Women in Blues and Jazz: Ruth Brown, Blanche Calloway, Vi Redd

RUTH BROWN, 1928-2006

Ruth Brown in 1955

In this column, for the most part, I have not written about the women who have easily identified names, choosing the more obscure women that history has failed to give the accolades they deserve. But I’ve come to realize that some people who read this are not familiar with the jazz and blues genres or are too young to know of famous musicians in the 20th century in particular. So, I am beginning this month’s column with Ruth Brown, also known the Queen of R&B.

Ruth Alston Weston was born in Virginia to a musical and very religious family. Her father disapproved of secular music, so she inevitably left home at 17, in 1945, with trumpeter Jimmy Brown, whom she later married and changed her name to Ruth Brown. After a stint in Lucky Millinder’s band, she was fired for delivering a round of drinks to the band. Cab Calloway’s sister Blanche Calloway (who will be profiled in the next segment), offered her a gig at her night club, Crystal Caverns, in Washington DC, and became her manager. She was seen by Duke Ellington and other musicians there, who were excited by this new talent. Blanche recommended her to Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson, heads of the fledgling record company, Atlantic Records. Eventually, after a nine-month stay in the hospital due to an automobile accident, she began recording with Atlantic Records in 1949, with her first hit, “So Long.” She had more than two dozen hits on Atlantic over a more than 10-year period. Atlantic has been called “the house that Ruth built,” with hits like “So Long,” “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean,” Teardrops from My Eyes,” “5-10-15,” “Lucky Lips,” and more. She was red hot then and toured everywhere in the U.S., including the segregated South. She attributes this to much of her popularity, as there were few visible women touring the South at that time.

Poster for Ruth Brown, performing at the Mambo Club in Wichita, Kansas, 1967

In the late ’60s and ’70s, her career faltered, and she was not receiving royalties from her earlier hits. In an interview with Bob Santelli, she said, “I became a domestic; I drove a school bus; I cared for the elderly; I worked as a counselor in drug abuse. I worked in Head Start; I worked in kindergarten with the children. I did whatever was necessary to maintain a livelihood for myself and my children.” She was a tireless advocate for musicians’ rights. Her own struggles to receive compensation were the impetus for the creation of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to musicians’ rights for financial and medical care as well as educational outreach, promoting the cultural legacy of Rhythm & Blues.

She returned to music in 1975 at the urging of comedian Redd Fox, followed by a series of comedic acting jobs. This launched her career in TV, film, and stage. Her career in the second half of her life was equally showstopping and something that doesn’t happen to many artists, male or female. Her comedic sense served her well in a recurring role in Hello Larry as MacLean Stevenson, a meaty role in the John Waters satire Hairspray as Motormouth Maybelle, and her 1989 Broadway role-starring turn in Black and Blue, which won her a Tony award. She toured with Bonnie Raitt in the late ’90s, appearing with Bonnie and Charles Brown (well-known pianist and singer). Her 1995 autobiography, Miss Rhythm, won her a Gleason Award for music journalism. She was nominated for another Grammy for her 1997 album, R+B=Ruth Brown.” In the 2000 miniseries Little Richard, she was portrayed by singer Tressa Thomas. She hosted the radio program Blues Stage, carried by more than 200 NPR affiliates, for six years, starting in 1989. She was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. She was still touring and acting when she had a stroke in 2006. She received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. She was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame posthumously in 2017.

Ruth Brown was an inspiration to women and artistry everywhere.

BLANCHE CALLOWAY, 1902-1978

Blache Calloway

It is quite apparent that musical talent often runs in families. Witness the Boswell Sisters; the Andrew Sisters; Cissy Houston with her daughter Whitney, and nieces Dionne and Dee Warwick; sax great Lester Young and all of his family, including his sister Irma on alto sax, Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers; and many more.  A great example of this is the Calloway family, Cab and his older sister Blanche.  I have been fascinated with Blanche who reportedly taught him everything he knew.

“Blanche was vivacious, lovely, personality plus, and a hell of a singer. She was fabulous, happy, and extroverted. As a performer, she really qualified for the wider descriptive term: entertainer.” —Cab Calloway

Blanche was known to be an incredible, charismatic performer with a big personality. She made her professional debut in Baltimore in 1921, in the first all-Black musical, Shuffle Along, (Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle). Shuffle Along was a landmark in African-American theatre, credited with inspiring the Harlem Renaissance of the ’20s and ’30s. Also in the cast were Josephine Baker, Florence Mills, Paul Robeson, Adelaide Hall, and others. Blanche’s pivotal engagement came in 1923, when she joined the national traveling tour with James P. Johnson’s Plantation Days and took her younger brother Cab along. It ended in Chicago in 1927, and Blanche decided to stay there. In 1931, Blanche Calloway became the first Black woman to lead an all-male orchestra, which she named the Joy Boys, and later Blanche Calloway and her Orchestra. They were a great success from about 1931­38. Her band was ranked by the Pittsburgh Courier as in the top 10 of Black orchestras, which is saying a lot. She went on to record with the leading jazz artists of the time, including Louis Armstrong, Benny Moten, Chick Webb, Ben Webster, etc. Hear the recording of her band on “Crazy Song” to hear her Hi De Ho refrain and growling, reminiscent of her brother Cab, who learned it from her and went on to be a super star.

Blanch Calloway, 1931.

In 1938, after disbanding her history-making orchestra, she went on to several years of solo performing. At this time, she put together an all-female orchestra, but, due to lack of bookings, this endeavor was short lived. She retired from show business in 1940. 1947 found her divorced and moving to Washington DC, where she managed a club called Crystal Caverns. It was here that she gave Ruth Brown (profiled above), a chance to sing. Duke Ellington and other musicians became aware of her and were excited to hear a new talent. Blanche recommended her to the founders of Atlantic Records, and the rest is history. She mentored Ruth and went on to become her manager.

Her later life continued to be interesting—she moved to Philadelphia and, in 1950, got involved in politics. In 1958 she moved to Miami and became the first African-American female DJ (at radio station WMBM) in Florida and possibly the entire southern U.S. She participated in community theatre projects and continued her interest in politics.  She became the first Black clerk to serve in a voting precinct in Florida and the first Black woman to vote in Miami (1958!!!!). She founded Afram House in 1968, the first major Black-owned and operated mail order cosmetics brand. She was active in civil rights until her death in 1978 from breast cancer. This woman was a powerhouse, no matter what stage of her life she was in!

VI REDD, 1928-2022

Vi Redd

Vi Redd was born in Los Angeles in 1928.  Her father, Alton Redd. was a noted jazz drummer, who also founded the Clef Club. To continue with the families filled with talented musicians, Vi’s Aunt Alma Hightower was an accomplished musician (playing sax, piano, drums), but perhaps her leading legacy was as a music educator. She taught an amazing number of wonderful and successful jazz musicians, including Vi, Clora Bryant (trumpet), Chico Hamilton (percussionist), Charles Mingus (bass, composer, band leader), Melba Liston (trombone), Big Jay McNeeley (sax), both as a WPA educator (1936-43) and in her longtime music studio in LA. Her niece was steeped in the music business and destined to be a professional musician.

Vi Redd was a trailblazing alto saxophonist, with a career that began in the 1950s. Her blend of hard bop and soulful blues was both unique and captivating, setting her apart from her contemporaries. As a woman in a male dominated industry, she left an indelible mark. In 1961, she was invited to play at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Her performance at this event marked a turning point in her career and solidified her standing in the jazz community. The headliner of this festival was none other than John Coltrane!

She got her teaching credential from USC in 1954, played in Las Vegas in 1962, toured with Earl Hines in 1964, led her own group in San Francisco that same year, and worked with Max Roach during this time. While active, she toured Japan, London (in an unprecedented 10 weeks at Ronnie Scott’s club), Sweden, Spain, and Paris. In 1969, she settled in LA, where she played locally while working as an educator.

Although woefully unrecorded, she released two albums under her own name: Bird Call and Lady Soul. I discovered her personally, hearing an album recorded by an all-women’s ensemble featuring pianist Marion McPartland (see my first Spotlight column, February 2025 https://sandiegotroubadour.com/women-in-jazz-and-blues-marian-mcpartland-hadda-brooks-and-camille-howard/), Lynn Milano (bass), Dottie Dodgion (drums), Mary Osbourne (guitar), and Vi on alto sax, recorded in 1977, titled Now’s the Time.

In 1989, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the LA Jazz Society, and in 2001, she received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award from the Kennedy Center.

She had a great career and was a dedicated educator, like her Aunt Alma Hightower. She lived to be 93.