Nadine Jansen, a flugelhornist and pianist, remembers a night in the
1940s when a man came out of the audience as she was playing both
instruments. "I hate to see a woman do that," he explained as he hit the
end of her horn, nearly chipping her tooth. Half a century later, a big
band named Diva made its debut in New York on March 30, 1993, with
Melissa Slocum on bass, Sue Terry on alto sax, Lolly Bienenfeld on
trombone, Sherrie Maricle on drums, and a host of other first rate
instrumentalists. The band made such a good impression that it was
immediately booked to play at Carnegie Hall the following year. For
those who had yet to notice, Diva signaled the emergence of women
musicians as a significant force in jazz.
Madame Jazz
is a fascinating invitation to the inside world of women in jazz.
Ranging primarily from the late 1970s to today's vanguard of performance
jazz in New York City and on the West Coast, it chronicles a crucial
time of transition as women make the leap from novelty acts regarded as
second class citizens to sought-out professionals admired and hired for
their consummate musicianship. Author Leslie Gourse surveys the scene in
the jazz clubs, the concert halls, the festivals, and the recording
studios from the musicians' point of view. She finds exciting progress
on all fronts, but also lingering discrimination. The growing success of
women instrumentalists has been a long time in coming, she writes. Long
after women became accepted as writers and, to a lesser extent, as
visual artists, women in music--classical, pop, or jazz--faced the
nearly insuperable barrier of chauvinism and the still insidious force
of tradition and habit that keeps most men performing with the musicians
they have always worked with, other men.
Gourse provides dozens
of captivating no-holds-barred interviews with both rising stars and
seasoned veterans. Here are up-and-coming pianists Renee Rosnes and
Rachel Z., trumpeter Rebecca Coupe Frank, saxophonist Virginia Mayhew,
bassist Tracy Wormworth, and drummer Terri Lynne Carrington, and
enduring legends Dorothy Donegan, Marian McParland and Shirley Horne.
Here, as well, are conversations with three pioneering business women:
agent and producer Helen Keane, manager Linda Goldstein, and festival
and concert producer Cobi Narita. All of the women speak insightfully
about their inspiration and their commitment to pursuing the music they
love. They are also frank about the realities of life on the road, and
the extra dues women musicians pay in a tough and competitive field
where everybody pays dues. A separate chapter offers a closer look at
women musicians and the continual stress confronting those who would
combine love, marriage, and/or motherhood with a life in music.
Madame Jazz
is about the history that women jazz instrumentalists are making now,
as well as an inspiring preview of the even brighter days ahead. It
concludes with Frankie Nemko's lively evaluation of the West Coast jazz
scene, and appends the most comprehensive list ever assembled of women
currently playing instruments professionally.
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