Renegade Queens showcases the musical prowess of women from Venezuela, Cuba, Chile and Colombia who have impacted Latin jazz and its related idioms in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 Along the way, Vol. 3 continues the story from the first two volumes of Salsa de la Bahia in which arranger and trombone maestro Wayne Wallace and filmmaker Rita Hargrave shared a detailed history of the region’s Latin jazz scene.

Given that recordings from that scene and before the turn of the century with women as leaders are sparse, the two discs bridge past and present by opening each with original new recordings arranged by Wallace that also highlight many of the players featured in the anthology.

Disc 1 opens with “We Were Born To Drum,” a bold big band mambo featuring vocals by Christelle Durandy.  Durandy chants lyrics by the celebrated Bay Area cultural icon and poet Avotcja that encapsulate the compilation’s themes: “Conceived in rhythm, with clave in the soul, we were born to drum.”  The track also highlights saxophonist / flautist Mary Fettig, percussionist Michaelle Goerlitz, vocalist Sandy Cressman and vocalist/trombonist Natalie Cressman.

Similarly, the second disc opens with “La Mensajera,” a new Wallace salsa piece that showcases violinist Sandi Poindexter, tenor saxophonist Jean Fineberg and trumpeter Marina Garza, who led Orquesta D’Soul, a seminal 1990s all-woman band.

Each piece on Renegade Queens illuminates a different facet of an extraordinary and lesser-known musical history. Some distinctly revelatory pieces include “La Lagrima” (The Tear), a traditional song from Venezuela’s Caribbean Margarita Island sung by Caracas born Maria Marquez. The tune also incorporates Venezuela’s coastal beats thanks to percussion master Gustavo Ovalles as well as the country’s folkloric rhythms, with Jackeline Rago playing the cuatro, Venezuela’s national instrument. Another highlight, “Cosmo,” is the earliest recording in the project by the Blazing Redheads, an all-female septet from the late ’80s.  The Blazing Redheads created an early fusion of jazz, funk and Latin beats, and this samba-tinged tune was composed and arranged by one of the ensemble’s founding members, percussionist and trap drummer Michealle Goerlitz. Renegade

Queens is a welcome and necessary record of the indispensable contribution of highly talented women to the Bay Area’s rich jazz and salsa scenes.

LATIN JAZZ  CON GUSTO!
By Catalina Maria Johnson
March 2025 Downbeat

LINER NOTES

Historically female musicians, particularly instrumentalists, have been marginalized in the male dominated music industry. Women vocalists share that hardship, too, being stereotyped into stylistic bags and images. Women had to be above and beyond to become “the girl in the band.” Lil Hardin Armstrong, Mary Lou Williams, Valaida Snow, and a handful of other female instrumentalists broke through in the early years of jazz, but they were few and far between.

In the US it was the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, led by Helen Jones, that broke new ground with the first all-woman (and racially integrated) band. They toured the country billed as a novelty act but inspired others to follow suit. 

 In Cuba, the all-woman band Anacaona, named after the indigenous female chief of the Taino people, adapted the Son style and challenged their male counterparts at a time when it was believed women were not capable of playing Son. 

Creating all-female bands to compete with their male counterparts was an important flashpoint to chipping away at the walls for equity and recognition and paving a road for renegade queen(s) to carve their way forward and inspire others to follow. 

 In the San Francisco Bay Area, it was folks like singers Sweetie Mitchell and Mary Stallings, drummer Dottie Dodgion, pianist Norma Teagarden, and a few others that gave jazz bands in the region a lady’s touch. On the Latin scene it was the unsung Juanita “La Chiquita” Silva who sang and played congas in local bands with Armando Peraza and others in the 1950s.   

A prominent female presence was not felt on the San Francisco Latin, Jazz, Rock, and Funk scenes until the 1970s. Sheila Escovedo, Faye Carol, Rebeca Mauleon-Santana, Linda Tillery, Patricia Thumas, Vicki Randle, The Pointer Sisters, Carolyn Brandy, Celia Malhieros, Liza Silva, Mary Fettig, Joyce Cooling, and countless others led a movement that integrated women into prominent bands or as solo artists. Today there is a strong, vibrant presence of women in all aspects of the Bay Area music scene. With the help of producer Wayne Wallace and Sheryl Lynn Thomas, Rita Hargrave documents an important turning point for women in the Bay Area Latin music scene on this third volume of the “Desde La Bahia” (From The Bay) series. It illuminates the contributions of women by showcasing a superb playlist of recordings.  Many of these tracks are now long out of print but really document the talents and contributions of unsung artists who toiled on the scene, many times in the shadows.  

The success Rita has achieved with her documentary, “The Last Mambo,” has given her a unique perspective and vantage point to see where women sit in the Bay Area Latin and Jazz music scenes. Broadcast nationally over PBS and screened at prestigious film festivals, Rita didn’t rest on her laurels and when asked ‘what’s next?’ Her answer, without hesitation: “Women!” Why? “Where do I start?” writes Rita. “They’re often shut out of the ‘old boy network’ in the music business. They face gender-based discrimination. And let’s not forget the constant struggle to maintain relationships with parents, partners, children, and friends while pursuing their art.

“Despite all of this, they’re out there every day, making it happen. They’re creating, performing, teaching, and mentoring. They’re some of the most creative, thoughtful, and empathic people I’ve met. And they do it all while embracing their culture, their art form, their families, and their communities. They truly are queens – renegade queens.” 

The artists presented are not only performers but educators and mentors as well. Does this right the wrong? Not at all. Women still face obstacles in progressing forward and getting equity in pay and recognition, but the generation of artists presented have truly created a better world for the next generation of female musicians.   

“We hope to spark discussion about this untapped talent pool of women musicians who haven’t been recognized for decades,” adds Hargrave. “When I started putting this compilation together with Wayne Wallace, I realized something shocking. Very few Bay Area women musicians had released recordings before the 2000s. They did not have the tools we take for granted now–home recording studios, Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube to produce and promote their music. These women have been fearless, resilient, and innovative, but their work has seldom been well documented.  Where is the permanent record of their contributions? We hope this album and the associated documentary Renegade Queens will help change the game for Bay Area women and women internationally in Latin music.” 

As you listen to the music presented here, understand that this compilation is as much a celebration of the Bay Area music community as it is of these individual artists. “While we’re shining a spotlight on these incredible women, we’re also showcasing the unique musical ecosystem that has nurtured their talents. The Renegade Queens project is a testament to the power of diversity, collaboration, and the special magic that happens when different cultures come together in harmony – both literally and figuratively,” concludes Rita, who also plays great Timbales.

Jesse “Chuy” Varela
KCSM JAZZ 91
Program/Music Director