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Celebrating the Influential Women of Jazz in Honor of Women's History Month

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variety.com
Sounds Good will feature two hour-long specials celebrating women of jazz this Friday, March 22nd.

Sounds Good will feature two hour-long specials this week celebrating some of the most influential women in jazz of the past one hundred years. 

From the Club McKenzie: Your 1920s Jazz Speakeasy, Women in Jazz: Women's History Month Special is a tribute to a few of the more influential women who were instrumental in the formation of early jazz. Lillian "Lil" Hardin Armstrong, Marian McPartland, Mary Lou Williams, and Valaida Snow (Queen of the Trumpet) are the featured artists. Women in Jazz will be aired on Sounds Good on Friday, March 22nd, at 11 a.m.

Immediately following Women in Jazz at 12 noon will be Billie Holiday: 'Lady Sings the Blues.'  This program honors "Lady Day," whose rhythmic instinct for melodies brought vocals to the forefront of jazz expression. Few song-stylists of any era are as immediately distinctive and arresting as Holiday. As for her voice itself: it remains one of the most influential, inimitable, simple incredible sounds of recorded music. 

Listen to Women in Jazz (11 a.m.) and Billie Holiday: 'Lady Sings the Blues' (12 noon) this Friday, March 21st, on WKMS' Sounds Good. Listen on air at 91-3 FM or on wkms.org.

Tracy started working for WKMS in 1994 while attending Murray State University. After receiving his Bachelors and Masters degrees from MSU he was hired as Operations/Web/Sports Director in 2000. Tracy hosted All Things Considered from 2004-2012 and has served as host/producer of several music shows including Cafe Jazz, and Jazz Horizons. In 2001, Tracy revived Beyond The Edge, a legacy alternative music program that had been on hiatus for several years. Tracy was named Program Director in 2011 and created the midday music and conversation program Sounds Good in 2012 which he hosts Monday-Thursday. Tracy lives in Murray with his wife, son and daughter.
Melanie Davis-McAfee graduated from Murray State University in 2018 with a BA in Music Business. She has been working for WKMS as a Music and Operations Assistant since 2017. Melanie hosts the late-night alternative show Alien Lanes, Fridays at 11 pm with co-host Tim Peyton. She also produces Rick Nance's Kitchen Sink and Datebook and writes Sounds Good stories for the web.
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