The Kit McClure Band is an all-female

Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

 big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 and jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 combo begun by Kit McClure

Kit McClure

Kit McClure is a jazz musician and bandleader of the big band Kit McClure Band and founder of the Women in Jazz Project. In 2004, she started a project to revive interest in the all-female big band, International Sweethearts of Rhythm...

 in 1982 at The Ritz

Ritz (rock club)

-History:The Ritz was founded in 1980 by Jerry Brandt on 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. Formerly a ballroom known as Webster Hall, The Ritz still retained some of its previous incarnation's Art Deco style. As a venue, it focused...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. It eventually caught the attention of Cab Calloway

Cab Calloway

Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....

 and was signed to Island Records

Island Records

Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...

, where it toured with Robert Palmer for two years, playing to sold-out crowds at Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall

Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...

 and Garden State Arts Center, followed by eight tours of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The band released its first album, Some Like It Hot, on its own label, Redhot Records, in 1990. The follow-up, Burning, in 1995, was produced by Teo Macero

Teo Macero

Teo Macero , born Attilio Joseph Macero, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and record producer...

.

In 2004, and 2006, the band released a pair of albums in tribute to the International Sweethearts of Rhythm

International Sweethearts of Rhythm

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was the first integrated all women's band in the United States. During the 1940s the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day...

, a 1940s big band consisting entirely of women, which, for much of its existence, was all-black

Black people

The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

. The second of these was released in conjunction with Motéma Music

Motéma Music

Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...

 and Redeye Distribution

Redeye Distribution

Redeye Distribution is an independent music distribution company founded in 1996 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Redeye currently distributes such labels as Marsalis Music, Barsuk Records, Warp Records, Daptone Records, Luaka Bop Records, Kill Rock Stars, Sargent House, Hydra Head Records, The...

. Both albums, The Sweethearts Project and Just the Thing: The Sweethearts Project Revisited feature exclusively material that was performed by the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, but were entirely re-imagined in a more contemporary style.

In 2005, The Kit McClure Band received the Excellence in Small Business Award from Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg

Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

.

Lineup

• Kit McClure
  Kit McClure
  Kit McClure is a jazz musician and bandleader of the big band Kit McClure Band and founder of the Women in Jazz Project. In 2004, she started a project to revive interest in the all-female big band, International Sweethearts of Rhythm...
  
  , tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  , alto saxophone
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
  
• Lakecia Benjamin, alto saxophone
• Lisa Parrott, alto saxophone
• Tia Fuller
  Tia Fuller
  Tia Fuller is a saxophonist, composer, and educator is a member of the all-female band touring with R & B star, Beyoncé...
  
  , alto saxophone
• Erica Von Kleist, alto saxopone
• Kristy Norter, tenor sax
• Claire Daly, baritone sax
• Liesl Whitaker lead trumpet
  Trumpet
  The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
  
  
• Barbara Laronga, trumpet
• Laurie Frink, trumpet
• Tanya Darby, trumpet
• Britta Langsjoen, trombone
• Jennifer Krupa, trombone
• Cathy Harley, piano
• Jill McCarron, piano
• Nicki Parrott, bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Kim Clarke, bass
• Barbara Merjan, drums
• L. Olivia Sci, drums
• Bernice Brooks, drums
• Sue Hadjopoulos, percussion
• Karen Jones, percussion

External links

• Official Site
• Kit McClure Band at Motéma Music
  Motéma Music
  Motéma Music is an American record label focused on jazz and world music, as well as other creative projects by virtuosic musicians who also compose. It was founded by Jana Herzen in 2003, and is now based in Harlem, New York City...
  
  
• Kit McClure Band at Maximum Talent
• The Sweethearts Project at All About Jazz
  All About Jazz
  All About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...