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Valaida Snow
Valaida Snow (June 2, 1904 – May 30, 1956) was an American jazz musician and entertainer who performed internationally. She was also known as "Little Louis" and "Queen of the Trumpet," a nickname given to her by W. C. Handy.
Snow was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother, Etta, was a Howard University-educated music teacher and her father, John, was a minister who was the leader of the Pickaninny Troubadours, a group mainly consisting of child performers. Raised on the road in a show-business family, where starting from the age of five, she began performing with her father's group. By the time she was 15, she learned to play cello, bass, banjo, violin, mandolin, harp, accordion, clarinet, trumpet, and saxophone. She also sang and danced.
Snow's solo career began in 1921 when she joined a popular revue called Holiday in Dixieland, after exiting an abusive marriage. She then held a residency at a Harlem cabaret, which grew her profile.
In the year 1922 at 18 years old, Snow gained national recognition, leading her to travel all over the U.S. to perform as a dancer, musician (Trumpet player), and singer. The following year, she appeared in the black musical Ramblin Round. In the year 1923, she also appeared in Will Mastin’s Follow Me revue.
In 1924, Snow was cast alongside Josephine Baker in the musical In Bamville, a follow-up to the enduring hit musical Shuffle Along. While the musical was itself not a hit, Baker and Snow both received positive reviews. She became a key figure in the musical's New York run, now titled The Chocolate Dandies along with Elizabeth Welch and Josephine Baker.
After focusing on the trumpet, Snow quickly became so famous at the instrument that she was nicknamed "Little Louis" after Louis Armstrong, who called her the world's second-best jazz trumpet player, besides himself. W. C. Handy, who is known as the Father of the Blues, gave her the nickname "Queen of the Trumpet." Contemporary critics Krin Gabbard and Will Friedwald have commented on her approach to playing like Armstrong. Gabbard said she developed a "distinctly Armstrongian style" and Friedwald said she "mimicked" Armstrong. In a 1928 performance in Chicago at the Sunset Café, Snow played the trumpet, sang. Then seven pairs of shoes were placed in a row at the front of the stage, and she danced in each pair for one chorus. The dances and shoes to match were: soft-shoe, adagio shoes, tap shoes, Dutch clogs, Chinese straw sandals, Turkish slippers, and the last pair, Russian boots. "When Louis Armstrong saw the show one night, he continued clapping after others had stopped and remarked, 'Boy I never saw anything that great'." Despite her talent, she had fewer opportunities to hold residencies as a bandleader at clubs in New York or Chicago, like many of her male peers. Instead, she predominantly toured, playing concerts throughout the US, Europe, and China. In 1926, she toured London and Paris with Lew Leslie's Blackbirds revue and then from 1926 to 1929, she toured with Jack Carter's Serenaders in Shanghai, Singapore, Calcutta, and Jakarta.
Snow's most successful period was in the 1930s when she became the toast of London and Paris. Around this time she recorded her hit song "High Hat, Trumpet, and Rhythm". In 1931, she performed in the Ethel Waters show Rhapsody in Black, in New York. Snow directed the show's band and had a prominent role in the show, which had been designed by Lew Leslie to feature Snow. However, the show's credits did not reflect her role, as it was advertised around Ethel Waters, with the on-stage band's name remaining Pike Davis's Continental Orchestra. Snow's songs included "Saint James Infirmary" and "Till the Real Thing Comes Along". In 1933, she created her first record and toured with Earl Hines' band. Snow conducted the band for the London run of Blackbirds of 1934.
In the mid-1930s, Snow made films with her husband, Ananias Berry, of the Berry Brothers dancing troupe. These included Take it From Me and Irresistible You. After playing the Apollo Theater in New York City, she revisited Europe and the Far East for more shows and films. In the late 1930's Snow appeared in the French films L'Alibi and Pièges.
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Valaida Snow
Valaida Snow (June 2, 1904 – May 30, 1956) was an American jazz musician and entertainer who performed internationally. She was also known as "Little Louis" and "Queen of the Trumpet," a nickname given to her by W. C. Handy.
Snow was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her mother, Etta, was a Howard University-educated music teacher and her father, John, was a minister who was the leader of the Pickaninny Troubadours, a group mainly consisting of child performers. Raised on the road in a show-business family, where starting from the age of five, she began performing with her father's group. By the time she was 15, she learned to play cello, bass, banjo, violin, mandolin, harp, accordion, clarinet, trumpet, and saxophone. She also sang and danced.
Snow's solo career began in 1921 when she joined a popular revue called Holiday in Dixieland, after exiting an abusive marriage. She then held a residency at a Harlem cabaret, which grew her profile.
In the year 1922 at 18 years old, Snow gained national recognition, leading her to travel all over the U.S. to perform as a dancer, musician (Trumpet player), and singer. The following year, she appeared in the black musical Ramblin Round. In the year 1923, she also appeared in Will Mastin’s Follow Me revue.
In 1924, Snow was cast alongside Josephine Baker in the musical In Bamville, a follow-up to the enduring hit musical Shuffle Along. While the musical was itself not a hit, Baker and Snow both received positive reviews. She became a key figure in the musical's New York run, now titled The Chocolate Dandies along with Elizabeth Welch and Josephine Baker.
After focusing on the trumpet, Snow quickly became so famous at the instrument that she was nicknamed "Little Louis" after Louis Armstrong, who called her the world's second-best jazz trumpet player, besides himself. W. C. Handy, who is known as the Father of the Blues, gave her the nickname "Queen of the Trumpet." Contemporary critics Krin Gabbard and Will Friedwald have commented on her approach to playing like Armstrong. Gabbard said she developed a "distinctly Armstrongian style" and Friedwald said she "mimicked" Armstrong. In a 1928 performance in Chicago at the Sunset Café, Snow played the trumpet, sang. Then seven pairs of shoes were placed in a row at the front of the stage, and she danced in each pair for one chorus. The dances and shoes to match were: soft-shoe, adagio shoes, tap shoes, Dutch clogs, Chinese straw sandals, Turkish slippers, and the last pair, Russian boots. "When Louis Armstrong saw the show one night, he continued clapping after others had stopped and remarked, 'Boy I never saw anything that great'." Despite her talent, she had fewer opportunities to hold residencies as a bandleader at clubs in New York or Chicago, like many of her male peers. Instead, she predominantly toured, playing concerts throughout the US, Europe, and China. In 1926, she toured London and Paris with Lew Leslie's Blackbirds revue and then from 1926 to 1929, she toured with Jack Carter's Serenaders in Shanghai, Singapore, Calcutta, and Jakarta.
Snow's most successful period was in the 1930s when she became the toast of London and Paris. Around this time she recorded her hit song "High Hat, Trumpet, and Rhythm". In 1931, she performed in the Ethel Waters show Rhapsody in Black, in New York. Snow directed the show's band and had a prominent role in the show, which had been designed by Lew Leslie to feature Snow. However, the show's credits did not reflect her role, as it was advertised around Ethel Waters, with the on-stage band's name remaining Pike Davis's Continental Orchestra. Snow's songs included "Saint James Infirmary" and "Till the Real Thing Comes Along". In 1933, she created her first record and toured with Earl Hines' band. Snow conducted the band for the London run of Blackbirds of 1934.
In the mid-1930s, Snow made films with her husband, Ananias Berry, of the Berry Brothers dancing troupe. These included Take it From Me and Irresistible You. After playing the Apollo Theater in New York City, she revisited Europe and the Far East for more shows and films. In the late 1930's Snow appeared in the French films L'Alibi and Pièges.
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