Melba Liston
Melba Liston, born Melba Doretta Liston on January 13, 1926, in Kansas City,
Missouri, United States, was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and
composer. Learning trombone from age 7, she performed on local radio at age 8
and moved to Los Angeles at age 10, where she studied under Alma Hightower and
joined Gerald Wilson's big band in 1943. She performed in the Lincoln Theater
pit band before joining Dizzy Gillespie's big band in 1948, and toured alongside
Count Basie and Billie Holiday. In 1958, she formed an all-women quintet, and in
1959 released her album Melba Liston and...
