Kit McClure
| Kit McClure | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1951 Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Origin | New York City, New York |
| Genres | Jazz, big band |
| Occupation(s) | musician, bandleader |
| Instruments |
trombone saxophone |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | Motéma Music |
| Associated acts |
Kit McClure Band Patrick Stanfield Jones |
| Website |
redhotrecords |
Kit McClure is a jazz musician and bandleader of the big band Kit McClure Band and founder of the Women in Jazz Project. In 2004, she started a project to revive interest in the all-female big band, International Sweethearts of Rhythm. She has been a featured player with the Barry White Orchestra and toured with Sam & Dave.[1]
Biography
McClure was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and raised in Little Falls, New Jersey. She attended public school. At the age of 16, she began playing trombone with local bands. In 1969, she was accepted into the first class of undergraduate women at Yale University. There, she formed an all-female jazz-rock fusion band while continuing to freelance as a trombonist and saxophonist. Graduating from Yale in 1975, she attended graduate school at Manhattan School of Music. She formed the Women in Jazz Project because she noticed the effects of gender discrimination in jazz, for instrumentalists in particular, even though she was able to find work herself. Her Kit McClure Band opened at The Ritz (now Webster Hall) in New York City in 1982. The band's repertoire ranges from the music of Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington to Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Beyoncé. The band's debut recording was Some Like It Hot on RedHot Records. Their second release, Burning (also on RedHot Records), was produced by Teo Macero in 1996.[2][3]