I just found about this trumpet player Rebecca Coupe Franks who is super BAD. She is apparently from the West Coast. She recorded a pair of albums in the early 90s which got excellent reviews and then she kind of fell off the face of the earth. and has not done anything since (from what I can tell by numerous web searches).

Does anyone know about what she has been doing? And for that matter, let's talk about unknown female instrumentalists who are amazing and aren't getting any recognition or press.

matt

Rebecca Coupe Franks is indeed good. If she's not in NY now she was for a while, and I believe used to gig at 55 bar.

Another great unknown trumpet player was Barbara Donald, who used to be married to (and recorded with) Sonny Simmons (check out Simmons' Burning Spirits on OJC). I saw her in the '80s with Gunter Hampel's Galaxie Dream Band, but I don't know what happened to her.

Kali Z. Fasteau aka Zusan Kali Fasteau - flutes, soprano and alto sax.

Ingrid Laubrock

Marvellous tenor/soprano player. From Germany but works mainly on the UK scene.

Plays in a couple of Brazilian bands here - Nois and As Meninas - plus in a more searching contemporary style with her own bands and in Tom Arthurs' Centripede.

Excellent player.

"Little known" would be a more apt description, IMHO, since if they're really unknown, nobody will tell you about them ....

I have Rebecca Coupe Franks' first two CDs and find them to be pretty good, especially considering the fast company she had on the first one. I suggest you ask the label Justice Records for further info.

Nikki Parrot (see my thread!)

Yeah mikeweil, I guess I agree with you. Except that she was unbeknownst to myself.

I forgot to include Josefine Cronholm - her voice is spectacular. She is from Sweden I think but records for Stunt Records based in Holland (i believe).

Alex Riel (the drummer) and a lot of other German/Dutch cats are on Stunt as well.

Francesca Tanksley. In a word, superb.

http://www.dreamcallerproductions.com/dream/music.html

Francesca Tanksley appears on a 1989 Candid disc called Dreamer by another female artist that has largely gone unnoticed: saxophonist Erica Lindsay. I first became aware of Lindsay from her work on Bakida Carrol's Door of the Cage. I think Dreamer is her only date as a leader, but she's also performed with Oliver Lake's Big Band. Forget the stereotypes about female reed players, this woman has plenty of strength and chops, and she doesn't veer toward smooth or easy-listening crap. If you see Dreamer, grab it! It also features Howard Johnson playing some great tuba, baritone sax, flugelhorn, and on one tune - penny whistle! There currently are some used copies of this disc on Amazon.com for less than $9. BTW, Johnson had a gig at Birdland a couple of months ago with an all-female band that included bassist Melissa Slocum, another artist deserving of recognition. Anyone catch that show?

P.S. The next female artist I plan to check out is trumpeter Igrid Jensen.

Already mentioned Erica Lindsey, fine sax work on cd with Baikida Carroll and under her own name on Candid.

Sarah Morrow, trombonist, seen in the UK playing spendidly with David Murray. Also has a couple of cds out with her own groups.

When I lived in Chicago, from time to time I got to play with an excellent bassist, Marlene Rosenberg. She spent some time touring with Joe Henderson, and is a wonderful (and underrated IMHO) musician.

Lorraine Desmarais. She's a pianist that I've seen numerous times over the years at the Montréal Jazz Festival. She's pretty well known and respected in Canada - particularly Montréal.

Judging by the reaction to Barbara Dennerlein elsewhere on the board, perhaps she fits into this category as well.

Multi instrumentalist, vocalist Amy Denio.

It's a bit off-topic, but there was a very highly regarded woman pianist named Margaret "Countess" Johnson in the 1930s. She turns up on a Billie Holliday session from '37 or '38, but died not long after at age 21. I believe these were her only recordings.

Have to add a new name to the list. Dutch trumpet player Saskia Laroo who plays brilliantly next to the great Teddy Edwards in a Dutch album 'Sunset Eyes 2000' I just purchased.
And very pretty too!
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=A0v63tr3ekl5x
Ernie Andrews also sings on several tracks of the CD.

Mary Osborne. Great guitar player.

Terry Pollard, piano and vibes. Played with Terry Gibbs for a long time. Saw them at Birdland and they would switch with each other, Gibbs on piano with his one finger blast and Terry on vibes.

Mary Fettig. Still very active. At one time (she was John Park's daughter-in-law), she, John Parks and his son (Mary's then husband) all payed in the Kenton band together. Great alto player. Can be heard on one Concord LP of her own and also (on Concord) with Marian McPartland.

Emily Remler. Taken way before her time. Guitar. Series of albums all on Concord.

Not at all sure if she qualifies as little known, but not much about her at AMG.

and her other album. She's great, up there with the top baritone players IMHO.

The above led me to the all-female band Diva. I'd not heard of them before - anybody know what they are like? The list contains just two aforementioned so judging by those the band must be good. Tommy Newsom a driving force?

Carol Chaikin - Sax (Alto)
Sherrie Maricle - Cymbals, Drums, Leader
Louise Baranger - Trumpet
Lollie Bienenfeld - Trombone
Lee Hill Kavanaugh - Trombone
Virginia Mayhew - Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
Ingrid Jensen - Trumpet
Audrey Morrison - Trombone
Janice Friedman - Piano
Laura Dreyer - Sax (Tenor)
Mary Ann McSweeny - Bass
Liesl Sagartz - Trumpet
Sue Terry - Sax (Alto)
Claire Daly - Sax (Baritone)

Has anybody heard anything from Sumi Tonooka recently? She's a fine pianist, and I heard a stunning live set by her in the early 80's with a female vocalist. I've concluded, but not without slight doubt, that the vocalist was Rachelle Ferrell. She recorded for Candid and a couple indie labels.

Just discovered another - guitarist Mimi Fox. She has at least one album on the Favored Nations label.

Takana Miyamoto - a Japanese pianist living in Atlanta. She mostly works as musical director for vocalists like Rene Marie and Nnenna Freelon but also leads her own trio, playing intown and around the region. Has a group in Japan also. Sits in with some of the headlining acts that play the Churchill Grounds jazz club. Her CD Tree Song got some critical acclaim.

Two Israelis:

Miri Ben-Ari - a very-very good, Jazz violinist. Her current project is Hip Hop, though. Check out her 2 CD on Half Note label

Anat Cohen, the sister of Israeli Trumpet Player Avishai Cohen, is an excellent Tenor Sax player. Her debut CD is coming out real soon.

Drummer Luciana Padmore, as previously mentioned!

Ingrid Jensen and Anat Cohen are indeed great players. Ingrid has a great warm, brassy tone that sometimes reminds me of Freddie Hubbard. She definitely deserves more recognition. If I ran the world, all female jazzers would get equal recognition with the men.

Satoko Fujii, japanese pianist, absolutely stunning musician!

She's got discs on Leo (OOP all, I think), and Enja, among others

Here's a biography of Satoko Fujii.

ubu

who is nnenna freelon?

http://www.nnenna.com/

yes, but can she sing?

Ingrid is also member of the Maria Schneider Orchestra, also you can add her little sis' Christine who was and still is a great composer but is turning into a very fine sax player.

You bet she can!

Seriously - I first heard her on T.S. Monk's big band tribute to his dad, where she outscatted Dianne Reeves, IMO - more guts and bite. I have bought most of her albums since and haven't been disappointed.
Try the first three on Columbia (oop but can be find used easily) - the Concords are nice but a bit more conceptualized.

I've heard her on two radio broadcasts - she's great, in my opinion:




A 32 ans, « Uncaged » marque pour Sophie Alour une étape décisive et audacieuse de son itinéraire. Si elle apprend la clarinette dès l’âge de 13 ans dans une école municipale de Quimper, ce n’est toutefois qu’à 19 ans qu’elle découvre le saxophone, et décide de s’y consacrer. Quelques incursions dans des écoles de jazz comme le CIM ou l’IACP sont des entorses à une formation avant tout autodidacte.

Ces années d’apprentissage se concluent en 2000 par un passage à l’acte ambitieux, puisqu’elle participe à création du désormais légendaire Vintage Orchestra au sein duquel elle côtoiera entre autres Thomas Savy, Fabien Mary, Jerry Edwards et Yoann Loustalot. L’année suivante, Sophie Alour crée un sextet avec Stéphane Belmondo, et, toujours en 2001, joue aux côtés d’Olivier Zanot dans la formation Manita de Jean-Daniel Botta, avant d’intégrer d’un même élan le big-band de Christophe Dal Sasso et des frères Belmondo. Au sein de cette formation, elle enregistrera l’album « Ouverture » et se produira à Marciac, au Parc Floral, ainsi qu’une fois par mois au Sunset pendant plusieurs années.

Une nouvelle étape est franchie quand Rhoda Scott l’engage pour former en 2004 son quartet, au sein duquel elle va prochainement enregistrer. Lorsqu’elle ouvre, aux côtés de l’ambassadrice de l’orgue Hammond, le Festival de Vienne 2004 sur la grande scène, Sophie Alour commence à s’affirmer comme l’une des plus voix les plus prometteuses de sa génération.
Elle remporte ainsi la même année le Tremplin Jazz de Vannes, joue dans le big-band de Wynton Marsalis, et participe au projet chanté d’Aldo Romano.

L’année 2004 se conclut par l’enregistrement avec le guitariste Huggo Lippi d’une maquette qui, écoutée par le label Nocturne, aboutit à la production de son premier album en leader, « Insulaire », publié en 2005. L’accueil enthousiaste que la critique lui réserve en tant qu’instru- mentiste ne doit pas faire oublier que huit titres sur dix sont des compositions originales, et qu’Insulaire marque aussi l’avènement d’une brillante compositrice de thèmes inspirés et évocateurs.

Sophie Alour n’en continue pas moins son exploration de toutes les facettes du jazz actuel, et on la retrouve aussi bien sur le disque d’Alexandre Saada « Be where you are », que dans le Pepper Pils, le big-band électro de Benjamin Roy avec lequel elle enregistre l’album « DJ Killer ».

Tandis que ses prestations en club se multiplient devant un public toujours plus nombreux à la découvrir ou à la suivre de près, elle invite un soir des musiciens à jouer à ses côtés : Laurent Coq (piano), Karl Jannuska (batterie) et Yoni Zelnik (basse).

Ce soir-là, une rare alchimie se produit : une cohésion fusionnelle soude le groupe auquel il ne manque plus qu’un ingrédient iconoclaste pour expliquer la genèse d’Uncaged. Cet ingrédient, c’est le guitariste Sébastien Martel qui va l’apporter de la scène rock. Autant d’incitations à ne pas démêler ce qui, dans ce deuxième album relève encore de l’improvisation plutôt que de l’écriture. De la déclaration de guerre ou du récit de paix. Derrière le parfum sulfureux de dissidence contre des formes trop explorées, on décèle dans Uncaged une Sophie Alour aguerrie, tenant les promesses de son passé, et décuplant celles de son avenir.

("biography" taken from her website)

Ellen Powell is a talented bassist from northern Vermont.

Her website appears to be under contruction but already includes a cool story about her instrument and a music sample.

This link at SUNY Plattsburgh has a brief bio.