Women in Jazz Music - Coursework Example

Women in Jazz Music Generally, jazz is defined as a musical genre that emerged in the beginning of the 20th century among Black communities of southern United States. It significantly encompassed the musical invention of European genres, with singers and composers mixing them with African American forms (Cooke and Horn 1-2). Women have engaged in jazz since its beginning, yet their accomplishments and contribution to jazz are not as widely recognized as those of the male jazz artists. With a small number of exceptions, prior to the latter half of the 1980s, women were usually inferior members of jazz (Gourse 7-8). Traditionally, men in jazz seldom employed female musicians. However, everything changed in the 1990s. Arts began to give recognition and honour to jazz performers in the latter part of the 1960s. The conservatories hesitantly persuaded female students (Gourse 8). Still, with jazz receiving more and more recognition, women sensed greater freedom than ever to become a part of the jazz world. There have been several women instrumentalists since the 1920s. Ingrid Monson, a scholar of music, says that the piano, one of the first instruments that female jazz enthusiasts played, gave women musicians a degree of social recognition (Cooke and Horn 114). In the early period of jazz, women instrumentalists often bring together all-women jazz groups (Appelrouth 1498). Becoming a part of professional jazz was a very challenging accomplishment for numerous women, yet jazz offered more beneficial job opportunities for numerous Black women. During the late period of the Second World War, when numerous male jazz performers had been recruited into the army, several of all-women jazz groups started to rise into stardom (Martin and Waters 107-8). However, when World War II concluded, numerous female instrumentalists were sacked as male jazz performers went back to recover their positions. The women who stayed in the largely male groups usually experienced severe disapproval and sexual provocation from their male bandmates (Martin and Waters 108). Over time, women heading smaller jazz bands became more widespread and accepted. Several of the most prominent leaders of small combos were Marian McPartland, Hadda Brooks, Nellie Lutcher, and Barbara Carroll (Tucker 382). How women changed jazz? Women have greatly changed the world of jazz, especially during the 20th century. Aside from confronting the same issues of racial discrimination as the men, they had to tackle gender prejudice, which at times prevented them from playing particular instruments (Wehr-Flowers 111-112). They were at times not permitted, due to societal standards, to work toward their careers. In the past, jazz was regarded unsuitable for women. With numerous of them not having adequate formal training and education, they were believed to be unable to play instruments (Wehr-Flowers 112). In fact, in the beginning of the 20th century, the numerous historical episodes, such as the World Wars and the Great Depression, raised difficulties for women performers to surpass (Martin and Waters 107-8). But, astonishingly, they did surpass them, One of the women who went beyond these limitations and attained remarkable achievements in the male-dominated world of jazz was Mary Lou Williams. Incapable of reading musical notes, she became skilled at it by listening to the performance of others and familiarizing her mind to these sounds (Lawn 168). Other female jazz artists, such as Billie Holliday, prevail over societal standards to become the exceptional woman jazz artist of her time (Lawn 251). Through the years, these remarkable women have greatly influenced jazz and shaped the form that it has embraced in the contemporary period. Some of these astonishing women jazz artists are Etta James, Nancy Wilson, Dinah Washington, and Ella Fitzgerald. Etta James began her career in the 1950s with beautiful songs such as Something’s Got a Hold on Me, At Last, and Roll with me Henry. Suffering from several personal issues, she attempted to make a comeback in the 1980s. She is widely recognized for reconciling rock and roll, blues, and rhythm (Rudden 16). Nancy Wilson worked toward her career in jazz while also fulfilling her day job as a secretary. She was largely inspired by Little Jimmy Scott and Dinah Washington. Her numerous achievements as a blues musician made her a widely celebrated and important contributor to the jazz world (Gourse 10). Ruth Lee Jones, more popularly known as Dinah Washington, started singing in nightclubs in her teenage years. Performing with Lionel Hampton, she adopted the label which propelled her into stardom. Her numerous blues sensations gained her the recognition Queen of the Blue, yet she produced numerous albums with various jazz groups (Gourse 224). Ella Fitzgerald was raised in a poor environment. She was widely recognized for the method of ‘scat singing’, singing invention that implied vocalizing not with lyrics, but with syllables (Martin and Waters 150). How do women jazz artists contribute to American culture? A form of music that has had a significant influence on American culture is the first forms of jazz. It was formerly regarded to be the period’s trendy, popular genre and was seen by many to be a vicious, damaging force that had a quite adverse impact on the behavior of people (Lawn 79). Many believed that the young were being despoiled by the music. It was viewed by some to be an erotic, sensual entertainment that was carried out with clothes on (Lawn 79). It is interesting to know that jazz is currently regarded as the classical music of American culture and is examined scholarly, but in its early days it was viewed by many as obscenity. The 1920s was a great period for women’s rights and it appears that jazz had significantly contributed to these brand-new liberal thoughts of women in this period. The entire flapper girl fashion was profoundly associated with the world of jazz (Shaw 8). This fashion appeared to empower people to defy social stereotypes because the music itself defies the social stereotypes of music. The musical notations of jazz were unknown during that time and made use of extensions to generate an unfamiliar, yet revolutionary sound. Some referred to it as the music of the devil (Shaw 8-9). Others even refused to consider it as music, yet it revolutionized the music stage and paved the way to a new music period. Women were fighting for their rights and declined to be deprived of any rights that their male counterparts enjoy. The sound of jazz had the impact of relaxing people and getting them into the mood. It was about entertainment, fun, and good feelings. Jazz was the music of the 1920s and influenced the thoughts and attitude of the period (Tucker 333). Fervent sentiments would have perhaps never occurred if it was not for the liberal attitude that was promoted by jazz. If it was not for the struggle of women towards freedom and equal rights the Civil Rights movement would not have taken place. It appears that jazz set the stage for social equality movements (Tucker 333-4). It had contributed to the weakening of racial and sexual discrimination. What did women in jazz music sound like? What did jazz mean for women? The greatest women jazz performers in the history of music created a sound that is truly remarkable. Their qualities and melodies enthrall a huge number of people across the globe. Numerous of the most prominent female jazz performers are deceased, yet their unrivaled jazz sounds will exist for generations. Descriptions that are usually given to portray the voices of female jazz singers but not usually mentioned to depict male voices are slurred, big, vibrant, strong, and forceful (Sutro 187-188). Moreover, a female jazz voice is cheerful, idyllic, warm, and husky. The voices of women jazz singers are more frequently portrayed as the perfect jazz voice, and commonly embody a Black and African-American sound ideal. These descriptions reveal the essence of a perfect sound of female jazz voice (Sutro 188). Women’s voices are more usually linked to their voice method. Given such, it would be perfect, obviously, if all thoughtful and systematic historical studies habitually regarded women alongside men as historical forces. But academics of female history have discovered that this has generally failed to happen; and the history of jazz is not an exemption. So as to have a more thorough knowledge and appreciation of women and how notions about gender influenced the lives of people, feminist academics have carried out focused women’s histories to unravel them, and afterward to broaden the borders of what is regarded as history to encompass new, broader means, of making sense of history (McKeage 348). Since gender, or the range of social implications related to masculinity and femininity, have a capability to look normal, rather than historical, societal, and cultural, it is extremely easy to overlook its role when carrying out an academic examination of a phenomenon thought to be a male history. Not unexpectedly, there are an extremely small number of women to turn to as role models in jazz, especially in its instrumental form. It is common knowledge that women on the whole are mostly nonexistent from music literature. With the male-dominated concept of jazz alongside the absence of women role models, young girls could easily fail to understand that striving for a career a jazz is an alternative for them. Nevertheless, Wehr-Flowers (2007) explains that if young women could relate to women role models, they would feel more motivated to embrace jazz as a career option. Conclusions In its early years, jazz has been dominated by men. But as time goes by, women started to penetrate the seemingly impenetrable world of jazz. Although the struggle was difficult for these great female jazz singers, they succeeded and proved to the whole world that being a woman should not be a barrier to one’s dreams. These remarkable female jazz artists will remain in the hearts and minds of the many people whom they influenced through their soulful music. Works Cited Appelrouth, Scott. “Body and Soul: Jazz in the 1920s.” American Behavioral Scientist, 48.1 (2005): 1496-1509. Print. Cooke, Mervyn and David Horn. The Cambridge Companion to Jazz. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Print. Gourse, Leslie. Madame Jazz: Contemporary Women Instrumentalists. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1996. Print. Lawn, Richard. Experiencing Jazz. London: Routledge, 2013. Print. Martin, Henry and Keith Waters. Essential Jazz. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. McKeage, Kathleen. “Gender and Participation in High School and College Instrumental Jazz Ensembles.” Journal of Research in Music Education, 52.4 (2004): 343-356. Print. Rudden, Patricia. Singing for Themselves: Essays on Women in Popular Music. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009. Print. Shaw, Arnold. The Jazz Age: Popular Music in the 1920s. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1987. Print. Sutro, Dirk. Jazz for Dummies. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. Print. Tucker, Sherrie. Swing Shift: “All-Girl” Bands of the 1940s. New York: Duke University Press, 2001. Print. Wehr-Flowers, Erin. An Exploratory Model of Jazz Self-efficacy and Gender. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2007. Print. Read More