Unexpected freshness: Crisp, swinging enthusiasm
Program Titles
- Michael Douglas, Dan Akroyd, and Catherine Zeta-Jones dance to the rhythm of the Kit McClure Band
- This band is as dedicated to keeping a dance floor full as it is to providing a show in concert halls and jazz festivals.
About Kit McClure and the Kit McClure Band… Kit McClure…
bandleader and saxophonist, began working with local bands as a trombone player at the age of 16. While attending Yale, she joined an all women jazz-rock band, and continued to work as a freelance trombonist and saxophonist. She graduated from Yale to attend Manhattan School of Music, teach music, and freelance as a saxophone/flute/clarinet player. Her freelance credits include tours in the USA, Japan, and Europe with R&B legends Sam and Dave, Broadway show Dancin’, and featured soloist with the Barry White Orchestra. The Kit McClure Band… Kit’s vision of a band of women jazz musicians became a reality as the Kit McClure Band made its debut at the Ritz in New York City. The Band quickly became a popular fixture with the great Cab Calloway. Soon the Band was noticed by the recording industry and was put on the payroll of Island Records to prepare a show with the late rock star Robert Palmer. This show toured, playing sold out houses at Radio City Music Hall, Garden State Arts Center and similar venues across the Northeast. Eight tours of Japan quickly ensued. The Band has recently completed five tours of Europe. The Band’s music ranges from transcriptions of Duke Ellington’s and Count Basie’s popular works all the way to the soulful grooves of Aretha Franklin, James Brown and original compositions and arrangements by Kit McClure and the Band. As a dance orchestra the band has enlivened ballrooms across the Northeast, from the Waldorf Astoria and the Plaza, to President Clinton’s inaugural festivities in Washington, DC.
The Kit McClure Band has continued to further the recognition and celebration of the achievements of women in jazz by completing The Sweethearts Project, which involved research, transcription, and recording of the music of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. Members of the Kit McClure Band have transcribed historical arrangements and compositions from the International Sweethearts of Rhythm’s repertoire from 50 years ago. In addition, the Sweethearts’ musical themes have been re-imagined, re-harmonized, and recreated collectively by the musicians of the Kit McClure Band, an unparalleled meeting of the creative efforts of historical and contemporary women in jazz.
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