All-Girl Bands of WWII

Remember our post on the all-female marimba orchestra? Well, I started doing a little research and discovered that during WWII, thanks to the man-shortage, all-female Big Bands flourished. You can read the fascinating story in Tonya Bolden's recent book, pictured to the right. It comes complete with a swinging CD. But to whet your appetite for these pulchritudinous anomalies, check out the clip above.

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Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 10, 2010
Category: Music | 1940s | Women

Comments

very nice. they are a good band.

Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 02/10/10 at 11:38 AM

Re: your comment about the "all-female marimba band" which appeared on this site earlier.

If you watch the video, you can see behind the lead player a heavy-set man in a greenish shirt playing one instrument. He is also in the picture shown about halfway through the video of the entire band.
So it isn't "all-female." Unless he's TG.

Posted by proofreader on 02/10/10 at 07:40 PM

D'oh! My bad. Yet Ina and her group is included in that book cited, so the author/expert thought she qualified.

Posted by Paul on 02/11/10 at 12:16 PM

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