berkeley, CA during the 60's and 70's and taught as a classroom teacher for many years, upon returning to Los Angeles.
Vi Redd is certainly one of the more elusive figures in jazz, which has only added to her appeal which for collectors is based on her two excellent efforts as leader “Bird Call,” (’63) and her most prominent from 1965 “Lady Soul.”
Source: James Nadal
Other participants included violinist Karen Briggs, saxophonists Cece Worrall and Jacqueline Klimek, flutist Valarie King, keyboardists Karen Hernandez and Vanessa Burch, singer Phyllis Battle and the trio of bassist Jennifer York. KLON disk jockey James Janesse served as master of ceremonies.
https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/viredd
Vi Redd
Biography
An accomplished altoist and vocalist, Vi Redd's impressive music career has flourished for over four decades. A veteran who has performed with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie to Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Marian McPartland, she has been acknowledged far too rarely for the sterling qualities of her music.
From her performances with the legendary Count Basie to her personal friendship with the late Sarah Vaughn, Ms. Redd is well-known and well-respected within the annals of jazz. Daughter of New Orleans jazz drummer and Clef Club co-founder, Alton Redd, Vi Redd was born in Los Angeles and was deeply influenced during her formative years by her father who was one of the paramount figures on the Central Avenue jazz scene. Another dominant musical mentor was her aunt, Elma Hightower, one of the most sought after music teachers in the Los Angeles area during the same time. Under her aunt's watchful eye and guidance, Ms. Redd picked up the saxophone as a child and hasn't put it down since.
Redd is a Cal State LA graduate, and went on to earn a teaching certificate from USC. She relocated to Berkeley, CA during the 60's and 70's and taught as a classroom teacher for many years, upon returning to Los Angeles.
Vi Redd is certainly one of the more elusive figures in jazz, which has only added to her appeal which for collectors is based on her two excellent efforts as leader “Bird Call,” (’63) and her most prominent from 1965 “Lady Soul.”
Source: James Nadal
THE MUSIC OF VI REDD: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH VI REDD:
Vi Redd - Alto Sax and Vocals
Roy Ayers - vibes
Carmell Jones - trumpet
Russ Freeman - piano
Leroy Vinnegar - bass
Richie Goldberg - drums
Herb Ellis - guitar
Bob Whitlock - bass
Vi Redd - "Now's The Time”--1962:
Vi Redd - "Now's The Time”--1962:
Vi Redd - "I'd rather have a memory than a dream”:
"STYLES OF JAZZ" DOCUMENTARY FEAT. VI REDD
This video features the Grandmother of the person who posted this video, the legendary Vi Redd. The legendary Pianist Marian McPartland discusses jazz development and styles. The video also Includes footage of Jane Ira Bloom, Melba Liston and Carla Bley.
Vi Redd (born: September 20, 1928 in Los Angeles) is a passionate bop-based altoist and an exciting singer. The daughter of drummer Alton Redd, Vi was surrounded by music while growing up. She played locally, worked outside of music for the Board of Education during 1957-60 before returning to jazz. Redd played in Las Vegas in 1962, was with Earl Hines in 1964 and led a group in San Francisco in the mid-1960's with her husband, drummer Richie Goldberg. Among her other associations were Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie (1968) and Count Basie. In 1969 Vi Redd settled in Los Angeles where she has gigged locally on an occasional basis while being busy as an educator. She led albums for United Artists (1962) and Atco (1962-63).
Vi Redd on vocal and alto sax with the Count Basie Orchestra - Festival gig France--1968:
"Everyday";
"Wee Baby Blues";
"Stormy Monday" (Live video):
Vi Redd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Vi Redd | |
|---|---|
Rochester, New York, 1977
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Elvira Louise Redd |
| Born | September 20, 1928 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, bebop, hard bop, post bop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, vocalist, teacher |
| Instruments | Alto saxophone |
| Years active | 1950–2010 |
| Labels | Atlantic, Atco, United Artists |
| Associated acts | Count Basie orchestra |
Elvira "Vi" Redd (born September 20, 1928) is an American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist and educator. She has been active since the early 1950s and is known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post-bop styles. She is highly regarded as an accomplished veteran who has performed with Count Basie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Linda Hopkins, Marian McPartland and Dizzy Gillespie.[1][2]
Contents
Life and career
Redd is the daughter of New Orleans jazz drummer and Clef Club co-founder Alton Redd and Mattie Redd (née Thomas).[3] She was born in Los Angeles. She was deeply influenced during her formative years by her father, who was one of the leading figures on the Central Avenue jazz scene. Another important musical mentor was her paternal great aunt Alma Hightower.[2][4]
After working for the Board of Education from 1957 to 1960, Redd returned to jazz. She played in Las Vegas in 1962, toured with Earl Hines in 1964 and led a group in San Francisco in the mid-1960s with her husband, drummer Richie Goldberg. During this time, Redd also worked with Max Roach. While active, she toured as far as Japan, London (including an unprecedented 10 weeks at Ronnie Scott's), Sweden, Spain and Paris. In 1969, she settled in Los Angeles where she played locally while also working as an educator.[1][5] She led albums for United Artists (1962) and Atco (1962–63). Her 1963 album Lady Soul features many prominent jazz figures of the day, including Bill Perkins, Jennell Hawkins, Barney Kessel, Leroy Vinnegar, Leroy Harrison, Dick Hyman, Paul Griffin, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ben Tucker and Dave Bailey. The liner notes are by Leonard Feather.[6][7]
Redd graduated from California State University, Los Angeles, and earned a teaching certificate from University of Southern California. She taught and lectured for many years from the '70s onward upon returning to Los Angeles.[2][5] She served on the music advisory panel of the National Endowment for the Arts in the late 1970s.[8][9] In 1989 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Jazz Society.[10] In 2001 she received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award from the Kennedy Center.[11]
Discography
- 1962 – Bird Call (United Artists/Solid State)
- 1963 – Lady Soul (Atco)
- 1965 – Al Grey: Shades of Grey (Tangerine)
- 1968 – Count Basie: Live at Antibes 1968 (Rare Records France)
- 1970 – Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon: The Chase! (Prestige)
- 1977 – Marian McPartland: Now's the Time (Halcyon)
References:
Interviews from 1997 thru 1999.
- "Mary Lou Williams Festival Features Females". JazzTimes. March 18, 2001. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
Further reading
- Interviews
- Isoardi, Steven L. Vi Redd, Central Avenue Sounds, Oral History and Archives Project of the Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences. Center for Oral History Research, University of California Los Angeles and The Pew Charitable Trusts, 2005. Interviews from 1997 thru 1999.
- Rowe, Monk. Vi Redd. Hamilton College Jazz Archive, February 13, 1999.
- Publications
- Suzuki, Yoko. "Invisible Woman: Vi Redd's Contributions as a Jazz Saxophonist," American Music Review. Vol. XLII, No. 2, Spring 2013.
- Vacher, Peter. Soloists and Sidemen: American Jazz Stories. London: Northway Publications, 2004. pp. 111–116. ISBN 978-0-953-70404-0 OCLC 60836034
