I remember the first time I ever saw Ina Ray Hutton I wanted to be her. I mean who wouldn’t want to be an all singing, all tap dancing, female band leader?! What’s NOT to love?

Ina was one of the only only prominent female leaders during the big band era. Ina started dancing when she was just eight years old and in 1934 she started one of the most famous all-girl jazz bands of the 1930’s, the Melodears. She was known for her deadly combination of great band leading and her seductive stage persona. People called her the Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm. she once said “I’m selling the show as a music program, not on a sex-appeal basis . . . But if curves attract an audience, so much the better.”

The Melodears disbanded at the end of the thirties and in 1940 she went on to lead an all-male orchestra….and all without putting a single pin-curl out of place. If you’re not familiar with her work, see her in action in this YouTube clip Doin’ The Suzy Q.

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