This is the blog about ‘that sax player’. That’s right. The black one. The female one.
That Sax Player | 5 Myths About Women in Jazz
This is the blog about ‘that sax player’. That’s right. The black one. The female one.
At this point, I have been defined by this title for the majority of my life. The duality of this status comes with a very specific set of problems. Being a female jazz musician automatically isolates me from the pack.
Ever since the age of 12, I’ve learned to adjust to this status, finding solidarity in other women who play this music too. But then there’s my blackness. A status one would think should bring me back into the fold. This is black American music after all. But instead, it has only acted as another agent of isolation amongst many of my female colleagues.
Vi Redd and company, Wikimedia Commons
What I’m saying is, there aren’t many of us. This felt especially true growing up in Colorado. I never EVER saw a woman of color at any of the jazz festivals, jazz camps, all-state… none of it. That showed me that I was often going to be the exception, the outlier. But notice — I said there weren’t many of us, not that there weren’t any of us.
Have you ever looked in a jazz textbook before? Ok, maybe not unless you’re a musician yourself. But, very few seem to have room to mention any of the black female jazz musicians who were integral contributors to jazz history just as much as their male counterparts. Vi Redd, Mary Lou Williams, Melba Brown. Or more modern players such as Terri Lyn Carrington, Geri Allen, or Tia Fuller were never even mentioned to me as people I should be inspired by.
In all this time, while I have had the honor of sharing the stage with some (still not many) INCREDIBLE black female jazz vocalists, I have yet to share the stage with another black female instrumentalist.
That is something that none of my male or even female colleagues can say — that they’ve never played with someone that looked like them. That came from the place they came from. While playing “jazz music” is for everyone, it’s crazy that I’ve had this experience as a black woman playing this music.
NOTE: I use quotes here as an opportunity to mention that, while I use the term “jazz” in this post, it is a made-up word with a derogatory connotation. When I say “jazz” I’m simply referring to any improvised music originating from the black American music idiom.
5 Myths About Women In Jazz
Will there ever be gender justice in the jazz world? Will it ever change?
I am hopeful that it will. How it will change, however, will be a discussion for another time. For now, I want to talk about how the problem formed in the first place. So I came up with 5 myths about women (and gender) in jazz that should be squashed once and for all.
Myth # 1: There were no women playing jazz back then because of the patriarchal rules of society.
I’ve already disproved this ridiculous assumption in the first part of this article. There were plenty of women interested in jazz from the very beginning. If men were the only ones who resonated with and played this music, it would not have made as much of an impact on American music as a whole the way it has today.
The issue is not that there were none, it’s that these women simply did not have the same opportunities to be known as their male counterparts. Take Vi Redd for example. She had a thriving career playing with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Count Basie, and Max Roach. Yet, Redd only reordered her own music twice as a bandleader. This problem still continues today.
Myth # 2: Women are too sensitive to play jazz music.
Some of you may read this and think, ”well duh, that’s a myth.” But the kicker is that someone has actually said this to me. Even worse, they said it to an entire college class of over 100 non-music students. These students likely went on believing that jazz is meant to be some type of “sport” reserved for men and that women didn’t have enough “cajones” to play a horn for real.
Again — ridiculous.
Myth # 3: Maybe women musicians just don’t enjoy playing jazz music as much as men.
I can tell you right now, that is not the case. I have adjudicated in enough middle school and high school jazz festivals to know that there are so many young girls who get excited about playing this music. Half the band can be female.
So why does this not translate into the professional jazz world? Why do we still look up on the bandstand and see all men, maybe, one female?
My guess is — representation.
The first jazz festival I ever adjudicated in was the Mile High Jazz Festival. It was also the first year that festival ever had a female judge. This festival had been going on for decades. I remember attending the festival myself in middle school and high school and thinking “I love playing this music, but is it just for guys?”
That was always my impression. I wonder how many of the other girls at that festival thought the same thing and gave up on a career before they even had the chance to start dreaming of one?
Myth # 4: I just attended a “women in jazz” event. I don’t think this is a problem anymore.
If only I could translate my look into words. Don’t get me started on these “women in jazz” events or worse “ladies of jazz” nights. I grew up in a predominately white school in a predominately white city in a predominately white state. You get the point. Let’s just say, I’m no stranger to tokenism.
So when I was asked to play my first “women in jazz” night, you would think I would have been quick to pass. But nooo. I was desperate for the solidarity I thought it would bring me. That was the first and last time I would ever play an event like this.
I am open to opportunities that make an effort to highlight the artistry of some amazing female jazz artists. But an event put together with whatever female musicians they could find just for the sake of it — it’s a no for me dawg.
Myth # 5: It's fine for women in jazz to be vocalists but it seems out of place for instrumentalists.
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if I was a singer after telling them I'm a jazz musician, well I would be a very rich musician. Now don't get me wrong. Some of the best female jazz singers in jazz history are also among the best jazz musicians as well. So this is not to discredit the work of these women musicians.
However, it is as if our minds still have not grasped the idea that women can do anything men can do. And that includes blowing a horn. That's right. I said blowing. If you are uncomfortable at this moment by me using blowing and women in the same context, you may need to do the same work my high school boyfriend's parents did, who were uncomfortable (among other things cough my blackness cough) with their son's girlfriend blowing on things. Don't worry, only saxophones ;).
Women artists come in all shapes and sizes. I will admit, sometimes the shock and awe that I receive when someone finds out I play the saxophone can be exciting. But then when you think about it, it's hard not to feel a bit disappointed that I receive that much shock and awe.
40 Iconic FemalE Jazz Musicians
The first step in squashing these myths is to know that they exist. The next step is to know and listen to the many talented female instrumentalists and vocalists who have been valuable members of the jazz community. To make things easier, here's a list to get you started... are you ready?
Melba Liston
Vi Redd
Lil Hardin Armstrong
Alice Coltrane
Sarah Vaughan
Bessie Smith
Mary Lou Williams
Terry Pollard
Ella Fitzgerald
Billie Holiday
Dorothy Ashby
Lovie Austin
Josephine Baker
"Sweet" Emma Barrett
Nancy Wilson
Mary Osborne
Valaida Show
Betty Carter
Geri Allen
Toshika Akiyoshi
Carla Bley
Ingrid Jenson
Carmen McRae
Terri Lyne Carrington
Nina Simone
Esperanza Spalding
Maria Schneider
Tia Fuller
Camille Thurman
Brandee Younger
Regina Carter
Nubya Garcia
Jane Ira Bloom
Kris Davis
Roxy Cross
Elena Pinderhughes
Maria Grand
Dawn Clement
Lakecia Benjamin
Linda Oh
Cecile McLorin Salvant
By no means is this an exhaustive list of women who play this music. But it is a good place to start.
Gender and Jazz: Jazz Without Patriarchy
I couldn't possibly conclude this post without stating that the "big picture" issue is not just about women in jazz, it's about gender in jazz. This looming ghost of patriarchy still haunts this jazz community and in many ways continues to carry the "this is a man's world" mentality both on and off the band stand.
Anyone who does not ascribe to this kind of masculinity in the traditional is left feeling like they can aren't really apart of the club. This is felt when, not only women but also non binary people and even gay men, are left having to laugh at inappropriate jokes some old man has been telling for half-a-century now. And they feel entitled to do so, with no regard for how it affects those around him, just because he played with so-and-so and what-his-face.
At the end of the day, we're all human, and playing an instrument well does not give you the right to be a trash human. This music should embrace and accept everyone, and the sooner we all -- but especially the men who like to say nothing but later say they're outraged -- stop putting up with it, the sooner we can reach our full potential as a community.
