Violet May Burnside (April 19, 1915,

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

– November 19, 1964, Washington, DC) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

saxophonist and bandleader. Burnside worked for much of her career in

all-female band An all-female band is a musical ensemble, musical group in popular music that is exclusively composed of female musicians. This is distinct from a girl group, in which the female members are solely vocalists, though this terminology is not universa ...

s. She worked in Bill Baldwin's group in the mid-1930s, joined the Dixie Rhythm Girls in 1937, then joined the Harlem Play-Girls in 1938. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she joined the International Sweethearts of Rhythm and played

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

concerts with them. She continued with this ensemble until 1949, then formed her own group, which toured as Vi Burnside's All-Girl Band and Vi Burnside's All Stars. Her sidewomen included Flo Dreyer and Pauline Braddy; the group toured mostly in the

mid-Atlantic region The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virgi ...

. She played with Anna Mae Winburn in Harlem in 1953, and worked with her own groups into the 1960s, in addition to acting as an official in a local DC musicians' union.

References

*Howard Rye, "Violet Burnside". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at ...

External links

International Sweethearts of Rhythm Collection Spotlight, Because of Her Story, Smithsonian Institution
American jazz saxophonists American jazz bandleaders Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 1915 births 1964 deaths 20th-century American saxophonists American women jazz saxophonists 20th-century American women musicians Musicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania International Sweethearts of Rhythm members {{US-jazz-saxophonist-stub