[Dixielandjazz] The Girls in the Band reviewed - Chicago Sun-Times, February 20, 2014

[Robert Ringwald]

'The Girls in the Band': Setting the Beat for Women in Jazz
by Dave Hoekstra
Chicago Sun-Times, February 20, 2014
Where there are walls there are doors.
Social change is a forward movement, as witnessed by Michael Sam's bold entry into
the NFL draft. "The Girls in the Band" is a swinging documentary that tells another
story of trailblazers, the journey of mid-century women in jazz who opened doors
for Esperanza Spalding, Patrice Rushen (both in the doc) and many others.
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm are the soul of "The Girls in the Band,"
co-produced by Hugh Hefner. The Sweethearts of Rhythm were a multicultural, all-female
band who toured the country (and Germany as part of a USO tour) during the 1940s.
Sweethearts clarinet-sax player Roz Cron is a key voice for filmmaker Judy Chaikin,
as is jazz-supper club pianist Marian McPartland.
Chaikin neatly frames her 81-minute doc with the iconic "Great Day in Harlem" photograph
of mostly male jazz musicians (Lester Young, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, etc).
Only two women are in the 1958 photo: McPartland and the late pianist-composer Mary
Lou Williams. "The Girls in the Band" ends with its own "Great Day in Harlem" photo
session. Touching stuff.
Editing seamlessly juxtaposes the women's stories with historical performance footage.
Their stories are so compelling, many suggest their own documentaries. (There was
a short 1986 "International Sweethearts of Rhythm" doc.) Trombonist Melba Liston
grew so tired of being marginialized she left the states and became a teacher in
Jamaica. Players credit big band leader Woody Herman for opening the doors to women.
Lil Hardin Armstrong is remembered as the impetus behind her husband Louis Armstrong's
Hot Five, and McPartland (who died last August at age 95) recalls going to Lil's
house. Lil died in 1971 while performing "St. Louis Blues" at a Chicago tribute to
her husband.
Some female players were not allowed to wear saddle shoes because they would be thought
to be gay. "The Girls in the Band" carries more cultural resonance than the Oscar-nominated
"20 Feet From Stardom," another doc about women in the background.
"The Girls in the Band" loses a little steam as it moves into a contemporary landscape.
Herbie Hancock says he knows of "no man who is doing" what bandleader-composer Maria
Schneider is doing, but no one goes into depth on what she is doing. And where the
female pioneers are gracious and patient, Schneider appears snippy. Hancock drummer
Terry Lyne Carrington does a better job of articulating the considerable bridge between
then and now. Cron, who is white, speaks of having to have her faced powdered while
traveling through the segregated South. "I was so embarrassed for my race, humiliated,"
she says. "I wanted to lash out at them."
"The Girls in the Band" is a clarion of hope that illustrates the many ways music
can be a bonding force.
-30


-Bob Ringwald K6YBV
www.ringwald.com
916/ 806-9551

“I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them.” -Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952.