A pioneer in bringing women musicians onto the jazz scene, svelte Ina Ray Hutton, "The Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm," led an all-girl swing band, the Melodears, from 1935-39 and again in a television series in 1956. Although her idea was ahead of its time, when the Melodears opened a set with their theme song, "Gotta Have Your Love," few would dispute critic George Simon's claim that "Without a doubt, the sexiest of all big bandleaders was Ina Ray Hutton."

At age fourteen, Chicago-born Ina Ray, the younger sister of June Hutton (who sang with Tommy Dorsey's Pied Pipers) was already in show business, singing and tap dancing with Gus Edwards's vaudeville revues at the Palace Theater in New York City. Four years later she was in the chorus line of the Ziegfield Follies and George White's Scandals. Her background in dance prepared her...