Elvira Louise Redd (September 20, 1928 – February 6, 2022) 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 ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

player, vocalist and educator. She was active from the early 1950s and was known primarily for playing in the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

style. She was highly regarded as an accomplished veteran, and performed with

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk Rahsaan Roland Kirk (born Ronald Theodore Kirk; August 7, 1935Kernfeld, Barry.Kirk, Roland" ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed. Ed. Barry Kernfeld. ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grove Music Online''. ''Grove Dictionary of M ...

, Linda Hopkins, Marian McPartland and

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Life and career

Redd was born on September 20, 1928, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

jazz drummer and Clef Club co-founder Alton Redd and Mattie Redd (née Thomas). Her mother played saxophone, although not professionally, and her brother was a percussionist. She was deeply influenced during her formative years by her father, who was one of the leading figures on the Central Avenue jazz scene. Another important musical mentor was her paternal great aunt Alma Hightower, who convinced the 10-year-old Redd to switch from piano to saxophone. During junior high school, Redd played alto saxophone in a band with

Melba Liston Melba Doretta Liston (January 13, 1926 – April 23, 1999) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and composer. Other than those playing in all-female bands, she was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and 1960s, ...

and

Dexter Gordon Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians. Gordon's height was , so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" an ...

. Redd graduated from Los Angeles State College in 1954, and earned a teaching certificate from

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. After working for the Board of Education from 1957 to 1960, Redd returned to jazz. She played in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in 1962, toured with

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

in 1964 and led a group in San Francisco in the mid-1960s with her husband, drummer Richie Goldberg. During this time, Redd also worked with

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

. While active, she toured as far as Japan, London (including an unprecedented 10 weeks at Ronnie Scott's), Sweden, Spain and Paris. In 1969, she settled in Los Angeles where she played locally while also working as an educator. She recorded two albums under her own name. ''Bird Call,'' released on

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

in 1962, featured Russ Freeman,

Roy Ayers Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) was an American vibraphonist, record producer, and composer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several studio albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure ...

, Herb Ellis, Bob Whitlock and Richie Goldberg on its first half of tracks; the other half was recorded with trumpeter Kansas Lawrence instead of Ellis, and Leroy Vinnegar on bass. On her second 1963 album ''Lady Soul'' (

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

), there were also two sessions with different line-ups. For the most part, pianist Dick Hyman, Paul Griffin on organ, Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar, bassist Ben Tucker and drummer Dave Bailey played; the remaining three tracks were recorded with Bill Perkins on tenor saxophone and flute, organist

Jennell Hawkins Jennell Ruth Hawkins (née Grimes, April 8, 1938 – October 13, 2006) was an American R&B singer and musician who recorded in the 1950s and early 1960s and had a Top 50 chart hit in 1961 with "Moments to Remember". Biography Jennell "Jenny ...

, guitarist

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" gu ...

, Vinnegar on bass, and Leroy Harrison on drums. For both albums

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

supervised the recordings and wrote the liner notes. In the late 1970s, she recorded another album called ''Now's the Time'' with an all-female group of musicians led by Marian McPartland featuring guitarist Mary Osborne, Lynn Milano on bass, and Dottie Dodgion on drums, released on Partland's label Halcyon in 1977. Redd taught and lectured for many years from the 1970s onward upon returning to Los Angeles. She served on the music advisory panel of the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

in the late 1970s. In 1989, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Jazz Society. In 2001, she received the

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

Women in Jazz Award from the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

. Redd died on February 6, 2022, at the age of 93.

Discography

* ''Bird Call'' (

, 1962) * ''Lady Soul'' (

, 1963) * ''Now's the Time'' with Marian McPartland, Mary Osborne, Lynn Milano, and Dottie Dodgion ( Halcyon, 1977)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Redd, Vi 1928 births 2022 deaths African-American saxophonists American music educators American women music educators American jazz alto saxophonists Bebop saxophonists Count Basie Orchestra members Hard bop saxophonists Post-bop saxophonists Soul-jazz saxophonists Soul-jazz vocalists American women jazz singers American jazz singers California State University, Los Angeles alumni 21st-century American saxophonists American women jazz saxophonists 21st-century American women musicians African-American women musicians Musicians from Los Angeles

Life and career

Discography

References

Further reading

External links