Jazz

... Benny Goodman stands in front, quiet or smiling into the spotlight or tilting his instrument to the rafters as they rise to the takeoff. Sooner or later they will lead into one of those Fletcher Henderson arrangements of an old favorite, and the whole riding motion of the orchestra will be felt even through the thick carpets and the babble of the crowd, and those with two feet under them will move out onto the floor, because the music can be heard best when it is fulfilling its original simple purpose, coming through the ears and the good living wood underneath. As they get along into the later choruses, the boys will let out a little of that flash and rhythmic power which make these separate defined instruments into something indefinable, a thumping big-band with the whole room under its thumb ...

... Known to the audience as the finest all-girl jazz band in the country, the Sweethearts had in seven years attained a reputation equal to that of the great male bands of the period, those led by Jimmy Lunceford, Count Basie, and Fletcher Henderson. The year was 1945; the place, the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

A hot attraction, the Sweethearts were then at the height of their fame, although to some they were merely a novelty – sixteen pretty girl musicians led by an extravagantly beautiful young woman, Anna Mae Winburn. They played with assurance, discipline, and excitement, reflecting the expert teaching of their director, Maurice King. There were some fine soloists, including Violet (Vi) Burnside, a driving, gutty tenor sax player with more than a suggestion of Coleman Hawkins in her style. The star soloist of the trumpet section was Ray Carter, whose muted sound was colorful and technically brilliant ...

The movement was an outgrowth of jazz,[6][7][8] and similarities with gypsy jazz are often noted.[citation needed] The music is an amalgamation of rural, cowboy, polka, folk, Dixieland jazz and blues blended with swing;[9] and played by a hot string band often augmented with drums, saxophones, pianos and, notably, the steel guitar.[10] The electrically amplified stringed instruments, especially the steel guitar, give the music a distinctive sound.[11] Later incarnations have also included overtones of bebop.

She's cool as a breeze, busier than a hive of bees, impossible to please and doubly hard to hold and squeeze. She's everybody's number one, a dream come true when your day is done, the gal who shines like the summer sun, she's neat, petite ... and totally complete!