Peggy Gilbert, born Margaret Fern Knechtges (1905-2007) was a West Coast jazz saxophonist, arranger, bandleader, and advocate for women instrumental musicians. She inspired several generations of musicians and continued to perform professionally into her nineties. This biography is based on oral history interviews, and Gilbert's collection of photographs, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia, and includes materials not previously available on all-women-bands from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. The book also includes a filmography, and a list of all of Peggy Gilbert's columns for Overture.