Passing of Peggy Gilbert: Saxophonist and Band Leader
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New music is planned for issue in 2007, available only as a pre-order at the time of Ms. Gilbert’s untimely death: Peggy Gilbert & The Dixie Belles
After eight decades of performance as a Jazz saxophonist and all-female bandleader, Peggy Gilbert died at the age of 102 in Los Angeles on Feb. 12, 2007.
A groundbreaking talent, recognized for her contribution to Dixieland and “hot jazz”, the energetic Ms. Gilbert will be missed.
Ms. Gilbert’s death was reported by filmmaker, musicologist and close friend, Jeannie Pool, who said that the jazz musician had died from complications to hip surgery.
Born, Margaret “Peggy” Knechtges in Sioux City on Jan. 17, 1905, she studied music with her father, a violinist and conductor of the Hawkeye Symphony Orchestra. Her mother, whose maiden name was Gilbert, was an opera singer.
When she turned professional, Peggy adopted the Gilbert name, and went on to establish a remarkable career. As early as 1937, Gilbert’s all-female band opened The Second Hollywood Swing Concert at the Palomar ballroom; her group was the only one of its kind on the stage at that time.
The women, under Ms. Gilbert’s leadership, performed on an equal basis beside groups led by American greats such as Benny Goodman, Stuff Smith, Louis Prima, Ben Pollack and Les Hite,
Gilbert’s bands played “hot jazz, and she was in the forefront of the Swing movement in the 1930s,” said Ms. Poole. Around the same time Peggy appeared in several Hollywood films including, “The Wet Parade” (1932), “Melody for Two” (1937) and “The Great Waltz” (1938).
Ms. Gilbert had unwavering energy and a positive spirit. In 1974, at the age of 69, she formed yet another a group. This time the jazz musicians were all older women. The Dixie Belles performed together for nearly 25 years and were featured on such television shows as “The Tonight Show,” “The Golden Girls,” “Dharma & Greg,” and “The Ellen Show”.
Women under Ms. Gilbert's leadership performed on an equal basis beside groups led by American greats
At the time of her death, Ms. Gilbert was working on completing a biography called “The Peggy Gilbert Story: American Jazz Band Leader, Saxophone Player and Advocate for Women Musicians”. The four-year project included the filming of the documentary “Peggy Gilbert and Her All-Girl Band”, narrated by her friend Lily Tomlin.
