Kit McClure

Kathleen " Kit" McClure ( born March 18, 1951 in Jersey City ) is an American jazz musician (alto saxophone, tenor saxophone occasionally, flute, bass clarinet), which is mainly known as a director of her big band.

Life and work

McClure grew up in Little Falls (New Jersey) and had piano lessons from the age of seven. They began playing in local bands trombone at age 16. In 1969 she was part of the first cohort of women who enrolled at Yale University for a bachelor's degree program. There they founded in 1972 the New Haven Women's Liberation Rock Band, but resigned next to it also as a soloist. After completing her studies at Yale, she studied as a saxophonist in 1975 continued at the Manhattan School of Music, but was too busy to go for a degree. She initiated the project Women in Jazz, to combat discrimination against women on the jazz scene. In 1982, she founded her own, 16köpfige big band with which she accompanied Robert Palmer and several times in Japan went on tour. The band's repertoire, in the play only women goes by Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington on bebop and Aretha Franklin and James Brown to Beyonce and own pieces. After the debut album, Some Like It Hot (1990 ) Teo Macero produced the second album Burning, which she introduced in Europe in 1996.

In 2004, she launched a project with which she recorded interest in the International Sweethearts of Rhythm revived and two albums with the music of this Women's Big Band from the swing era. In addition, she was a soloist in the orchestra of Barry White and toured with Sam & Dave, with whom she also recorded ( Day of R & B).