Melba Liston

A skilled trombonist in ensemble settings, Melba Liston earned her widest recognition through her arranging work, above all on the various collaborations she undertook with Randy Weston. Raised in California, she joined Gerald Wilson’s orchestra in 1943. Her standout turn as a featured soloist came during a 1947 session with Dexter Gordon. She performed with Count Basie from 1948 to 1949, then with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band from 1949 to 1950, and also accompanied Billie Holiday before stepping away from music for several years. Liston returned to tour and contribute charts to Gillespie’s orchestra between 1956 and 1957, traveled to Europe in 1959 as part of Quincy Jones’s large ensemble, and remained with that group through 1961. Thereafter she operated as an independent arranger, supplying material for dates by Weston, Johnny Griffin, and Milt Jackson, composing for film and recording studios, giving instruction, and playing on occasion. A severe stroke left her wheelchair-bound beginning in 1985, yet she continued to prepare scores for multiple later Randy Weston projects until her death on April 23, 1999.