“I’m not a female trombone player. I’m a trombone player.” — Melba Liston National Endowment for the Arts #JazzMaster Melba Liston was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1926 — a city where big bands, blues, and swing were part of everyday life. She started playing trombone as a teenager, and it didn’t take long before her sound stood out. By her mid-teens, she was already working professionally, something almost unheard of at the time.. She recorded with saxophonist Dexter Gordon in 1947 and joi