Ina Ray Hutton (March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984), was an American singer, bandleader, and the half-sister of June Hutton. She led one of the first all-female big bands.
In 1934, she was approached by Irving Mills and vaudeville agent Alex Hyde to lead an all-girl orchestra, the Melodears, As part of the group's formation, Mills asked her to change her name. The group included trumpeter Frances Klein, Canadian pianist Ruth Lowe Sandler, saxophonist Jane Cullum, guitarist Marian Gange, trumpeter Mardell "Owen" Winstead, and trombonist Alyse Wells.
The Melodears appeared in short films and in the movie Big Broadcast of 1936. They recorded six songs, sung by Hutton, before disbanding in 1939. Soon after, she started the Ina Ray Hutton Orchestra (with men only) that included George Paxton and Hal Schaefer. The band appeared in the film Ever Since Venus (1944), recorded for Elite and Okeh, and performed on the radio. After this band broke up, she started another male band a couple years later. She married jazz trumpeter Randy Brooks.
During the 1950s, Hutton formed a female big band that played on television and starred in The Ina Ray Hutton Show.
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Listen to Ina Ray Hutton on Swing City Radio. We are a Big Band Radio Station playing a wide selection of Big Band and Swing music.
Swing City Radio plays Ina Ray Hutton - Listen to our station and hear the songs:
Was It Worth It?
Cabin In The Sky
How About Tomorrow Night?
In My Arms
High Steppin'
Georgia's Gorgeous Gal
And Still I Do
Five O'Clock Whistle
