Great Women-Musicians: Ella Fitzgerald, Mary Lou Williams, Melba Liston
Throughout history, women all over the world have always participated in music. From Ancient Greece to China, from Africa to Europe, and to Latin America. Jazz, throughout its brief history, has created countless artists, icons, and geniuses, the majority of whom have been men. It’s a complex phenomenon, and there is a number of theories and reasons to why this is. Some have suggested that since Jazz is primarily instrumental music and woodwind and brass instruments have fundamentally shaped its identity, women have been considered at a disadvantage.
In early American life, though women were encouraged to sing or play piano, thinking it might contribute to a successful marriage, women playing wind instruments much less pursuing a career in music was merely considered unacceptable. Widespread discrimination made it difficult for women to be taken seriously. Even though women have been drenched in the historical backdrop of jazz since its beginning, their accomplishments and commitments are less celebrated than those of their male partners.
A significant number of the essential jazz instruments such a the saxophone, the trumpet, the trombone, etc. were viewed as reckless, male arranged instruments that women should not be playing. Nevertheless, numerous women found an approach to take an interest in the jazz world by playing the piano or getting to be vocalists because these two jobs were viewed as more common spots for women. Moreover, there were dependably the excellent women who stood their ground with their male partners on those "manly" instruments. Besides, women encountered a move in the worthiness and notoriety of all women jazz gatherings, and women jazz players all in all, amid WWII when a considerable lot of the unmistakable male jazz players were drafted off to the war. Overall, with all the difficulties women had in the Jazz industry, the impact of their commitments are as yet huge and fluctuated, and while they keep on speaking to a dissimilarly limited extent of jazz artists today, they confront similarly fewer difficulties.
Ella Fitzgerald is one case of an outstanding female vocalist. She was the first African American women to win a Grammy and after that proceeded to win thirteen (Grammy, p1). Ella had a harsh youth; in any case, she could keep up a more inspirational point of view than a soul-filled partner. She imparted her radiant point of view to the world by declaring, "It isn't the place you originated from, it's the place you're going that matters." Her first significant access to the jazz scene was the point at which she joined Chick Webb's band as the lead vocalist. She upgraded the gathering's jazz qualifications and added to its widespread interest, with her vocal on "Atisket, A-tasket" moved the piece to an eighteen-week stretch on the Hit Parade in 1938 (Gioia, p132).
After the death of Webb, she turned into the band leader. In this job, "Fitzgerald, barely out of her teens, took over the band, led it, directed it and managed it for two years, all the while headlining as start singer” (Reich, 1), giving solid proof that women could be men's equivalents in the jazz business. Furthermore, Fitzgerald's profession incorporated additional accounts, Grammys, and intense, coordinated efforts. For example, her visit with Dizzy Gillespie's band. She was very much associated with her wide vocal capacities, including the promotion of the scatting system, and earned herself the moniker of the "Primary Lady of Song." In her lifetime she proceeded to win various honors even outside of the music business, for example, the NAACP Image Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Ella Fitzgerald was a ground-breaking case of what women, especially African American women, could accomplish in both the universe of jazz and the eyes of the American culture in general. Her and Holiday are probably the most well-known artists in American history and plainly exhibit how women vocalists added to the advancement of jazz generally speaking.Mary Lou Williams, is another example of a brilliant female Jazz artist. She was commonly referred to as the “First Lady of Jazz,” is probably the most famous woman jazz pianist. She was also said to be “the women that swings the band.” (Antoinette, 1).
Williams was one of the first great female instrumentalists and was able to adapt her music to the popular jazz idiom for decades. While she excelled as a pianist, Mary Lou Williams had a true musical gift and used it to compose and arrange music as well. She was so talented she was able to perform professionally at the age of seven. However, her real music career began when she joined the Clouds of Joy as a pianist, but also as a composer and arranger. Her undeniable success in the Clouds meant that she was soon sending compositions to famous leaders such as Duke Ellington. She was also the group’s pianist and arranger for Andry Kirk’s band. After leaving Kirk’s band, she went on to achieve great prominence as a leader of her own band. In addition to being a talent herself, Mary Lou Williams mentored some of the most renowned jazz musicians to this date like Thelonius Monk and Dizzy Gillespie.
As she grew older, she found there to be too much moral ambiguity in the world of jazz and felt a strong calling to find herself religiously. She still continued to perform (e.g. at the Whitehouse for President Carter), but she also taught music at Amherst and Duke. Overall, she left behind hundreds of compositions and forums (e.g. Mary Lou Williams Foundation) for young musicians to learn about jazz. Her mark on this world of Jazz is evident throughout the various stages of her life. She was an exceptional pianist, composer, and arranger and also mentored some of the jazz giants that are well recognized today.
Throughout her career, she also composed numerous orchestral and large scale work. She was long regarded as the only significant female musician in Jazz, but her achievements were remarkable by any standards. Like any great artist, she transcended the category of gender equality and race.Before WWII, women were not assumed to have a functioning job in the public arena, but soon gender roles shifted. There emerged dark female hotshots, for example, vocalists Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and musicians like Mary Lou Williams and Lil Hardin Armstrong. Furthermore, women started to fill the instrumental jobs customarily played by men (the saxophone, trombone, trumpet, and so forth.)."You've got to play, that's all. They don't think of you as a woman if you can really play. I think some girls have an inferiority complex about it and this may hold them back. If they have talent, the men will be glad to help them along. [And] working with men, you get to think like a man when you play. You automatically become strong, though this doesn't mean you're not feminine." -Mary Lou Williams (Quoted from Stormy Weather, p.67).
In spite of the considerable difficulties that female instrumentalists faced in the industry, some incredibly gifted women made their way through the Jazz elite. For instance, Vi Burnside was a notable saxophone player. She played for both the Harlem Playgirls and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm. She was extraordinary compared to other soloists that either aggregate had and was known for her loud, powerful tone. Another praiseworthy metal player was "Small" Davis, who exceeded expectations at the trumpet. She was additionally an individual from the International Sweethearts of Rhythm and even "Armstrong tried (unsuccessfully) to lure Davis away from the International Sweethearts of Rhythm by offering her ten times her salary” (Davis, p1). As is apparent from Armstrong's endeavor to take Tiny away, these women were obviously keeping pace with their male partners and could add to the way of life of jazz generally speaking.
One last case of a women instrumentalist is Melba Liston, who was the main lady to play trombone in the big bands. She worked with the some of the greats such as: Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, and Dizzy Gillespie. Just like other female artists, her commitments were not restricted to just playing the trombone; She also composed and arranged.
As should be obvious, women exceeded expectations on all the different jazz instruments, not just the piano or vocals; be that as it may, they are not recognized as equivalents to their male partners regardless of whether they made noteworthy commitments to jazz amid their opportunity as players as well as coaches.In any case, it must be recognized that women surely can play in jazz today. A standout amongst the best contemporary jazz instrumentalists, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, said "there are a lot more women playing and coming into their own. It’s no longer a matter of women being fashionable or a fad. It’s really serious. When a woman says she plays,you have to listen and find out now" (Gourse, p135). This exhibits the entryway for women to play and take part in the jazz world is undoubtedly open, and even though they might face more suspicion, there are not about indistinguishable obstructions from there were a couple of brief years back. It has turned out to be apparent that women have been a section been a piece of jazz since the start, regardless of whether their jobs have been to some degree underestimated and questionable.
Researchers today are endeavoring to reveal the essentially less reported job of women in the advancement of jazz and it's getting to be clear that their effect can be seen far and wide.
