IWBC 2000 Pioneers

Nadine Jansen, a multi-talented musician and entertainer, is as proficient on the flugelhorn as she is on piano and vocals. She was an all-star on the trumpet and flugelhorn in the Women‘s Jazz Festival in 1983 in Kansas City and has received rave reviews in The New York Times, The Daily News, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Downbeat.

Nadine considers herself a Vaudevillian entertainer, having broken into the business with Horace Heidt’s amateur show. She shared the spotlight with acts like The Clooney Sisters (Rosemary and Betty), Dick Contino, Skitch Henderson and Tony Pastor. Her career also includes performances at the Capitol Theater in New York and the Blue Note Club in Chicago opposite Charlie Parker.

Nadine is now semi-retired but performs solo acts and enjoys a weekly jam session in Scottsdale at the popular J. Crew & Company. Wynton and Ellis Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Pete Jolly, Billy Taylor and the Modern Jazz Quartet have been known to stop in and join in the impromptu jam sessions. Ms. Jansen has two recordings available, A-Little-Taste and Ala Mood.

Horn legend Ethel Merker earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Northwestern University, while she performed full-time with the NBC Radio Orchestra. She later became assistant first horn to Philip Farkas and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and also performed with numerous other symphonic, opera and ballet orchestras.

As a recording artist, Ms. Merker has backed such entertainers as the Jackson Five, Diana Ross and John Denver. In addition, she recorded commercials for Marlboro, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and many others. As a valued educator, Ms. Merker has taught at many prestigious schools, including Indiana University, DePaul University, and Vandercook College of Music.

In 1995, Ethel collaborated with the Frank Holton Company on her own innovative Holton “Merker-Matic” French horn line, which enjoys growing popularity and acclaim. Currently, the wide diversity of her playing and teaching experience provides Ethel with a unique ability to communicate and inspire young people as a clinician for G. LeBlanc Corporation.

Betty O’Hara termed herself as a “mostly self-taught trumpet player.” After high school she went on the road with an all-girl band led by Freddie Shafer, playing the USO circuit, hotels, clubs, theaters and ballrooms around the Midwest. In 1947 Betty joined Al Gentile’s big band in Connecticut, playing trumpet and valve trombone, writing arrangements and singing. In 1955, she accepted the trumpet chair with the Hartford Symphony, where she stayed for five years.

She moved to California in 1960, married bass trombonist Barrett O’Hara and raised a family. Ms. O’Hara co-led the female jazz quintet, The Jazzbirds, playing trombone, cornet and double-belled euphonium as well as writing original material, arranging and singing. As a founding member of the big band Maiden Voyage, she appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Ms. O’Hara was a guest artist at many of the Los Angeles Classic Jazz Festivals where she also took part in judging young jazz musicians for scholarships offered by the festival.

Betty O’Hara passed away on April 18, 2000. She will be missed by many but her legacy as a great musician will live on.

Members of the Pioneer Committee who assisted in preparing for the 2000 conference were Robyn Card, Ramona Galey, Gail Lewis, and Melissa Williams.