Liston, Melba (1926—)

American jazz trombonist and arranger. Name variations: Melba Doretta Liston. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 13, 1926.

Selected recordings as sideman:

D. Gordon's Mischievous Lady (Dial 1018, 1947); Lullaby in Rhythm (Dial 1038, 1947); D. Gillespie's Dizzy Gillespie at Newport (Verve 8242, 1957).

Selected arrangements, all recorded by Dizzy Gillespie:

"Stella by Starlight," on World Statesman (Norg. 1084, 1956); "My Reverie," and "Annie's Dance" (both 1956), on Dizzy in Greece (Verve 8017, 1956–57).

One of only a handful of African-American female trombonists in history and a brilliant arranger, Melba Liston has been a leading force for women musicians the world over. In a career that has spanned over 40 years, Liston has worked with such music icons as William "Count" Basie, John Birks, Dizzy Gillespie, Albert "Budd" Johnson, Clark Terry, Billie Holiday , and Quincy Jones, and no one has a bad word to say about her. "Melba is a woman of strength," said pianist, singer, and fan Emme Kemp . "A woman of integrity. A woman who is able to endure, and she is savvy."

Melba Liston was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1926, and moved to Los Angeles, California, with her family when she was 11. She studied trombone in high school and, in 1942, launched her career in a theater pit orchestra led by Bardu Ali. In 1943, she joined Gerald Wilson's big band and was with him until 1948, when she joined up with Dizzy Gillespie. Around this time, however, the rigors of life on the road began to get to Liston, and, after a tour with Billie Holiday in 1949, she gave up playing and worked as a secretary and as a film extra before rejoining Gillespie in 1956. In 1958, she went out on her own, arranging on a free-lance basis and forming an all-woman quintet. During the 1960s, she worked with a series of band leaders, including Quincy Jones, Johnny Griffin, Milt Jackson, and Randy Weston. She also did arrangements for singers and television commercials.

On a trip with Weston to Jamaica in 1974, Liston decided to settle there. Over the next five years, she established a music program at the University of West Indies and headed up the African-American pop and jazz department at the Jamaica School of Music. Returning to New York in 1979, she formed her own septet, Melba Liston and Company.

Since 1985, when she suffered a serious stroke, Liston has been confined to a wheelchair. Although no longer able to play the trombone, she continues arranging with the help of specialized computer software. A cherished member of the jazz community, she has been supported by a contingent of friends who in 1997 helped her relocate to Harlem by raising money to pay her moving expenses and helping to renovate her apartment. Of particular note is her 40-year friendship and collaboration with Randy Weston, which has been compared to that of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington.

sources:

Andrews, Laura. "The Jazz Community Sponsors a Party for Beloved Melba Liston," in New York Amsterdam News. Vol. 88, no. 17. September 11, 1997, pp. 32–34.

Carr, Ian, Digby Fairweather, and Brian Priestley. Jazz: The Rough Guide. London: Rough Guides, 1995.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts