Women In The Music
by
Sammy Stein
I have been privileged to interview many women involved in the jazz industry. Not just musicians but also women who work in radio, PR, record labels and other key areas. I have learned about these talented women and their lives and they have proved amazing company. However, it is saddening to hear, amongst many positives about their jazz music careers, that gender is still an issue, not just in music but society as a whole. Things are happening, changes glimmer tantalizingly on the horizon but gender issues still impact on the careers of many uber-talented musicians and there is an increasing sense of frustration and longing for the day when talent will win the right to play and nothing else.
There have been many examples recently of men who have using their positions of power and influence to oppress women. From sports coaches to teachers, actors and businessmen. My heart sank when I read that the revered founder of an organisation I had worked for was found to be a serial abuser of women. Revered by staff as a celibate, saintly figure, he was their organisation's father, beloved by all, admired for his strength of character and altruism. Yet an independent report found that for decades, he was abusing women. Many men get away with poor behaviour for years before being taken to task. Why? Because still, it takes a very brave women to put herself up for the scrutiny and judgement which voicing a complaint often brings. The subtle or overt judgement of how a women dressed, behaved and reacted can all be used as 'proof' that a woman was setting herself up for exploitation. This is not helped by the media objectification of women and the way, in some circles, business is still conducted.
A female band leader told me that when she telephoned a venue she was told there were, 'sadly, no opportunities for a gig'. Within the next hour, her husband - the guitar player with her band - spoke to the same manager and was offered a choice of 3 different dates. In another incident a female trombonist answered a call-out for acts to take part in a festival. She made contact but was told by the organisers that they had 'enough women on the line up'. In another case, an agent thought it was quite acceptable to ask a renowned female musician to 'accept' his card by placing it firmly into her cleavage. These are examples of how professional men have treated professional women and it is wrong.
I ran a mini-festival in London and engaged 14 acts to perform across a day - a total of 40 musicians and singers. One guy approached me and said, 'blimey - the women are taking over! So many in one day!' I counted up and just 10 of the 40 performers were female. I had not even thought about it, just chosen the best players for the day. There still seems to be the 'wow' factor at finding yourself at a gig where the leader of the band is female - not only that but 'double wow' if some of the other musicians are also female.
But things are changing. The #MeToo initiative gave many women the support and courage to come forward and name and shame bullies. #MeToo saw support from celebrities, TV and social media and there was a flurry of stories highlighting the deplorable liberties some men of influence have taken over women. That momentum has continued. There have been some wonderful things which have come about as a result of people speaking up for women. The Keychange initiative - an international initiative which has as part of its aim to encourage festivals and music organisations to achieve a 50:50 gender balance by 2022 - is one.
More women are being cited as role models for those who follow, whether this is in engineering and science, politics, management or music, because they succeeded, broke that invisible but immensely strong 'glass ceiling'.
The music industry has taken a long, hard look in the mirror and perhaps not liked its own reflection. The jazz music industry is still male-dominated and it has to be said, there still pervades a certain chauvinistic attitude in some quarters. It is going to have to change more and we all have a part to play. Some steps have proved a revelation. The practice of 'blind auditions' taken on by some orchestras has seen women get far beyond initial auditions in front of a panel and around a thirty percent increase in female orchestra members. When a panel goes purely on what they hear rather than what they see, it clearly makes a difference. Jazz groups too are seeing more women in lead positions and not just as singers or piano players but also on bass, saxophone, harp or other instruments.
And all this is wonderful, although perhaps good music, composition and performing should be acknowledged regardless of gender, age, origin or any other defining label. At the same time, it is vital to acknowledge that the music industry still contains people who categorise and effectively discriminate on the basis of one or more factors- not just gender- often without considering what they are doing, though some of this can be put down to marketing because obviously some music will appeal to different ages, ethnic groups and gender.
It should also be noted that many men support equality and have never discriminated for gender or anything else. The fact that inappropriate behaviour is less tolerated; that people are called to account for predatory behaviour and offensive comments on social media or elsewhere has led to a gradual realisation that women have power and arguably, they always had it. Women are becoming confident of their abilities and accepted, sometimes a little grudgingly, by men who may feel threatened initially, but generally they simply prove themselves to be capable and this, regardless of gender, is surely the way to success.
There are people who feel uncomfortable when change happens but with gender issues the sad thing was that the old status quo was never about equality. If it was, there would be no issues with the changes that are happening. Women who speak out can find themselves tagged with labels like 'bossy', 'feminist', or other terms and many women are uncomfortable with this. Writing two books on female jazz musicians has been an incredible journey and I have learned so much but it is interesting how people also add a tag to an author. Now I am apparently 'an advocate for women, for female performers' and yes, I am but also for men and people of any gender, sexuality, colour or background. It is music I advocate for and I certainly don't see myself as advocating anything else, except perhaps decent behaviour!
I believe that because more women can now speak out without fear, people understand that sexual harassment, bullying or discrimination affects some women for life. Many wish they had spoken out, many will never speak out still but some will - and this is creating awareness and change. Abuse affects people for life; it undermines relationships and how women see themselves, whatever form it takes but now there are positive initiatives tackling the issues head on.
Just a few examples of these include Actionaid, which has initiatives designed to empower women; The Female Quotient, who advocate that gender equality is a social issue and also an economic imperative; Hivos, which supports women working in global production chains such as coffee; Take The Lead, which is a non-profit team of activists who work with organisations to change how they work with respect to gender; The Global Fund For Women helps the most marginalised women around the world and STEM for Her who help promote financial support and information for women wishing to enter the Science, Engineering, Technology, Mathematics or Medicine worlds as a career. STEM for Her also offer mentorship. In the music industry there are several gender equality initiatives including She Said So, She Shreds USA, PRS Foundation's Women Make Music and several others.
International Women's Day celebrates women and is quite rightly a great thing to do. Women hold powerful positions in record companies with all the influence that holds. Radio stations are run and programs hosted by women including the increasingly influential Jazz Bites Radio in the US and there are countless great shows hosted by female presenters including Anthea Redmond, Jenny Green and Claire Martin. In fact there are so many women in positions of influence and power in music now it is ridiculous to even try to list them. From authors, columnists and reviewers, radio, PR companies and managers of venues and musicians, women are everywhere, though not as prevalent as men.
One of the biggest changes today is choice. Men or women can choose to be leaders, in the spotlight, power up initiatives or they can opt to be in the background, part of the team, take the supportive role. Many female musicians I interviewed for my new book were supported by their partners who took pictures, arranged the gigs, transport, food, PR, child care and such. One guy even said he managed himself out of his wife's band because he spent so long organising things, he could no longer find the time to practice, but it was his choice. Equally there are supportive women. Those wives and partners who choose to be the support, make life that bit easier so their partners can perform every night, week or be in the studio.
Women can now call out men ( or anyone) who bully and belittle. Misogyny is being given a smaller and smaller space and this is a good thing. Tokenism - the inclusion of women to make up quotas rather than because of their talents - is becoming a thing of the past and women are slowly being accepted as equal. One older musician told me, 'Well, we are getting used to things being different. It used to be I spoke to men all the time but now the person arranging a gig is a woman, the person organising my pay and even my driver might be a woman'.
Many men and women are discomfited with the fact we are even having to think of anything other than the music. How did we get to a place where anyone felt uncomfortable in jazz? Why wasn't it more equal from the start? Of course, some of the answers can be found when you look at the origins of jazz and the places it was played but that is another story. It is interesting to speak to performers like Sheila Jordan who is in her tenth decade and has been present for a huge chunk of jazz's history and noticed more racial prejudice than misogyny, whilst other female performers experienced blatant sexism in their careers so the experiences of women are not the same.
It feels like we are in an age of transition. Things are changing, many people accept change and it feels better for the women out there, fronting bands and selling recordings. Young people particularly are changing things. I have met young people, new to the scene, fresh out of colleges and they are at a bit of a loss as to where their fellow female students have gone once they get into performing. These young jazz players have grown up alongside men and women with whom they played as equals.
People who bully - male or female come to that - will be bullies wherever they are, whatever they are doing, but now, if they do it in music, they will get called out. And every so often you still come across some backward looking prig. Recently, I was asked by a PR representative if I would review one of the artists he represented. I let him know, politely, that I was busy and would probably not get to any reviews ( I am not paid to do these) for a couple of months. Immediately he came back with a reference to a review of my book, saying the review was good but the reviewer was right to point out I had not included some women. I fell into the trap of replying of course (who can include everyone in one book and he was not aware of the second one on the way). He immediately came back with a vicious email saying I had limited taste, only wrote about free jazz and that I, "clearly hated men or anyone who speaks plainly with you". Now, given the fact I have written about many men, about many genres and have had very little to do with this man or his company, I was completely taken aback and I wonder, would he have spoken like this to a male reviewer? I think not.
It would be wrong to assume there are not many wonderful men in the music industry. Many do consider performers on their merits and not on their gender and don't behave in ways which can be taken offensively. Of the many women I have interviewed, those who see a future where gender remains a strong issue are reducing in number. Yet it would also be a mistake to look forward any time soon to a Utopia where everyone is considered equal and judged purely on their talents and ability. We have work still to do.
It is often hard to quantify and decide exactly what discrimination is. Whether that discrimination is perceived, actual, deliberate or just thoughtless and unintentional. I have heard perfectly respectable musicians talk about their mums being ‘typically wifey’ whatever that means and I have heard musicians discussing the physical merits of both performers and audience members.
We have to be careful too that we do not make people afraid to comment at all; differences are there and should be celebrated. After all, it is these differences which make one musician different from another; why we engage with one performer and not another. We are individuals and human and, whilst sexual harassment and assault must not be tolerated, differences and individual characteristics should be acknowledged rather than an obstacle to anyone’s success – and I would include gender, colour, origin or any other difference here. After all, the music itself knows no boundaries. It is what binds us together and in music we all have more in common than separates us. For some, it must be like walking a tightrope.
It is easier for women to speak out now (though some are still in situations where they cannot). Women are stronger than they think and have a powerful voice. Importantly, they have now learned how to use it. There is a danger of going overboard and in a bid to appear politically correct appoint women to positions of power who really should not be there but one day the hope is it will be OK to appoint the right person for the job regardless of any factor other than ability.
Music is vulnerable to labels like any industry but it is changing and the voice of women is being heard loud and clear. After all, music knows no bounds. We have made a start; the stone is rolling and momentum is being gained. Work in progress.
There have been many examples recently of men who have using their positions of power and influence to oppress women. From sports coaches to teachers, actors and businessmen. My heart sank when I read that the revered founder of an organisation I had worked for was found to be a serial abuser of women. Revered by staff as a celibate, saintly figure, he was their organisation's father, beloved by all, admired for his strength of character and altruism. Yet an independent report found that for decades, he was abusing women. Many men get away with poor behaviour for years before being taken to task. Why? Because still, it takes a very brave women to put herself up for the scrutiny and judgement which voicing a complaint often brings. The subtle or overt judgement of how a women dressed, behaved and reacted can all be used as 'proof' that a woman was setting herself up for exploitation. This is not helped by the media objectification of women and the way, in some circles, business is still conducted.
A female band leader told me that when she telephoned a venue she was told there were, 'sadly, no opportunities for a gig'. Within the next hour, her husband - the guitar player with her band - spoke to the same manager and was offered a choice of 3 different dates. In another incident a female trombonist answered a call-out for acts to take part in a festival. She made contact but was told by the organisers that they had 'enough women on the line up'. In another case, an agent thought it was quite acceptable to ask a renowned female musician to 'accept' his card by placing it firmly into her cleavage. These are examples of how professional men have treated professional women and it is wrong.
I ran a mini-festival in London and engaged 14 acts to perform across a day - a total of 40 musicians and singers. One guy approached me and said, 'blimey - the women are taking over! So many in one day!' I counted up and just 10 of the 40 performers were female. I had not even thought about it, just chosen the best players for the day. There still seems to be the 'wow' factor at finding yourself at a gig where the leader of the band is female - not only that but 'double wow' if some of the other musicians are also female.
But things are changing. The #MeToo initiative gave many women the support and courage to come forward and name and shame bullies. #MeToo saw support from celebrities, TV and social media and there was a flurry of stories highlighting the deplorable liberties some men of influence have taken over women. That momentum has continued. There have been some wonderful things which have come about as a result of people speaking up for women. The Keychange initiative - an international initiative which has as part of its aim to encourage festivals and music organisations to achieve a 50:50 gender balance by 2022 - is one.
More women are being cited as role models for those who follow, whether this is in engineering and science, politics, management or music, because they succeeded, broke that invisible but immensely strong 'glass ceiling'.
The music industry has taken a long, hard look in the mirror and perhaps not liked its own reflection. The jazz music industry is still male-dominated and it has to be said, there still pervades a certain chauvinistic attitude in some quarters. It is going to have to change more and we all have a part to play. Some steps have proved a revelation. The practice of 'blind auditions' taken on by some orchestras has seen women get far beyond initial auditions in front of a panel and around a thirty percent increase in female orchestra members. When a panel goes purely on what they hear rather than what they see, it clearly makes a difference. Jazz groups too are seeing more women in lead positions and not just as singers or piano players but also on bass, saxophone, harp or other instruments.
And all this is wonderful, although perhaps good music, composition and performing should be acknowledged regardless of gender, age, origin or any other defining label. At the same time, it is vital to acknowledge that the music industry still contains people who categorise and effectively discriminate on the basis of one or more factors- not just gender- often without considering what they are doing, though some of this can be put down to marketing because obviously some music will appeal to different ages, ethnic groups and gender.
It should also be noted that many men support equality and have never discriminated for gender or anything else. The fact that inappropriate behaviour is less tolerated; that people are called to account for predatory behaviour and offensive comments on social media or elsewhere has led to a gradual realisation that women have power and arguably, they always had it. Women are becoming confident of their abilities and accepted, sometimes a little grudgingly, by men who may feel threatened initially, but generally they simply prove themselves to be capable and this, regardless of gender, is surely the way to success.
There are people who feel uncomfortable when change happens but with gender issues the sad thing was that the old status quo was never about equality. If it was, there would be no issues with the changes that are happening. Women who speak out can find themselves tagged with labels like 'bossy', 'feminist', or other terms and many women are uncomfortable with this. Writing two books on female jazz musicians has been an incredible journey and I have learned so much but it is interesting how people also add a tag to an author. Now I am apparently 'an advocate for women, for female performers' and yes, I am but also for men and people of any gender, sexuality, colour or background. It is music I advocate for and I certainly don't see myself as advocating anything else, except perhaps decent behaviour!
I believe that because more women can now speak out without fear, people understand that sexual harassment, bullying or discrimination affects some women for life. Many wish they had spoken out, many will never speak out still but some will - and this is creating awareness and change. Abuse affects people for life; it undermines relationships and how women see themselves, whatever form it takes but now there are positive initiatives tackling the issues head on.
Just a few examples of these include Actionaid, which has initiatives designed to empower women; The Female Quotient, who advocate that gender equality is a social issue and also an economic imperative; Hivos, which supports women working in global production chains such as coffee; Take The Lead, which is a non-profit team of activists who work with organisations to change how they work with respect to gender; The Global Fund For Women helps the most marginalised women around the world and STEM for Her who help promote financial support and information for women wishing to enter the Science, Engineering, Technology, Mathematics or Medicine worlds as a career. STEM for Her also offer mentorship. In the music industry there are several gender equality initiatives including She Said So, She Shreds USA, PRS Foundation's Women Make Music and several others.
International Women's Day celebrates women and is quite rightly a great thing to do. Women hold powerful positions in record companies with all the influence that holds. Radio stations are run and programs hosted by women including the increasingly influential Jazz Bites Radio in the US and there are countless great shows hosted by female presenters including Anthea Redmond, Jenny Green and Claire Martin. In fact there are so many women in positions of influence and power in music now it is ridiculous to even try to list them. From authors, columnists and reviewers, radio, PR companies and managers of venues and musicians, women are everywhere, though not as prevalent as men.
One of the biggest changes today is choice. Men or women can choose to be leaders, in the spotlight, power up initiatives or they can opt to be in the background, part of the team, take the supportive role. Many female musicians I interviewed for my new book were supported by their partners who took pictures, arranged the gigs, transport, food, PR, child care and such. One guy even said he managed himself out of his wife's band because he spent so long organising things, he could no longer find the time to practice, but it was his choice. Equally there are supportive women. Those wives and partners who choose to be the support, make life that bit easier so their partners can perform every night, week or be in the studio.
Women can now call out men ( or anyone) who bully and belittle. Misogyny is being given a smaller and smaller space and this is a good thing. Tokenism - the inclusion of women to make up quotas rather than because of their talents - is becoming a thing of the past and women are slowly being accepted as equal. One older musician told me, 'Well, we are getting used to things being different. It used to be I spoke to men all the time but now the person arranging a gig is a woman, the person organising my pay and even my driver might be a woman'.
Many men and women are discomfited with the fact we are even having to think of anything other than the music. How did we get to a place where anyone felt uncomfortable in jazz? Why wasn't it more equal from the start? Of course, some of the answers can be found when you look at the origins of jazz and the places it was played but that is another story. It is interesting to speak to performers like Sheila Jordan who is in her tenth decade and has been present for a huge chunk of jazz's history and noticed more racial prejudice than misogyny, whilst other female performers experienced blatant sexism in their careers so the experiences of women are not the same.
It feels like we are in an age of transition. Things are changing, many people accept change and it feels better for the women out there, fronting bands and selling recordings. Young people particularly are changing things. I have met young people, new to the scene, fresh out of colleges and they are at a bit of a loss as to where their fellow female students have gone once they get into performing. These young jazz players have grown up alongside men and women with whom they played as equals.
People who bully - male or female come to that - will be bullies wherever they are, whatever they are doing, but now, if they do it in music, they will get called out. And every so often you still come across some backward looking prig. Recently, I was asked by a PR representative if I would review one of the artists he represented. I let him know, politely, that I was busy and would probably not get to any reviews ( I am not paid to do these) for a couple of months. Immediately he came back with a reference to a review of my book, saying the review was good but the reviewer was right to point out I had not included some women. I fell into the trap of replying of course (who can include everyone in one book and he was not aware of the second one on the way). He immediately came back with a vicious email saying I had limited taste, only wrote about free jazz and that I, "clearly hated men or anyone who speaks plainly with you". Now, given the fact I have written about many men, about many genres and have had very little to do with this man or his company, I was completely taken aback and I wonder, would he have spoken like this to a male reviewer? I think not.
It would be wrong to assume there are not many wonderful men in the music industry. Many do consider performers on their merits and not on their gender and don't behave in ways which can be taken offensively. Of the many women I have interviewed, those who see a future where gender remains a strong issue are reducing in number. Yet it would also be a mistake to look forward any time soon to a Utopia where everyone is considered equal and judged purely on their talents and ability. We have work still to do.
It is often hard to quantify and decide exactly what discrimination is. Whether that discrimination is perceived, actual, deliberate or just thoughtless and unintentional. I have heard perfectly respectable musicians talk about their mums being ‘typically wifey’ whatever that means and I have heard musicians discussing the physical merits of both performers and audience members.
We have to be careful too that we do not make people afraid to comment at all; differences are there and should be celebrated. After all, it is these differences which make one musician different from another; why we engage with one performer and not another. We are individuals and human and, whilst sexual harassment and assault must not be tolerated, differences and individual characteristics should be acknowledged rather than an obstacle to anyone’s success – and I would include gender, colour, origin or any other difference here. After all, the music itself knows no boundaries. It is what binds us together and in music we all have more in common than separates us. For some, it must be like walking a tightrope.
It is easier for women to speak out now (though some are still in situations where they cannot). Women are stronger than they think and have a powerful voice. Importantly, they have now learned how to use it. There is a danger of going overboard and in a bid to appear politically correct appoint women to positions of power who really should not be there but one day the hope is it will be OK to appoint the right person for the job regardless of any factor other than ability.
Music is vulnerable to labels like any industry but it is changing and the voice of women is being heard loud and clear. After all, music knows no bounds. We have made a start; the stone is rolling and momentum is being gained. Work in progress.
Click on the cover to read our review of 'Women In Jazz'
More information & further reading:
https://keychange.eu/
Articles & Books:
Sally Placksin’s American Women In Jazz 1900 To The Present: Their Words, Lives And Music (1982)
Linda Dahl’s Stormy Weather: The Music And Lives Of A Century Of Jazz Women (1984)
Morning Glory: A Biography Of Mary Lou Williams (1999)
Biddy Healey’s Be a Good Girl and Play Like a Man(2016)
Steinberg’s 2001 “Take A Solo” An Analysis of Gender Participation and Interaction at School Jazz Festivals.
K. McKeage’s Gender and Participation in High School and College Instrumental jazz nsembles(2004)
Dr Arial Alexander’s guest editorial in JazzEd Magazine, Sept 2011 titled Where Are The Girls?
Marie Millard’s Five Things To Teach Your Female Students About Jazz in Brass Chicks(2018)
https://keychange.eu/
Articles & Books:
Sally Placksin’s American Women In Jazz 1900 To The Present: Their Words, Lives And Music (1982)
Linda Dahl’s Stormy Weather: The Music And Lives Of A Century Of Jazz Women (1984)
Morning Glory: A Biography Of Mary Lou Williams (1999)
Biddy Healey’s Be a Good Girl and Play Like a Man(2016)
Steinberg’s 2001 “Take A Solo” An Analysis of Gender Participation and Interaction at School Jazz Festivals.
K. McKeage’s Gender and Participation in High School and College Instrumental jazz nsembles(2004)
Dr Arial Alexander’s guest editorial in JazzEd Magazine, Sept 2011 titled Where Are The Girls?
Marie Millard’s Five Things To Teach Your Female Students About Jazz in Brass Chicks(2018)
