International Women's Day – We Should All Be Celebrating!

I became interested in jazz relatively late in life, so perhaps that makes me more aware of the position of women in jazz. I mainly get to write about singers on BSH but this time I'm considering our local women instrumentalists, and what an inventive, talented, hard-working set of people! The likes of sax players such as Sue Ferris, also a helpful tutor; Fiona Finden with her curved soprano sax, Faye Thompson who began her playing with Jambone, Faye McCalman who ventures into free jazz with the nationally acclaimed Archipelago, Rachel Richman, a stalwart of many jam sessions and Lauren Ainsborough who occasionally jams on keyboards.

I'm not done yet! What about Emma Fisk with her gypsy jazz violin, and Abbie Finn (pictured), playing drums, once considered as an instrument that only men had the strength and energy to play, and Katy Trigger on bass, so empathetic to work with? Then there's singer and multi-instrumentalist Jude Murphy. I could go on, and remember, that's without mentioning the national and international scene.

So there's more than enough to celebrate on this day. But I wonder about the special difficulties that women in jazz face?  I can't speak for the women mentioned as I've never discussed the matter with them, but I notice that the Globe runs special women only workshops monthly. I attended these before lockdown, very enjoyable and useful they were too. It is said that women are more accommodating with each other and less inclined to rivalry than men. That rule applied at the Globe sessions.

Many of the reviews of jam sessions on BSH remark that 'the sax players took no prisoners' a phrase which makes me cringe. Is jazz a war? There's a lot of give and take at an effective jam session and each player should get their turn. As long as communication is good and everyone is very sure of when their turn is.

As for performing gigs, some questions occur to me. Is it easier to perform with someone who is your romantic partner? Can you keep musical disagreements out of your love life? What about being in a band with a son or daughter? Can you act the heavy parent? It must be tempting. 

It goes without saying that there is no place for discrimination in the jazz world, in all the usual categories. I'd be interested to read on BSH about what others think about the situation of women jazz instrumentalists. Ann Alex

Ps: My apologies to anyone that I’ve unintentionally left out.