Little Melba and Her Big Trombone

by Katheryn Russell-Brown, Frank Morrison (Illustrator)

Overview

Melba Doretta Liston loved the sounds of music from as far back as she could remember. As a child, she daydreamed about beats and lyrics, and hummed along with the music from her family’s Majestic radio. At age seven, Melba fell in love with a big, shiny trombone, and soon taught herself to play the instrument. By the time she was a teenager, Melba’s extraordinary gift for music led her to the world of jazz. She joined a band led by trumpet player Gerald Wilson and toured the country. Overcoming obstacles of race and gender, Melba went on to become a famed trombone player and arranger, spinning rhythms, harmonies, and melodies into gorgeous songs for all the jazz greats of the twentieth century: Randy Weston, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and Quincy Jones, to name just a few. Brimming with ebullience and the joy of making music, Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a fitting tribute to a trailblazing musician and a great unsung hero of jazz.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781600608988
Publisher:	Lee & Low Books, Inc.
Publication date:	08/20/2014
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	14,394
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD720L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/21/2014
A musician plucked from jazz history is the subject of Russell-Brown's debut picture book. In the music-filled Kansas City of the 1920s, young Melba Doretta Liston wants to play an instrument, eventually swooning over a shiny trombone and learning to play. Staccato rhythms pepper the fluid prose: "Blues, jazz, and gospel rhythms danced in her head—the plink of a guitar, the hummmm of a bass, the thrum-thrum of a drum." Eventually, Liston's talent attracts the attention of Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and others, but her struggles are laid out plainly: "Some white folks didn't show good manners toward folks with brown skin. Hotel rooms were hard to come by, and the band members often had to sleep on the bus." Morrison's oil paintings practically sway with a jazz beat, though somber moments crop up, too: the shadows on Liston's face signify the trials of life on the road. A final image showing long-limbed Liston in profile as she plays under the glow of stage lights is exquisite. Ages 6–10. Author's agent: Adriana Dominguez, Full Circle Literary. Illustrator's agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Melba Doretta Liston (1926-1999) fell in love with a trombone when she was seven. Self-taught (with help from Grandpa), Melba learned to play the long, shiny instrument and never looked back. Russell-Brown tells her story from child prodigy at eight, when she played a solo on the radio, to a professional career of playing, songwriting, arranging, conducting, and finally, forming her own band. The list of musicians she played with is formidable: trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, singer Billie Holiday, pianist/composer Duke Ellington, and bandleader Quincy Jones. Though Liston’s superb sound brought her many enthusiastic fans, Russell-Brown does not overlook obstacles she faced as a woman in what was then a man’s musical world. Male players were often jealous and slighted her. Traveling in the South with Holiday, she became discouraged by discrimination and Jim Crow laws. Melba did not quit, however, and went on to be an outstanding composer and arranger, traveling around the world with her band and “making her trombone sing.” She won many awards as a master and pioneer of jazz. Morrison’s long horizontal spreads emphasize and exaggerate the trombone’s length and Liston’s sinuous body. With his palette of rich browns, oranges, yellows, and reds, he evokes vivid jazz sounds, while filling each painting with unusual perspectives and curving lines, accented and anchored with black. The final spread is almost impressionistic, with light filling the stage as a misty Melba leans back to play her long trombone. Russell-Brown adds additional biographical notes, a discography, and a list of her sources. Readers curious about other African-American music pioneers will warm to Marilyn Nelson and Jerry Pinkney’s Sweethearts of Rhythm (Dial, 2009) and Harlem’s Little Blackbird (Random House, 2012) by Renée Watson and Christian Robinson. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft; Ages 4 to 8.

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

★ 07/01/2014
Gr 2–5—Music lovers will enjoy this picture-book biography of Melba Liston (1926–99), child prodigy and virtuoso trombonist who collaborated with most 20th century jazz greats. An excellent match of breezy text and dynamic illustrations tells an exhilarating story. Always in tune with music, seven-year-old Melba chose her first instrument from Joe's Music Truck. Self-taught and determined, she survived the gender-based taunts of high school boys while playing in Alma Hightower's after-school music club (using her horn to "turn all those hurt feelings into soulful music") and racial discrimination while touring with Billie Holiday's band. In the end, Liston "[made] her trombone sing" for audiences around the world and was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. Russell-Brown's text engages the senses ("[Melba] especially loved Fats Waller, with his growly voice and booming piano"), while Morrison's distinctive illustrations, stretched out like a slide trombone, draw the eye across each spread to the page turn. Back matter includes a detailed afterword with two photographs and a bibliography of books, articles, interviews, radio broadcasts, and websites, including a Jazz Café, where students can view Liston performing with Dizzy Gillespie's band. Pair this book with Jonah Winter's Dizzy (Scholastic, 2006) and Marilyn Nelson's Sweethearts of Rhythm (Dial, 2009) to explore more fully the jazz culture of the time. A celebration of the talent and success of a little-known African American female musician, this title will enrich library collections.—Toby Rajput, National Louis University, Skokie, IL

School Library Journal

★ 2014-06-04
Bewitched by the rhythms of jazz all around her in Depression-era Kansas City, little Melba Doretta Liston longs to make music in this fictional account of a little-known jazz great.Picking up the trombone at 7, the little girl teaches herself to play with the support of her Grandpa John and Momma Lucille, performing on the radio at 8 and touring as a pro at just 17. Both text and illustrations make it clear that it’s not all easy for Melba; “The Best Service for WHITES ONLY” reads a sign in a hotel window as the narrative describes a bigotry-plagued tour in the South with Billie Holiday. But joy carries the day, and the story ends on a high note, with Melba “dazzling audiences and making headlines” around the world. Russell-Brown’s debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose. Morrison’s sinuous, exaggerated lines are the perfect match for Melba’s story; she puts her entire body into her playing, the exaggerated arch of her back and thrust of her shoulders mirroring the curves of her instrument. In one thrilling spread, the evening gown–clad instrumentalist stands over the male musicians, her slide crossing the gutter while the back bow disappears off the page to the left. An impressive discography complements a two-page afterword and a thorough bibliography.Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.”(Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews