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Hey all, working this week on a Night Lights show called "Jazz Women Of 52nd Street," focusing on artists who performed at the clubs along 52nd Street from the 1930s through the 1950s. Musicians I've jotted down so far include Marian McPartland, Barbara Carroll, Beryl Booker, Mary Lou Williams, Mary Osborne, Marjie Hyams, Adele Girard (as part of Joe Marsala's group), Jutta Hipp, Billie Holiday, Maxine Sullivan... who am I leaving out? I have Lil Hardin Armstrong jotted down on the document that I started a few months ago, but am now trying to confirm that her 1930s group did indeed play along 52nd Street. Also going to check Hazel Scott's biography when I get to the office today--I associate her most strongly with Cafe Society, rather than the 52nd Street clubs. Billie Rogers is another artist who led her own group for awhile after leaving Woody Herman's band circa 1945, but I'm not sure if she performed with any kind of regularity on 52nd Street or not. I'll be using live recordings to some extent (McPartland and Hipp both made records at the Hickory House), but will mostly have to rely on studio representations. Much appreciation in advance for any suggestions that can be contributed.

A new Night Lights show up for online listening: Jazz Women of the 1990s

Interesting look back at 2017--also glad to see Sasha Berliner's blog post get mentioned: For Women In Jazz, A Year Of Reckoning And Recognition"

Hey all, another recent Night Lights show now up for online listening: Jazz Women of the 1980s Other entries in this series: Jazz Women of the 1960s Jazz Women of the 1940s Jazz Women Of The 1990s

I've put together a list of biographies, historical overviews, and interview/essay collections for the Night Lights site (there's also a list at the bottom of some Night Lights shows that focus on women in jazz). Suggestions for additions welcome: Women In Jazz: A Bibliography

A recent Night Lights show, up for online listening: http://indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/jazz-women-1940s/

Hey fellow O posters, here's the weekly program update for Night Lights: In the 1960s, as the civil-rights movement and other cultural changes gained momentum, a generation of women artists made their way through a jazz world that had long been less than hospitable to their aims. Singers such as Nina Simone and Jeanne Lee, composer Carla Bley, organist Shirley Scott, harpist Dorothy Ashby and fellow harpist and pianist Alice Coltrane, and trumpeter Barbara Donald all left behind some notable recordings from this time of change. It's Jazz Women of the 1960s this week on Night Lights, now archived for online listening.

This past week's Night Lights show, A Brief History of Mary Lou Williams, is now posted for online listening. It's sort of "Mary Lou in 59 minutes," an attempt to survey the entire arc of her career. Next week: "The Billy Strayhorn Songbook"