By Nina Petrou
As a genre that was founded on the basis of individual expression, jazz music has been commended for its historical fights against social issues and for pushing boundaries. However, there has been little room for women within that narrative.
Traditionally, women were only allowed to sing in jazz performances because their faces attracted audiences to come to the “real show,” which featured male jazz musicians. Women were praised for their looks rather than their musical talents alone. Sadly, these deeply rooted stereotypes have influenced how women are perceived within the jazz industry today. Across the UK’s leading conservatories, women account for 11% of full-time teachers of jazz degree courses, and as of 2021, women make up just 5% of jazz instrumentalists in the UK today (The Guardian).
It could be argued that women have been excluded from jazz due to its reliance on improvisation, a skill associated with male intellectual superiority and entitlement. Additionally, the instruments dominant in jazz, such as brass and rhythm section instruments, have been stereotyped as masculine. This alignment with traditional gender roles makes it challenging for women to succeed in the genre. Such exclusion results in a vicious cycle where compositions written by men continue to be taught by male professors and played by male musicians, leading to a lack of female role models.
Despite this exclusion, women have been involved in jazz since its inception, with notable female jazz musicians including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and many others who have made significant contributions to the genre.
Jazz encourages, celebrates, and rewards originality, personality, and meaningful expressiveness in music. However, without strong role models, young female jazz musicians are at a significant disadvantage. The problem is so deeply embedded that it is even visible within our schools. In the Nyack High School Jazz Ensemble, the enrollment of musicians who identify as female has been consistently low for the last four years, with an astounding current ratio of 2:22, females to males. In order for the jazz genre to survive, we must make room for women on the stage and in the music classroom. Central Washington University created a Women in Jazz Day as an opportunity to celebrate successful women in the field of jazz and encourage a stronger community of female and non-binary jazz musicians. As a trumpet player in the jazz ensemble, it is disheartening to watch the enrollment of women in the class grow smaller every year. For jazz music to fully flourish, the genre must be representative of everyone.