Re: I'd like to see more women in jazz

Date: 07 Jul 2003 16:37:36 GMT
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz
Size: 1,372 bytes

Alot of good points have been made here about this topic.
I think there are many misconceptions and perceptions regarding women playing
jazz.
A story that Mimi Fox has told me is that early on in her career, she would
make the rounds to various jazz jam sessions to sit in with the local jazz
players. She would almost always be the only women asking to play and even
though she would be carrying her guitar, the leader of the session would
usually say something like, "so what tune would you like to sing sweetie"
assuming that because she was a women that she was a vocalist.
I know that she has delt with lots of discrimination as a women jazz guitarist
( this is a pretty male dominated group here) and in interviews, it's usually
the thrid or fourth question asked by interviewers, but I know that Mimi
usually prefers to talk about the music instead of how tough it has been to be
a women in the world of jazz.
By the way, Mimi was recently included in a recent Downbeat magazine article
about the top 66 guitarists in the world ( which is kind of silly to begin
with) but she was the only women included on that list.
A few other great women players that I know and respect as musicians would be
saxophonists Virginia Mayhew & Claire Daly, drummers Allison Miller and Sylvia
Cuenca, pianist Peggy Stern and Hammond B3 player Barbara Dennerlien among
others.
E.D.