Valaida Snow, the Orchid in the Orchestra

Louis Armstrong himself called Valaida Snow the world's second best trumpet player, he being the first.

Valaida Snow was born in 1903 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hers was a musical family. By the time she was fifteen years old, Snow had mastered just about every instrument she had laid hands to: cello, bass, banjo, violin, mandolin, harp, accordion, clarinet, trumpet and saxophone.

But it was her trumpet playing which placed Snow in the limelight. People began calling her "Little Louis" after the great Louis Armstrong.

Snow toured in the United States, Europe and the Far East, gaining recognition everywhere she went. She performed with the likes of Count Basie, Earl Hines, Teddy Weatheford and Willie Lewis. She was part of various musical reviews, including "The Chocolate Dandies", touring the United States and overseas. She toured with the revue "Blackbirds" and then with the Noble Sissle-Eubie Blake musical show "Rhapsody in Black." Snow appeared in a number of feature films made for black audiences.

Snow became a somewhat eccentric woman, although this did nothing to dampen her popularity. Snow apparently loved the color orchid. She traveled in an orchid-colored Mercedes, complete with her own orchid suit, a pet monkey dressed in orchid jacket and cap and the chauffeur ensconced in orchid as well.

Trouble had a way of finding Snow. Already married once, she married Ananias Berry. He was 19 and she was 30. Her family attempted to break up the union but it wasn't until charges of bigamy surfaced that ended the marriage. Snow was found guilty but not imprisoned.

There were reports of alcohol and drug abuse, allegations which follow almost any celebrity.

But in 1939, Snow made a decision that would affect her for the rest of her life. She decided to tour Europe extensively, despite the deteriorating situation that was headed for war.

Snow had just returned to Denmark after an appearance in Sweden with her all-girl orchestra. Nazis in nearby Copenhagen imprisoned her. She was then placed in a concentration camp called Wester-Faengler. She was in captivity in the camp for almost two years until her release in a prisoner exchange with allied forces.

Snow returned to the states and tried to put her life back together again. She signs with Derby Records and records "Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone" and "When a Man Loves a Woman." The record does fairly well and Snow tours the Northeast. Soon after, she left Derby Records and signed with Apollo Records.

She also married again to producer Earle Edwards. She continued touring, recording and doing musical reviews, which were her first love.

In May 1956, Snow performed at the Palace Theatre in New York. She had just finished performing and bowing to the last curtain call. She collapsed and died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Snow died doing what she loved to do: perform before a live audience.

Sources:
Jazzitalia
Women in History