Valaida Snow

La biographie de Valaida Snow, chanteuse et trompettiste, écrite par Pascal Ranou, illustrée par Emmanuel Reuzé, accompagnée de 2 compact discs. Valaida Snow (1904-1956) est une des figures les plus fascinantes de l'histoire du jazz. Chanteuse et danseuse, elle fut aussi une des premières femmes trompettistes. Sa vie scandaleuse défraya la chronique. Célèbre au point de jouer jusqu'en Chine, elle joua avec Earl Hines, Django, Basie, découvrit Bud Powell et rivalisa d'excentricités avec son amie Josephine Baker. Arrêtée pour vol au Danemark en 1941, elle fit passer cette détention pour un séjour en camp de concentration! Cela relança sa carrière, jusqu'à ce que la supercherie s'évente. Elle vivota alors en chantant du rhythm and blues. Affabulatrice, Valaida se plut à donner d'elle une image idéale qui ne correspondait pas avec une réalité souvent douloureuse. Sa vie mouvementée a inspiré les romans de Candace Allen (Valaida) et Pascal Rannou (Noire, la neige). Mais il faut aussi l'apprécier pour ce qu'elle fut: une des artistes les plus originales du XXème siècle. Le présent coffret reprend la totalité de sa discographie, et montre les multiples facettes de son talent. Valaida Snow (1904-1956) is one of the most fascinating characters in jazz history. She was not only a singer and a dancer, but also one of the first women to play the trumpet. She led a scandalous life, but became famous to the point of performing as far as China. She played with Earl Hines, Django, Basie, gave his first gigs to Bud Powell and competed with her friend Josephine Baker in the field of excentricities. Accused of stealing, she was arrested by the Danish police in 1941, but pretended to have been sent to a concentration camp! This story boosted her career until truth was discovered. She then had to sing rhythm 'n blues to get along. Quite a mythomaniac, Valaida liked to give an idealistic but wrong picture of herself: reality was cruder than what she said. Her hectic life inspired Candace Allen (Valaida) and Pascal Rannou's (Noire, la neige) novels. But we have to appreciate her for what she first was: one of the most original artists of the last century. This collection includes all the music she recorded and shows the many faces of her talent. BD JAZZ – VALAIDA SNOW CD 1 - VALAIDA SNOW 1933 - 1937 1 MAYBE I’M TO BLAME (Dunlap, Carpenter, Hines) 3:10 13th February 1933, New York, EARL HINES (p. dir); DARNELL HOWARD (cl, as, vn); OMER SIMEON (cl,as,bar); CECIL IRWIN (cl,ts); CHARLIE ALLEN, GEORGE DIXON, WALTER FULLER (t); JIMMY MUNDY (ts); WILLIAM FRANKLIN (tb); LOUIS TAYLOR (tb); LAWRENCE DIXON (g); WALLACE BISHOP(d); VALAIDA SNOW (V) 2 I CAN’T DANCE (Williams, Gaines) 2:40 19th January, 1935, London, VALAIDA SNOW WITH BILLY MASON AND HIS ORCHESTRA, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); BUDDY FEATHERSTONEHAUGH (ts); DUNCAN WHYTE (t); ALAN FERGUSON (g); SAM MOLYNEUX (b); GEORGE ELRICK (d) 3 IT HAD TO BE YOU (Kahn, Jones) 3:06 20th Feb 1935, London, VALAIDA SNOW WITH BILLY MASON AND HIS ORCHESTRA, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); HARRY HAYES (as); BUDDY FEATHERSTONEHAUGH (ts); DUNCAN WHYTE (t); ALAN FERGUSON (g); SAM MOLYNEUX (b); GEORGE ELRICK (d) 4 YOU BRING OUT THE SAVAGE IN ME (Coslow) 2:53 20th Feb 1935, Same as 3. 5 IMAGINATION (Snow) 3:12 26th April 1935, London, same as 2, BILL BUSBY (b) replaces SAM MOLYNEUX 6 SING, YOU SINNERS (Coslow, Harding) 2:34 26th April 1935, Same as 5. 7 SINGING IN THE RAIN (Freed, Brown) 2:55 26th April 1935, Same as 5 8 UNTIL THE REAL THING COMES ALONG (Cahn, Chaplin, Freeman) 3:21 8th September 1936, London, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); FREDDY GARDNER (cl, as, ts); HARRY OWEN (t); JOCK FLEMING (tb), GEORGE SCOTT WOOD (p); JOE YOUNG(g); DICK ESCOTT (b); MAX BACON(d) 9 HIGH HAT, TRUMPET AND RHYTHM (Snow) 3:01 8th September 1936, Same as 8. 10 I WANT A LOT OF LOVE (Snow) 3:19 8th September 1936, Same as 8. 11 LOVABLE AND SWEET (Clare, Levant) 2:51 18th September 1936, same as 8.. 12 I MUST HAVE THAT MAN (Fields, McHugh) 3:10 18th September 1936, Same as 8. 13 YOU’RE NOT THE KIND (Hudson, Mills) 3:06 18th September 1936, Same as 8. 14 YOU LET ME DOWN (Warren) 3:18 18th September 1936, Same as 8. 15 MEAN TO ME (Turk, Ahlert) 3:09 25th September 1936, Same as 8. 16 DIXIE LEE (Hill) 2:44 25th September 1936, Same as 8. 17 THE MOOD THAT I’M IN (Silver, Sherman) 2:57 7th July 1937, London, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); DEREK NEVILLE (as, bar), REGGIE DARE (ts); JOHNNY CLAES (t); GUN FINLAY (p); NORMAN BROWN (g); LOUIS BARREIRO (b); KEN STEWART (d) 18 DON’T KNOW IF I’M COMIN’ OR GOIN’ (Wainer, Fien) 2:44 7th July 1937, Same as 17. 19 SOME OF THESE DAYS (Brooks) 2:54 8th July 1937, Same as 17. 20 SWING IS THE THING (Mercer) 3:09 8th July 1937, Same as 17. 21 NAGASAKI (Dixon, Warren) 3:12 8th July 1937, same as 17. 22 I WONDER WHO MAKES RHYTHM ? (Mercer) 2:55 9th July 1937, same as 17. Durée totale CD 1 : 67:17 CD 2 VALAIDA SNOW 1937 - 1950 1 I GOT RHYTHM (Gershwin, Gershwin) 3:13 9th July 1937, London, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); DEREK NEVILLE (as, bar), REGGIE DARE (ts); JOHNNY CLAES (t); GUN FINLAY (p); NORMAN BROWN (g); LOUIS BARREIRO (b); KEN STEWART (d) 2 I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE IN LOVE WITH ME (Gaskill, McHugh) 2:50 14th July 1937, same as 1. 3 MINNIE THE MOOCHER (Mills, Calloway) 2:19 28th August 1939, Stockholm, VALAIDA SNOW WITH LULLE ELLBOJS ORKESTER, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); SVEN AREFELDT (dir); GUNNAR WALBERG, LULLE ELLBOJS (as); RUDOLF ERIKSSON (ts); BENGT ARTANDER, GUNNAR GREEN (t), STURE GREEN (tb); WILLARD RINGSTRAND (p); KARL LÖRH (g); ROLAND BENGTSSON (b); OLLE SAHLIN (d) 4 CARAVAN (Ellington, Tizol, Mills) 3:30 28th August 1939, same as 3. 5 SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOTS (trad) 2:54 28th August 1939, same as 3. 6 MY HEART BELONGS TO DADDY (Porter) 2:53 28th August 1939, same as 3. 7 YOU’RE DRIVING ME CRAZY (Donaldson) 2:19 26th July 1940, Copenhagen, VALAIDA SNOW WITH WINDSTRUP OLESENS SWINGBAND, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); WINDSTRUP OLESEN (dir, t); KAI MOELLER (cl), LEO MATHIESEN (p); HELGE JOCOBSEN (g); CHRISTIAN JENSEN (b); KAI FISCHER(d) 8 TAKE IT EASY (McHugh, Fields) 3:15 26th July 1940, Same as 7. 9 I CAN’T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE (McHugh, Fields) 3:08 26th July 1940, Same as 7. 10 ST LOUIS BLUES (Handy) 2:28 26th July 1940, Same as 7. 11 MY HEART IS SUCH A FOOL (Smith) 1:58 1945, New York, VALAIDA SNOW WITH BOBBY SMITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA, VALAIDA SNOW (v); other musicians unknown. 12 IT’S THE TALK OF THE TOWN (Symes, Neiburg, Levinson) 2:55 December 1945, Los Angeles, VALAIDA SNOW WITH BUZZ ADLAM’S ORCHESTRA & THE DAYDREAMERS, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); THE DAYDREAMERS (v); other musicians unknown. 13 LONESOME ROAD (Austin, Shilkret) 2:54 December 1945, Same as 12; 14 IF I ONLY HAD YOU (Surrell) 2:40 December 1945, Same as 12; 15 CARAVAN (Ellington, Tizol, Mills) 2:53 1946, Los Angeles, VALAIDA SNOW WITH RAMON JOEL SANNS ORCHESTRA, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); other musicians unknown, orchestration by W. Sheets. 16 SOLITUDE (DeLange, Mills, Ellington) 2:50 1946, Same as 15 . 17 FRUSTRATION (Baumgart, Lavoie, Mills) 2:52 1946, Same as 15 18 I MUST HAVE THAT MAN (Fields, McHugh) 2:09 1946, Same as 15 19 TELL ME HOW LONG THE TRAIN’S BEEN GONE (trad) 3:04 January 1950, Place of recording unknown, VALAIDA SNOW WITH JIMMY MUNDY’S ORCHESTRA, VALAIDA SNOW (t, v); JONAH JONES (t,); DAVE MCRAE (bar); other musicians unknown. 20 WHEN A WOMAN LOVES A MAN (Mercer, Jenkins, Hanighen) 2:31 January 1950, Same as 19. 21 CHLOE (Moret) 3:06 January 1950, Same as 19. Durée Totale CD 2 : 59:36