Valaida Snow

I get mixed emotions whenever I learn something new that I feel should've been taught to me as a youngster. I'm excited about the new knowledge, curiosity piqued and then satisfied as part of the previously unknown is unveiled. But I'm also frustrated by the fact that, esp. when it comes to African-American history, all too often the story of our people has been grossly ignored and neglected. Here's someone very interesting that I learned about last year. This woman often returns to my thoughts -- find myself wondering what her life was like, what motivated her and inspired her and irritated her. Think she should be included in the annals of American music history. Here goes (taken from various sources on the Internet):

"'Queen of the Trumpet', Valaida Snow was born on June 2nd in 1905. She was an African-American musician and entertainer. From Cleveland City, Tennessee she was raised in an intensely musical family. Snow was taught by her mother Etta Washington Snow to play cello, bass, violin, banjo, mandolin, harp, accordion, clarinet, saxophone and trumpet. She also sang and danced. By the time she was 15 years old she was entertaining professionally and had decided to concentrate on trumpet and vocals. She had two sisters and three brothers. Both her sisters and one brother were also professional singers. A third brother and a half-brother never sang professionally or played an instrument of any kind.

Feisty, flamboyant and beautiful, Snow managed her own career, played half a dozen instruments, and spoke several languages. Snow was also gifted with an uncannily perfect pitch. The story is told of how she told pianist Eubie Blake that his regular tuning fork was flat simply after hearing him strike while they were together on a train. When they got to the next stop, Blake rushed her to the nearest music shop where the music dealer confirmed Snow's assessment.

Her truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story takes us from her Vaudeville youth in the Jim Crow South to stardom in black musical theatre. By the 1930s, she was an international headliner, and like her more well-known contemporary Josephine Baker, had caused a sensation in Europe.
A review of one of her engagements in the London Express of 1934 proclaimed: "She has a big personality, wails your tear ducts dry, blows a mean trumpet, and conducts as Toscannini never could." Along with Baker, she was a daring pioneer in an expatriation movement of Black entertainers that made both international stars and helped to eventually turn the tide of acceptance back in the US. In the Netherlands, Queen Wilhelmina was so impressed with Snow's talent and flair that she presented the American with a gilded trumpet.

In 1924 Snow attracted attention in the Sissle and Blake show. Then she was in London with Blackbirds, recording with Johnny Claes, Derek Neville, Freddy Gardner and others. She also worked in China and after her return to the USA she headlined in Chicago and Los Angeles before rejoining the Blackbirds in Paris. Snow also played across Europe and in Russia.

In the early 30s she was performing in the Ethel Waters show, Rhapsody In Black, in New York. In the mid-30s she returned to London and then to Hollywood, where she made films with her husband Ananais Berry of the Berry Brothers dancing troupe. After playing New York's Apollo Theater she revisited Europe and the Far East for more shows and films.

Flamboyant, Snow dressed in elegant gowns, traveled in an orchid-colored Mercedes limousine, and outfitted her chauffer and pet monkey in orchid-colored clothes. She became the toast of Paris and London, and was courted by French superstar Maurice Chevalier and American bandleader Earl Hines . She was a savvy businesswoman and spoke seven languages. While her beauty attracted audiences, it was Snow's incredible talent as a jazz trumpeter which truly captivated them. She obtained the nickname "Little Louis" due to her Louis Armstrong-like playing style.

In 1939 while in Scandinavia, Snow was arrested by the invading Germans and interned in a concentration camp at Wester-Faengle. After 18 months she was released as an exchange prisoner and returned to New York. After her return from prison, Snow married Earle Edwards. Damaged both physically and psychologically, she began performing again. Sadly, the spark and vitality that had made her one of the outstanding American entertainers of the 30s had begun to dim.

In her prime, Snow had perfect pitch and was also a skilled transcriber and arranger. Snow played and sang the blues with deep feeling and could more than hold her own on up-tempo swingers. As a phenomenal musician, because she was a woman in the jazz world of the 30s and 40s, she was regarded as something of a curiosity. Valaida Snow died May 30, 1956 in New York City. Strangely enough, she was buried three days later, on her birthday, June 2.

Even today, many jazz fans have difficulty accepting women as anything other than vocalists despite an increasing number of excellent female soloists now recording and performing.
Valaida Snow, almost universally unknown or forgotten today, forged a multiple-threat career - trumpeter and singer, bandleader, dancer, choreographer and arranger. With three strikes against her (she was Black; she was a woman and she was a bandleader), Valaida Snow still managed to hit home runs and she did it by most accounts, with a sly smile. The great American pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines (who also romanced Snow) said of her "She was just a beautiful and exceptionally talented woman.""

Ginny Owens

Looking for some quality Christian music to satisfy your listening pleasure? Then check out contemporary Christian artist Ginny Owens. Tho' she has about 6 albums out, my favorite is Without Condition. Whether singing her own rendition of the traditional hymn "Be Thou My Vision" or belting out the lyrics to a gritty "Symbol of a Lost Cause", you're sure to love every track on this record. I'm known for having 'remote control' tendencies when it comes to listening to music; never listen to an entire CD -- skip around so much sometimes I don't even finish one song. But this record is different. Here's what one reviewer said:

"Ginny Owens is a rare find in the Christian Music industry. Blinded since a very young age, Owens could have taken a bitter view of God*, yet she didn't, and am I thankful for that. Owens is one of those artists who can dig deep into my soul and say exactly what I am thinking without having ever met her. Taking on the piano as her major tool for writing, Owens sings with such simplicity and ease, like she knows what she's talking about. The CD starts off with an accapella version of "Be Thou My Vision", which is beautiful yet haunting at the same time. The next track on the CD..."I Wanna Be Moved" is one of those songs I was talking about earlier, one that says exactly what I am thinking at the right time. The song is an edgy rock-influenced song speaking of how Owens doesn't "want to be a flame", but rather she wants to be a "raging fire". This is just a small taste of what is to come. While Ginny does a great job on the edgy stuff, she really shows her songwriting muscles on her ballads. Songs like "I Am Nothing", "Someone Searching" and "If You Want Me To" truly show her desire to live a life that is holy and blameless before Christ... "Own Me"...[is a] beautiful, subtle song about how she prays God will take complete control of her life, mold her, break her, and heal her. I highly recommend this album..."

My sentiments exactly.




*Ginny went to college to become a music teacher, only to be frustrated by potential employers who saw only her blindness rather than her gifts. While playing the piano alone, someone walked in unbeknownedst to her, heard her, was blown away, and offered her a record deal. Ginny then shifted her aspirations, and I'm so glad she did.

More Recommended Reading

Eh, folks, here's what I'm reading right now -- both of which are awesome:

1) John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. For those not familiar w. Piper, he writes a lot about living to glorify God and loving it. True to his M.O., Piper builds a case for gaining joy or getting pleasure out of living to bring God glory. He raves about 'being glad' in God and 'making others glad' in God. Refreshing! Takes the ritual and the staleness out of our walk with the Lord. Like a shot in the arm to examine where our heart is concerning Christ -- to see if He is indeed the Lover of our soul. And the not wasting your life part is woven into this recurring theme of Piper's with his poignant pleas for us to spend our lives doing what matters and what has eternal significance, so that we'll have no regrets.

2) Dallas Willard's The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus's Essential Teachings on Discipleship. Wonderful book simply about following Jesus -- about being a disciple of Christ. Challenges the notion that separates 'accepting Christ' from 'following Christ'. Paints excellent picture of how it looks to imitate Christ.