I’ve compiled a Spotify playlist called Women Instrumentalists In Jazz-Old and New of great players for you to check out! open.spotify.com/user/121243605/playlist/14w1f3BuDWFo8NXjN45zke?si=fjpyCIk3Q6mqHhNBhDeWcA
Aimee Nolte Music Thanks! Nice to see Nubya Garcia on the list. A couple more excellent young British women jazz musicians are Laura Jurd, trumpet and Rachael Cohen, alto sax.
Aimee Nolte Music Thank you! I also want to thank you for making this video, I’m glad you brung awareness to this topic, I am an aspiring female jazz pianist.
Thanks for this amazing playlist. Glad you included Emily Remler in there and she happens to be one of the first on the list. She's one of my absolute favorite jazz guitarists of all time, and an inspiration to me as a Jazz guitarist myself.
For anyone interested I'd like to suggest Jane Bunnet and Maqueque in addition to the list. They're a contemporary all female jazz band who are simply incredible. I saw them last year in one of my country's biggest jazz festivals, which in the last few years has recieved musicians of the caliber of Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding and Chucho Valdés. They were the closing band that year and it was amazing watching them and seeing them playing live.
I find it interesting that when I go to classical concerts, women and men are about equal in the audience but when I go to jazz concerts it's about 80% men.
Weird. I guess it depends on the contry. Here in the balkans there is like a 60% to 40% men/women ratio for spectators. The artists, however are more 68% to 32%. I haven't watched the video, but from anecdotal experience it seems to be just interests/upbringing as it seems males here are more inclined to just go searching for new(or classic) music, like jazz(with a wish to also perform it). Not saying that females are not, but they are more inclined to listen to(and perform) art music(radiohead, muse, Neutral milk hotel, art rock and post rock are some examples) /pop music. Will comment again after watching the video.
I think it’s because of the essence of music. Jazz feels like a rush it’s big and bad (not all the time) and fast while classical music most of time is more tame. I feel like in general men tend to be attracted to this type of music as a biological thing of being attracted to more big and forceful music.
I think they're hearing the right messages now. But I wonder what hidden messages might remain, or whether the roles models are all they could be yet. It seems almost like trying to grow democracy in a nation of people who've gone too long without a voice.
i'm so glad this video exists, i really feel seen. it's so frustrating to have people assume things about me just because i'm a 5'0 girl. a guy assumed i didn't know how to play a pentatonic scale and on my first day in a concert band, the band leader assumed i played the flute even though i was holding a bass guitar. what's more annoying is that i can't bring it up because i worry people will treat me differently thanks for talking about this, next time i won't be afraid to be as loud as the boys :D
thanks for highlighting this issue, amy! this is a really important video. i’m a 20-year-old female guitarist, and in my jazz theory class freshman year of college, i was one of three girls in a class of 33. the professor didn’t discourage us - actually mostly the opposite - he’d call on us extra, say he wanted “a woman’s opinion,” almost give our voices more worth. but it started to feel like i represented all girls in jazz and their potential, to the professor and the boys in the class - i began to feel like if i wasn’t good at something (and that happened a lot, since i had no experience playing in a combo before college) that the guys in the class would think that it was because i was a girl, not because my high school didn’t have a jazz program or any of the actual reasons. and the whole jazz culture of putting yourself out there, taking a solo, trying to one-up and compete with others’ skills, etc really seemed tinged with a kind of masculine competitiveness and aggression, at least at my school, that made me pretty uncomfortable even though i enjoyed the music. and this isn’t exactly a story of resilience, because i stopped taking jazz classes and stopped playing in combo after that year - and i am a bit disappointed in myself for that, but for me as a gal who didn’t have much jazz experience and was trying to learn (much later than middle school), breaking into that hyper masculine environment just didn’t seem worth all the stress it was causing. (because i was more anxious for combo each week than any of my normal classes.) i’m not really sure where i was going with this but i’m really happy you’re talking about this topic, since it is real and difficult, and your audience might actually have the potential to help the jazz environment be more hospitable to girls in the future!
Thank you so much for sharing. I’m so sorry it was this way for you. I think that could happen a lot. A little bit of extra pressure because you feel you have something to prove, being one of the only girls. It’s unfortunate. It is a competitive environment. I think my background in sports helped me not to shy away from that and that’s a definite advantage that I had that probably a lot of girls do not. But, there are many young men out there who aren’t cut out for fierce competition as well. I’ve seen it on both sides. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you at this point in life. I have a feeling you will find the right time and place and situation to try again. I hope you do.
YES! I am a jazz guitarist in my high school jazz band (the only girl out of three guy guitarists) and also the only girl in my jazz improv class. I love my jazz teacher - and I don't think he fully realizes this - but all of the inso videos we watch are ALL MEN too!!! And yes, while my teacher calls on us, it feels like I (and the one other girl- who is a bassist... she's so badass I love her) I feel like I have to prove myself and my whole gender! I try hard not to let it, but sometimes these circumstances can make my confidence as a musician dwindle
Hi Aimee, Female jazz guitarist here! I definitely have some stories about being a female jazz guitarist. When I was 17 I went to my first jazz jam session. When I was called up they kept saying that I was going to sing (not a singer) I was the only female at that jam session and the bass player kept hitting on me. It definitely turned me away from going to jam sessions. I went a few months after and the exact same thing happened! I am a little older now, and was just saying that I have to go to another jam session, this vidoe definitely inspired me🎸 In my city there are maybe only 7 female jazz instrumentalist who have gigs. And in the city's big jazz band there is only one female (the band is made up of 24 players) It's easy to see why women would not want to be a part of this. We just have to work harder and ignore everything. Music should not be like that, but we need to be pioneers for future generations to keep Jazz alive
Your story is inspiring. I grew up in a small town and even after college graduation and a city change I find it outright impossible to find anyone to play with. I have no idea where the jazz scene if it even exists would be. I was lucky enough to have been taught by one of the greatest bebop/hard bop musicians of the past generation, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm stunted by but having anyone to really jam with. It is intensely frustrating at times but I try my best to become what I can be. As a result I pushed myself to become a great classical pianist, singer (still working on that), music producer, and composer. My breadth allows me to operate on my own completely, which is really nice. I'm confident that the right opportunities will come when I am ready, so I just have to keep at it.
being the only female at a jam session ...it is just the reality for me everytime i go to play- sometimes I get frustrated by it but I try to do it anyways - i am 45 now and just try to do my own thing :)
@@marcusstoica I am very fortunate to take lessons with a guitarist I look up to. My teacher creates a safe and fun environment where I can jam. I also had to switch to classical (guitar) to have more opportunities. But jazz is my favorite and will always be my main passion
You speak 100% logic. You speak 0%. “ political correctness for its own sake”. Gender has nothing to do ability. Shouldn’t have to be spelled out. As a male who loves jazz, I am saddened I have missed out on the music of all those potential female musicians who never got to flourish because of social pressures.
Bro girls at my school are lazy I actually keep tryna get them in jazz but they’re like “that’s too much more music I don’t wanna play” nobody these days really gives af about if the girls have a ability speaking from a standpoint now girls are often given more praise than boys even if they show less talent.
It's been decades since I've played any jazz but I have a story that relates. I was asked to take over as a soccer coach of a co-ed soccer team composed of mainly middle schoolers. Turns out that one of the girls on the team was one of the fastest players on the team, and one of the best dribblers. She played right-side defender. Several times during a scrimmage, she would win the ball in the back and then fly up her flank toward midfield, leaving other players in the dust, with acres of space in front of her. When she reached the center line on the field, she would abruptly stop as if she had reached an invisible wall. She would then pass the ball to a teammate and retreat to her defensive position. I asked her why she did that. She said the boys had told her defenders need to stay in the back and not venture past midfield. I told her that that changes as of right now. I told her she can go anywhere on the field that she wants. I just told her that if we are in the attacking zone and we lose the ball, to get back and cover defensively. Her eyes lit up. She was all over the field from then on -- joining the attack and taking shots on goal, getting back and playing defense like a boss, and just playing with a joy and freedom I have rarely seen. Jazz, like soccer, is a place to express yourself no matter where you are at. Don't be pigeonholed.
Aimee, this really touches me. I am a first time father of a soon to be 2 year old little girl. One who's always banging on my upright or sitting on the bed strumming across the open strings of my guitar marvelling over the resonant quartal tone dissonance. It pains me to think of my little girl ever feeling pressure to deny herself of what's in her pure heart, but this video is helpful for me in terms of understanding what adolescence can mean for a young girl. Thank you!
Older player here. If I had a dollar for every “you play good for a girl” comment I heard in the 70’s and 80’s. ..and It still happens. We will never be equal until we have auditions behind curtains. Lincoln center needs this. We’re starting a class for young women improv in our city-girls need confidence to learn in an environment with no distractions or harassment.
"We'll never be equal until..." tell me about it. In my industry people get hired just for being gay, black etc Let's start doing applications with no names and doing blind interviews if people TRULY want equality.
Awesome Video... I have been teaching music for 18 years and I have noticed some of the things you mention. I specialize in elementary music and I feel that this area of music education is ground zero. I believe that is really where it starts. I have focused on Mary Lou Williams, arrangements of Melba Liston, Ella Fitzgerald and other women in jazz. Since I teach general music I feel it is also important to show minorities playing classical music as well. My school is predominantly African-American so I love to show videos and demonstrate the fact that all contribute to classical music. Therefore I play for the students and show videos of Wynton Marsalis playing the Carnival of Venice or show Bradford playing with an Orchestra. I also demonstrate that men and women play whatever instrument that desire. I play flute, clarinet, sax, trombone so they see that those instruments can be played by any gender. I assist our Middle School director on our annual Band night and i have signed up quite a few females on trombone and euphonium. I also have helped encourage boys to play flute and clarinet... Anyway your video resonating with this music educator... Thanks for the encouragement!
I'm a convert now . . . I've been watching your videos this year, and have really appreciated your ability to break things down in a way that's not too basic, and not too advanced. And now, this video convinced me to subscribe. I'm 57 and just now returning to music after a long break, and was hungry for a female role model and champion to say, "It's all doable - just listen, learn and work at it." Watching this video reminded me of how much confidence I've lacked, and was overlooked time and time again. My junior high band teacher encouraged me to learn tenor sax (I was a flute player) and he did give me a solo. We rehearsed at lunch breaks for days. The big day came, and I stood up and could only play one note. I was terrified. I didn't have any support at home, and just drifted away from music after that. I'm happy to return to it, and grateful for your videos. Thank you!
You are doing so much for women in jazz and music in general. I wasted my youth really I gave up piano age 12 and swore I would never sing again after a bad experience age 7. Age 30 I picked up a guitar and started learning Amy Winehouse tunes and singing quietly to myself my husband encouraged me to keep going. Now I’m 37 I have sung and played my guitar at local open mic nights I’m not a very accomplished musician there’s so much to learn but it’s a significant achievement for me and brings me so much joy. I have two little daughters 3&5 they are already scatting away and asking for jazz standards! I’m so excited to be a to guide them in the right direction and I’ll be saying “Aimee Nolte says practice this or listen to this”. So your message here is brilliant and will filter through everyone watching and results will be coming as these little children grow up. It is cool male jazz musicians who have encouraged me in jazz I now am even learning double bass but I’ll be making sure to listen to your playlist so my daughters know about the female contributors! X
Thank you for your comment, Ellie. I’m so glad! Have fun with those girls! I’m sure they’ve got a great future ahead. And keep it up with the bass! That’s rad. :-)
Such a great video. As a father of a 14 year old girl who started piano (after violin she decided, not for me & asked for piano after learning a couple short songs herself) this is GOLD. Speaking of solos, when recital time came, I had started piano too wanting to finally learn sightreading after years of singing by ear, I volunteered to perform because I won't ask her to do anything I wouldn't do. As the only 'adult' in the recital it was so great to see a huge variety of kids and so many encouraged ME and gave me compliments. They were all amazing musicians.
Sent this to my sister, who's a mother of a 4 year old girl. She doesn't listen to Jazz but I feel like there's a deeper theme here we can all benefit from hearing. 11/10 video as usual Aimee!
Aimee! Thank you for this video! I'm 57 (mmmm 58 next month) and I started learning jazz piano (tried in the 1990's but gave up quickly ) and thanks to YOU, after trapeziectomy hand surgery in February 2019. My left thumb CMC joint was in terrible shape. I used the piano as my hand therapy. You are such a superb teacher and role model to me and yes, as a female musician, I have been asked too many times when playing in a band if i am the singer. I'd say 95% of the time it is assumed that I must be the vocalist or a back up singer and not an intrumentalist. When I was about 12 years old, I begged my dad to let me take saxophone lessons and he flat out refused. My cousin of the same age was having a blast studying it and performed in a small orchestra in Quebec City at the time. He provided me with about the equivalent of 1 year of piano lessons. I was 33 years old before I came back to music. That is also the year I enrolled in the University of North Alabama in Florence where I completed a degree in music, initially piano performance ( with sheer stubbornness and piano practice obsession)but graduated with a Commercial Music degree. There were many young women in marching band but during W.C. Handy jazz camps held every June, there were pretty much no women! So yes, thank you for bringing up the subject. And yes Ken Burns is amazing but not only did he barely mention female musicians, he only mentioned Bill Evans in the context of his performances with Miles Davis AND made it sound like jazz died in the 1970's! Maybe you should produce a documentary on women in jazz. Appreciate you tremendously.
There are many great female composers out there that I'm aware of that are in the Anime and Video Game fields primarily from Japan. Yoko Kanno (scored Cowboy Bebop a jazzy pop oriented soundtrack that many are familiar with), Soya Oka who scored Super Mario Kart for SNES (a jazzy pop oriented soundtrack as well). Yoko Shimomura (contributed greatly to the unforgettable Street Fighter 2 Soundtrack for SNES that has many Jazz elements contained within as well having participated in other well known projects). Michiru Ōshima is in my eyes, an incredible composer that has scored various Anime productions. I feel the biggest thing is, there are heavily talented female role models out there that have an extremely strong unforgettable musical voice, but they're not mentioned much in public discourse which causes them to never reach girls that may one day look into venturing into music themselves to become a future Jazz artist. I feel all the names I mentioned above would be great role models for anyone as their musical vocabularies are highly developed, unique, and sophisticated and I find their work to be among my favorites regardless of gender. To give a more concise answer, I feel there should be more attention given to or more interviews publicized with the great female composers out there that already exist and that may encourage more girls to get into the art.
There are some HUGE composers in the video game industry. I know they are seen as superstars over in parts of Asia, where people pay to see recitals of their scores. I believe the Final Fantasy series has a massive following, and obviously the Street Fighter 2 sound track was immense. A huge part of my childhood.
Amy, you nailed it! Your "clarinet or flute"-example is soo true! Over here (Netherlands) the women sing, and don't play instruments either. I consider myself lucky to be in a ts/tp horn section with an amazing female sax player who has this huge blues tone and sound, that works so well with trumpet. Awesome video, love it!!
So Many of my personal favorites in jazz are women, Nikki Parrott, Lisa Parrott, Chloe Feoranzo, Esperanza Spaulding, Marian McPartland, Bria Skonberg, you get the idea, the list is extensive. I'm glad to see you explain so effectively the sociological reasons behind this and why we can look forward to a greater participation of women in jazz. The ladies I have mentioned are So expressive and inspired in their playing, as are you Aimee. Thank you for this informative video.
You are a most excellent example of a woman who, from a very young age, was determined to follow her passion. Now you are inspiring other young women, I've no doubt. It makes me sad that so many schools have cut music programs to the bare bones, if they have a program at all. Music is a fundamental aspect of full human expression.
Great video, Aimee. I lost my wife of 41 years in December. She was one of the strong ones. I first saw her in a telephone company training course atop a pole. She was the first female foreman in NJ Bell. I said, "Who is that and I have to meet her." She also drag raced at Englishtown Raceway in NJ. Men either loved her or hated her. I was the luckiest man in the world to have loved her, and that she loved me back.
Hi Aimee, thanks for this video - in my home country of NZ, we had amazing support for girls at high school (I was super lucky) but I found that when I went through my jazz degree (tenor sax) the insidious sexism really got to me. So much so I stopped playing for quite a while after graduating and the idea of being a jobbing Sax player lost its appeal - though I never lost my drive to make music. I’m retraining as a composer now and looking at doing my masters at age 34. So many of us love music dearly as kids and teens and get knocked back and made to feel we “just can’t cut it”. I don’t think many guys I played with ever intended it to be a boys club, but we’ve got to all do our bit to invite everyone in!
I have a music professor, a great guy in his early 60's who's like an uncle to me, and he gave me a hard drive of music from many genres, mainly obscure 70's rock, blues and jazz, it's over 180Gb... And there aren't really female soloist in that whole hard drive except for Joni Mitchell and one or two other avant garde artists... Which astonished me, because he isn't a sexist to any degree, this is just his personal music library, not does he fawn over the swing queens like Vaughn and Fitzgerald. But it was still so crazy to think he gave me a massive library of musicians and artists to look up to and there wasn't really anyone I could truly relate to. I'm also the one of very few girls in my music college and one of three female instrumentalists, the rest are all singers. And, I do get more vocal gigs than piano gigs... Which was a hard thing for me to put into context, because once there's another female on stage I was always told to step down so that people "won't compare us". This video is so uplifting though, you've been such an inspiration to me over the last few years - thank you 😁 I'm proud to be part of the 15%!
This is an incredibly important video and topic! I am a female classical guitarist, and I've noticed many of the same things in the classical guitar world in regards to gender as you spelled out for the jazz world. It's extremely male-dominated and focuses on machismo playing, teaching, and performing. Yes, it's getting better, but we still have a long way to go. Thanks for talking about this, Aimee!
Woman here!!!! Yess I'm going into my second year in college, I perform a lot and attend our school master classes, and I'm usually the only girl there unless the girl is a singer, or it's a singing master class, I've felt the SAME EXACT WAY, thank you for posting this Aimee and thank you for all your advice.
Hey, Aimee! I´ve been singing jazz professionally for about 3 years, but enough time to be surprised at the incredible small number of female musicians in my city ( and country, Brazil). That motivated me to form a ladies band, a quartet, and we´ve been working to change this scenario here. We´ve been taking part in festivals of relevance all over the state, so your words just bring more fuel to our ideas and project. Thanks for sharing all this with us!
I'm the only female in my jazz combo. This is years after college. I was one of like, two girls in middle school and one of the only ones who kept playing jazz. Don't get me started on having to be the "leader". We recently had a reunion show. I'm happy. Everything you said in this video is soooooo accurate.
Hi Aimee, thanks for this wonderful video. I can relate to your trombone story. From age 11 I was desperate to learn the saxophone and my parents steered me towards the violin. It hadn’t occurred to me at that age that the sax was not an appropriate instrument for a girl, as my inspiration was one of the greatest female sax players of all time: Lisa Simpson. I’m 32 now and after years of half arsed classical training I’m finally starting to learn jazz. Channels like yours really help! It’s important to see women out there killing it (even if they are yellow and fictional) and I will check out those artists you mentioned. Regina Carter is a great jazz violinist but I’m sure you know of her. Thanks for the great content! Xx
There are a good number of killer female jazz players here in Kalamazoo, most of them by way of Western Michigan University's rather solid jazz program.. I used to be shocked by that, and then ultimately I was horrified that such a thing should be at all shocking. I've had the pleasure to work with a few of them on some local gigs and I'm really glad I had the experience. It was an eye-opener to the whole patriarchy-in-music thing for me.
@Aimee Thank you for posting this up as a reminder that we do have some influence to help make things better. I am a father of two girls and this is something I am trying to do my part as well to help them appreciate all aspect with a breath of perspective. Thank you for doing what you do musically.
As a jazz female musician, I totally relate to this video. My main instrument is the piano, but I have always been IN LOVE with percussion instruments since I was a very little girl (specially drums). Despite this, I could never admit it because of what the society taught me; I was completely afraid of playing a "boy's instrument" and being judged by everybody. Now i'm 19 years old, and a few months ago I finally decided to buy a kit and start learning drums. You can't imagine how happy I feel with myself. It's so necessary that every woman feels comfortable and supported with any career decision! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences. These feminist actions help a lot with the society's change, and little by little we may have a better world!
A list of those women instrumentalists for those interested in checking them out Lil Harden - Piano Hazel Scott - Piano Marian McPartland - Piano Melba Liston - Trombone Mary Lou Williams - Piano Marjorie Hyams - Vibes Peggie Gilbert - Bandleader & Tenor Sax Clora Bryant - Trumpet Roz Cron - Alto Sax Alice Coltrane - Pictured w/ Harp Geri Allen - Piano Carla Bley - Piano Maria Schneider - Bandleader Terri Lyne Carrington - Drums Ingrid Jensen - Trumpet Esperanza Spalding - Bass & Voice and of course.. Aimee Nolte - Piano Another one to toss in my two cents because they were fantastic when I saw them live Anat Cohen - Clarinet Tia Fuller - Alto Sax The future is female!
Thanks so much for spreading awareness about this topic. I am an avid jazz listener and jazz photographer, and I'm always disappointed by the number of women playing (usually none). Despite religiously watching your videos, as well as all of the other jazz teachers on youtube, I myself (a woman) don't play jazz... I never had the opportunity to learn and have zero confidence to start! I hope more women become part of the jazz scene as time goes on.
Well formulated Aimee and with solutions. I ( a guy) grew up playing with girls from the beginning up through my 64 years playing and have always thought this is how it is. Your history of how you felt in middle school and almost dropping out of music is very illuminating to me.
I work in a music instrumental store and I can not tell you how many times I hear that phrase,”Girls don’t play such and such” and I literally have correct them. It infuriates me when parent play that card. I literally start to list all the killin’ female musicians and who the work with. I use Beyoncé’s all female band as the prime example on Women can play whatever they want.
Interestingly, when I was in high school (I'm 29 now so mid 2000s) a pretty large percentage of the members of the school jazz band were female, 2 of my close friends played sax and trumpet, and there were several other girls playing brass instruments, so hopefully things really are changing
I've always encouraged my daughter as she's growing up. She's 17 now and 2 years into learning to play drums. She loves Jazz, and enjoys playing classic rock. Today we spent 18 minutes or so listening to Coltrane "My Favorite Things". Our kids need to follow their passions and be encouraged to do so.
What a powerful video, Aimee! I'm an elementary music teacher and teach private lessons on several instruments and this is something that I care deeply about. My private students range from 7-19 years old, but my female guitar and trumpet students are some of my favorites because they truly love their instruments and it brings them so much joy despite the gender stereotypes in music. I had a 5th grade girl on trombone for the last 2 years in my school band and could see she was a little anxious (likely for reasons you mentioned here), but gave her frequent reminders of how successful she's become and not to give up or switch to another instrument that's more "girly." I'm very fortunate to have some wonderful female musicians in my life - I met my wife in high school band (she played trombone, bass clarinet, and bass guitar) and I'm in a soul band with an incredible frontman who's one of my best friends from college. Lastly, thanks for you all you do! You're such an inspiration and I'm currently working through your "Extreme 2-5-1 Workout" in all 12 keys on guitar. Keep up the good work and lots of love to you!
I have always related to this. Your basketball story reminds me of my own experience. Once at summer camp, the boys were playing volleyball and the girls were standing around in a circle talking. I knew some of the boys already from outside of camp, so I would spend time with them. One of the girls came over, pulled me into the group and said "you belong over here." They then proceeded to ignore me, despite insisting I be with them. I ended up sneaking back to hang out with the boys I knew.
Hello from one of your female followers!! My husband and I are both jazz musicians and we talk about this issue all the time. We are both educators too, so your take on this and advice on this issue is so helpful. Thanks for being so honest & open about it.
Excellent words of wisdom. I was saved by music and art throughout my formative years, along with the support of my mom (who was an accomplished piano, trombone, and viola player). I was lucky enough to have had a wonderful high school jazz band director that encouraged boys and girls equally. I went from playing Alto sax to guitar, and finally to piano.
This is so important. We always supported our kids in music and anything else they were interested in. Our piano never sat idle for a whole day. Our oldest is studying Computer Science at BYU, your alma mater, and has chosen to let her musical talents enrich her life a hobby. Her sister just received her Masters degree in Film Music Composition from an eastern school and moved in with her sister in UT while she prepares to move to CA to break into an industry where the first major motion picture with a female composer was released just this year.
Really good video! I am happy that you're talking about this. I'm not a feminist at all, but because I'm a musician I can also see there is less respect towards female instrumentalists when it comes to making a band, for example. Music is one field where I feel a bit of feminism is needed. I released my single recently and we were all girls working on it. Just had a small help on songs master by one guy, but the mix of the song was done by a girl. I was on my own at first and I had to find someone who would play drums and bass for my song, because I play guitar and sing, and I don't have a band. I didn't feel mentaly strong enough to ask guys, because in my previous experiences I felt I had to earn respect from them. I really randomly remembered that wait... I have two girl friends who play pretty good and I asked them to play with me. It was so easy to work with them. None of us had ego problems while playing how it usually is with guys. :D In each country it's also different and in each music genre. I feel that jazz musicians are more respectful towards females, but they still are ignored a lot. Of course, I'm not playing jazz now, but it really insipres me. I like to listen to Alice Coltrane. If anyone is interested you can check out what girls in age of 18-21 have made. Here's our song : th-cam.com/video/a-wmSXJgxkA/w-d-xo.html
This is amazing! Thanks! It seems like it's not talked about enough. I would have never imagined that I was only part of 14% wacthing your channel. That's crazy! We definitely have to raise those numbers.
Fun story: I started band on the flute (thought it was too square and quit to go play hip rhythm section shit, but that's another story...) and was 1 of 2 boys in a 10-piece section. Similar ratio in the clarinet section, then pretty much the inverse for brass and percussion. I think another issue is girls aren't encouraged or criticized the same way boys are: I became a pro in no small part because my teachers saw something in me and kicked my ass to keep exploring new concepts and keep my sights on greater heights. I very rarely noticed anyone pushing my female peers the same way, at least in music...
In addition to your amazing musical talent, I think you'd be a fantastic narrator in books, movies, and TV shows! You have a very relaxing and soothing voice.
Someday if I ever have a daughter, I will make sure she plays the instrument she wants to play. If she doesn’t like music, I will probably cry inside, but I’ll support that too!
I hear you sister. I love singing jazz and haven't looked back since.. I also resonate with your experiences. I don't dumb myself down for anyone anymore.
Thanks for sharing this, Aimee. It's been 40 years since I played drums in my high school jazz band, but I'll mention the (too few) girls who played in the band. Cathy, on trumpet; Hannah, on alto sax; Laura, on piano, and vocals as well. I'll never forget them, and I was happy to be playing along side them. Hannah was completely obsessed with jazz, and knew all the jazz drummers. I didn't even know who Max Roach was, which, justifiably, blew her mind :)
Thank you for highlighting this very important issue. I have two grown up daughters. They played guitar drums and piano when they were young. When they hit teens it was hard to walk the line between encouraging them and pressurising them to do it. I didn't want them to resent practicing. I find it sad when I hear 'my parents sent me to piano lessons and I hated it'. I hope my girls come back to it someday because they remember how much they enjoyed it and not just another class they had to do. On the other hand I sometimes wonder if I should have been firmer with them. Who knows? 😕
Ok run don't walk to check out The Sant Andreu Jazz Band from Barcelona Perhaps type in {Alba Armengou (Triste)} as an introduction. Now 3 of those 4 teenage singers performing those close harmonies are really very good instrumentalists . Type in Andrea Motis or Joan Chamorro director of Jazz Studies at that school he's doing jazz education right.
I’ve been thinking so much about this lately, so interesting that you happen to post this video!! I’m a 17 year old girl, working towards playing jazz piano in college. You are such an inspiration. I’m so glad I saw this.
hi Aimee! I’ve been watching your videos for some time now, and I’m really glad you pointed this out. This has been on my mind for a LONG time ever since I started jazz, and im glad that patriarchy in jazz is getting more light shed on. I remember the first time I played with a jazz ensemble, it was predominantly male and anytime I fluked up some guy always had to point it out. All females in music should definitely watch this, this has been real inspiring.
Such a great video! Really heartfelt and inspiring. As a a male guitarist I'm floored and a bit embarrassed by the disparate ratio of male to female guitarists, and the same is true for jazz instrumentalist. I think the situation is getting better, but slowly. (PS - I just started watching @Tina Jäckel channel, love her stuff!)
At my local jam session, it is incredible how many young girls take the bandstand and tear it up. So inspiring to see how things have changed since "back in my day"
@google owns you I want as many people as possible enjoying and participating in this art form and this tradition. Saying jazz is "developed to capacity" is so antithetical to the spirit of the genre...and music generally
Thank you for this video, and for your personal story in particular. I'm a guy in his 60s, and observed all the stuff you mentioned. Societal evolution is slow, so the more energy like yours that can raise awareness and fuel change, the better.
Thank u Aimee for saying what had To be said. Have 2 three year old twin daughters. They love banging around the piano especially when listening to Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown stuff. Hope it’s a good sign. Kudos to you for being such a wonderful role model for young women. U can bet I’m going to send your video to everyone i know who take Carr of young aspiring women. Keep being an inspiration 😊!
Amy, YOU. ARE. AWESOME!!! Btw - one of my mentor teachers, Laurel Verissimo, was SO good at getting girls away from flute and clarinet and onto trumpet, baritone, tuba, and percussion. :D
At risk of being the contrarian here, maybe the jazz art form is one that inherently appeals to men more than women. These days most college courses have a greater proportion of women than men attending, except for a hand full such as in the STEM fields and also apparently jazz. Check out the article in The Atlantic entitled "Why men are the new college minority". Currently, the opportunities offered women are far greater than for men.
She even called herself a "tomboy", which means she knows a lot of her preferences are the same preferences which men gravitate to - admitting that men and women generally have a tendency to like different things.
I have to be honest, I don't listen to tons of artists regularly, but up until Djesse none of the few I did listen to were women. Jacob's introduced me to Becca Stevens and Maro and I listen to them all the time now. Also Laura Mvula on occasion, in proportion with the volume of JC collaboration I guess haha
You make an interesting point. I never saw this point of view. Not just because I'm a guy but when I was coming up as a young church musician it was normal for females to be part of the band not just the choir which was predominately women including my own mother in the choir. Traditionally Black Churches used such instruments: Drums, piano/organ, bass and guitar which is the root for all blues. It was pretty normal for ladies to play any of thee above mentioned except for bass and drums. However there were a few female drummers around my church district and they all were tough, good drummers, better than me cuz I was 11 back then. I can bet you appreciate what Prince was doing. Throughout his career he featured various female musicians such as Sheila E, Rosie Gains, Rhonda Smith, Candy Dulfer, Wendy Melvion and Lisa Coleman.
You are so right. I have tried to find women in music who play instruments and there are a few, but not many. Carol Kaye was an early musician who played guitar, bass guitar. I have enjoyed listening to Terri Lyne Carrington and sent her an email which she replied thanking me. She is awesome on Eric Marienthal's Crossroads release. I also enjoy hearing Hannah Welton-Ford, Hillary Jones. There really should be more. There is a teenager named Mia Morris who plays bass guitar, drums and sings. She writes songs. She is only 14 or 15, but she is a talented young lady. Good post!
You DID light a fire under me, I will keep this in mind. I absolutely love Esperanza Spaulding. She was one of the first female bassist my music teachers tole me about in sixth grade about 7 years ago and I fell in love with upright bass ever since
I identify so much with your life story. I was the tomboy, basketball and guitar player. Always the odd one out! Now in my jazz program I see killer female instrumentalists dropping out of Jazz because of how suffocating and unwelcoming this environment can be. The world is missing out on some amazing musicians only because they happen to be female.
Totally agree, but I think it’s the problem we (women) are having in general in life. I play guitar, when I was studying in college I remember being the only one in class, then I studied sound design and post production, we were 4 women among 60 men in class. It wasn’t easy for me trying to confront in some way the “male thought” that I wasn’t good enough as them. For many years I stopped playing guitar and begun studying piano. Now I decided I wanted to play again, and it’s what i am traying to do but now I have 2 little kids (maybe too late) I do it whenever I can(when they sleep usually) because it is what I love, but really very difficult for a woman to play and be mother of little children at the same time 🤦♀️ 💪🏻 You are awesome, I wish I had a teacher like you when I was younger! Sorry for my english, I’m from Argentina.
My daughter dropped the violin like a hot potato in high school and has never touched it since despite my cajoling. Broke my heart. My son is now teaching himself piano. I had three brothers growing up none of whom showed any interest in music. Me? I played everything I could get my hands on and joined every chorus. People are different, that's ok, we need to be ok with that. There are activities that are densely populated by women, (veterinarians & educators) and that's ok too. I'm all for equal opportunity everywhere, and encouragement, but I'm also ok with outcomes not being equal. Just sayin'. Peace & above all - harmony.
I'm a trumpet player in a 17 piece all female jazz big band and also in the all female jazz quintet/sextet formed in 2002 in Buffalo, NY. We trace our history back to the all female big bands formed during the WWII era. We had one of these WWII era jazz band women in our band until she passed away several years ago. She was a phenomenal alto sax player. We always include this history in our shows, especially in March during women's history month.
Thank you. This video was so thoughtful and insightful. I started out playing the flute in middle school, but always wanted to play the drums. It's so weird that musical instruments are almost gendered, but it happens. Thanks for bringing awareness to this.
This is brilliant, Aimee. I'm sending the link to my daughter to share with her girls who are at just that important, formative stage. One did play trombone in school for a year! She's since gone on to other interests; I'm determined to not be disappointed, lol. As long as she finds her passion and has every opportunity and encouragement to pursue it, it's all good. BTW, for what it's worth I've known some Piphers over the years and they've all pronounced their name like "pie-fer".
I can’t remember saying that last name. This video was awhile ago…I have a friend named Paul Pieper. Was that the name I mentioned? Anyway thanks for your sweet comment. ♥️
I love this video - so powerful. I was so happy yesterday that my 3 year old daughter started asking "is this middle C?" on one of my keyboards. It was! I'm definitely going to encourage her growing up to pursue her passions - no matter what they are. My greatest memories being in a couple marching bands and pep bands was the three women who played mallet percussion with me. They were much better musicians than I was, but I absorbed so much from them. If anyone hasn't ever seen them, I'd recommend checking out the Kyoto Tachibana SHS Band (Japanese high school marching band - 90%+ female) are one of the best in the world. I know it's not strict jazz related, but close enough? :)
So much to write, but it all comes down to two little words. As a musician and as a dad I'd like to write....thank you. Thank you for taking the time to share your history and insights.
I for one, am appreciative of that influence...Music is my medicine and I am thankful for all the Ladies and Gentelmen who precede me! Including Dolly, Patsy, the Carter family, Aimee and so many more! Thank you for your contributions to the world of Music! Love your channel Aimee!
This was so awesome. Got me right in the feels. This makes a difference when people get this kind of ideas in their heads. The numbers will go up because of info like this. Thank you.
Thank you so much for making this video. Looking forward to checking out your Spotify playlist of women in jazz. I know you are inspiring up and coming young female musicians everywhere.
Great video, Amy. My favorite composer is Carla Bley, although I doubt anyone would deny her amazing talent and hard work. Let's not forget people like Sandra Sherman, a fellow You-Tuber who does really nice chord melody arrangements - fellow jazzers helping us (non hall-of-famers) all appreciate and partake in this art form.
I will second everyone who mentioned Joan Chamorro from Barcelona and all the female (and male) young people who have been through his program--as well as those currently in the program, the 'Sant Andreu Jazz Band'. I will name a few: Andrea Motis--currently with 6 CDs out, just back from her recent gig in NYC-her group played 'Dizzy's Coca Cola'. She sings and plays both trumpet and sax. Eva Fernandez, Rita Payes on trombone and vocals-currently gigging with a unique back up band-her Mom on classical guitar, Magali Datzira, one great bass player, Abril Sauri, who can play bossa on drums while singing. She doubles on trumpet and is now singing blues Currently in the band: Alba Armengou on vocals, trumpet and alto, Alba Estafan on vocals and clarinet and bari , Elia Bastida on vocals, violin and tenor sax, Joana Casanova on vocals and alto. This band is very well represented on TH-cam with very well mixed and listenable numbers. Have fun listening and, if you can get to Barcelona to hear them live, I envy you!
as a young jazz musician, i really appreciate this video. i play clarinet in band (not bc its “girly,” just cause i wanted to when given the choice) and alto sax in jazz band. i was in the middle school jazz band which pretty much held an equal proportion to girls and boys. now going to hs, the population of girls is lower. in middle school i was the only female soloist, and at my improv camp, out of my group of 20 kids, 3 were girls including me. please, lets raise the level of girls in jazz. it’s not super cool at my school and i’m the only girl doing it in my grade, but i love it and hope that all girls interested take part.
I played trumpet and my older sister played trombone. I was usually first chair (am female) so I got the solos. She was also first chair but trombones don't get solos. ;-) I realized as an adult (after suffering from crippling performance anxiety) that my passion is composition and theory, so now I compose/produce (and my anxiety has improved). Thank you for your videos.
Thank you for bringing up this particular issue. It tends to be a very sensitive and political topic, but it is a very necessary one to talk about and you nailed it perfectly. Your teachings on music are incredibly clear and usefull, and now you're teaching us something that, although is related to music goes way beyond its realm. Again, thank you very for all your lessons. I very much apreciate and admire what you do.
So great. Thnx. Recently got hold of The Girls in the Band (dvd) and the docs on the Sweethearts. Spalding, Gerri Allen, Terri Lynn, Andrea Motis (the Barcelona school), and of course Carol Kaye ( backed Hampton Hawes in the 80s).
Precisely why I love you Aimee!!! You make the world a better place. Two of my other favorite jazz pianists are women, Beegie Adair, and Takana Miyamoto. I have been fortunate to meet both of them. Both are on TH-cam.
I feel like boys experience the same dissuasive pressures in to gender-stereotyped roles. They aren't pushed away from jazz, but are pushed away from other things that girls aren't.
I’ve compiled a Spotify playlist called Women Instrumentalists In Jazz-Old and New of great players for you to check out! open.spotify.com/user/121243605/playlist/14w1f3BuDWFo8NXjN45zke?si=fjpyCIk3Q6mqHhNBhDeWcA
Aimee Nolte Music Thanks! Nice to see Nubya Garcia on the list. A couple more excellent young British women jazz musicians are Laura Jurd, trumpet and Rachael Cohen, alto sax.
Aimee Nolte Music Thank you! I also want to thank you for making this video, I’m glad you brung awareness to this topic, I am an aspiring female jazz pianist.
Thanks for this amazing playlist. Glad you included Emily Remler in there and she happens to be one of the first on the list. She's one of my absolute favorite jazz guitarists of all time, and an inspiration to me as a Jazz guitarist myself.
For anyone interested I'd like to suggest Jane Bunnet and Maqueque in addition to the list. They're a contemporary all female jazz band who are simply incredible. I saw them last year in one of my country's biggest jazz festivals, which in the last few years has recieved musicians of the caliber of Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding and Chucho Valdés. They were the closing band that year and it was amazing watching them and seeing them playing live.
Thank you, Aimee Nolte!
I find it interesting that when I go to classical concerts, women and men are about equal in the audience but when I go to jazz concerts it's about 80% men.
True
Weird. I guess it depends on the contry. Here in the balkans there is like a 60% to 40% men/women ratio for spectators. The artists, however are more 68% to 32%. I haven't watched the video, but from anecdotal experience it seems to be just interests/upbringing as it seems males here are more inclined to just go searching for new(or classic) music, like jazz(with a wish to also perform it). Not saying that females are not, but they are more inclined to listen to(and perform) art music(radiohead, muse, Neutral milk hotel, art rock and post rock are some examples) /pop music. Will comment again after watching the video.
I think it’s because of the essence of music. Jazz feels like a rush it’s big and bad (not all the time) and fast while classical music most of time is more tame. I feel like in general men tend to be attracted to this type of music as a biological thing of being attracted to more big and forceful music.
@@daskmorn Have you watched it yet? What are your thoughts now?
@@archiecook55 i agree with everything stated. Incredible and well researched, also very respectful to everyone.
"Girls should make just as much noise as the boys"
So simple, yet so effective
I think they're hearing the right messages now. But I wonder what hidden messages might remain, or whether the roles models are all they could be yet. It seems almost like trying to grow democracy in a nation of people who've gone too long without a voice.
i'm so glad this video exists, i really feel seen. it's so frustrating to have people assume things about me just because i'm a 5'0 girl. a guy assumed i didn't know how to play a pentatonic scale and on my first day in a concert band, the band leader assumed i played the flute even though i was holding a bass guitar. what's more annoying is that i can't bring it up because i worry people will treat me differently
thanks for talking about this, next time i won't be afraid to be as loud as the boys :D
Thanks for that comment. Keep on keeping on and being yourself. You’ve got it. :-)
thanks for highlighting this issue, amy! this is a really important video. i’m a 20-year-old female guitarist, and in my jazz theory class freshman year of college, i was one of three girls in a class of 33. the professor didn’t discourage us - actually mostly the opposite - he’d call on us extra, say he wanted “a woman’s opinion,” almost give our voices more worth. but it started to feel like i represented all girls in jazz and their potential, to the professor and the boys in the class - i began to feel like if i wasn’t good at something (and that happened a lot, since i had no experience playing in a combo before college) that the guys in the class would think that it was because i was a girl, not because my high school didn’t have a jazz program or any of the actual reasons. and the whole jazz culture of putting yourself out there, taking a solo, trying to one-up and compete with others’ skills, etc really seemed tinged with a kind of masculine competitiveness and aggression, at least at my school, that made me pretty uncomfortable even though i enjoyed the music. and this isn’t exactly a story of resilience, because i stopped taking jazz classes and stopped playing in combo after that year - and i am a bit disappointed in myself for that, but for me as a gal who didn’t have much jazz experience and was trying to learn (much later than middle school), breaking into that hyper masculine environment just didn’t seem worth all the stress it was causing. (because i was more anxious for combo each week than any of my normal classes.) i’m not really sure where i was going with this but i’m really happy you’re talking about this topic, since it is real and difficult, and your audience might actually have the potential to help the jazz environment be more hospitable to girls in the future!
Thank you so much for sharing. I’m so sorry it was this way for you. I think that could happen a lot. A little bit of extra pressure because you feel you have something to prove, being one of the only girls. It’s unfortunate. It is a competitive environment. I think my background in sports helped me not to shy away from that and that’s a definite advantage that I had that probably a lot of girls do not. But, there are many young men out there who aren’t cut out for fierce competition as well. I’ve seen it on both sides. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you at this point in life. I have a feeling you will find the right time and place and situation to try again. I hope you do.
YES! I am a jazz guitarist in my high school jazz band (the only girl out of three guy guitarists) and also the only girl in my jazz improv class. I love my jazz teacher - and I don't think he fully realizes this - but all of the inso videos we watch are ALL MEN too!!! And yes, while my teacher calls on us, it feels like I (and the one other girl- who is a bassist... she's so badass I love her) I feel like I have to prove myself and my whole gender! I try hard not to let it, but sometimes these circumstances can make my confidence as a musician dwindle
Thank you so much for sharing your personal story. You really help me as a musician and now you help me as a father. I can't thank you enough.
That’s the best comment I could have hoped to have gotten. ❤️
Hi Aimee,
Female jazz guitarist here!
I definitely have some stories about being a female jazz guitarist. When I was 17 I went to my first jazz jam session. When I was called up they kept saying that I was going to sing (not a singer)
I was the only female at that jam session and the bass player kept hitting on me. It definitely turned me away from going to jam sessions. I went a few months after and the exact same thing happened! I am a little older now, and was just saying that I have to go to another jam session, this vidoe definitely inspired me🎸
In my city there are maybe only 7 female jazz instrumentalist who have gigs. And in the city's big jazz band there is only one female (the band is made up of 24 players)
It's easy to see why women would not want to be a part of this. We just have to work harder and ignore everything. Music should not be like that, but we need to be pioneers for future generations to keep Jazz alive
Your story is inspiring. I grew up in a small town and even after college graduation and a city change I find it outright impossible to find anyone to play with. I have no idea where the jazz scene if it even exists would be. I was lucky enough to have been taught by one of the greatest bebop/hard bop musicians of the past generation, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm stunted by but having anyone to really jam with. It is intensely frustrating at times but I try my best to become what I can be. As a result I pushed myself to become a great classical pianist, singer (still working on that), music producer, and composer. My breadth allows me to operate on my own completely, which is really nice. I'm confident that the right opportunities will come when I am ready, so I just have to keep at it.
being the only female at a jam session ...it is just the reality for me everytime i go to play- sometimes I get frustrated by it but I try to do it anyways - i am 45 now and just try to do my own thing :)
@@marcusstoica I am very fortunate to take lessons with a guitarist I look up to. My teacher creates a safe and fun environment where I can jam. I also had to switch to classical (guitar) to have more opportunities. But jazz is my favorite and will always be my main passion
@@tinajackel that's awesome! ☺️☺️ Always do your own thing 😉
Thank you for sharing, it's always encouraging to read or hear about fellow musicians who keep honing their craft despite societal prejudice.
You speak 100% logic.
You speak 0%. “ political correctness for its own sake”.
Gender has nothing to do ability.
Shouldn’t have to be spelled out.
As a male who loves jazz, I am saddened I have missed out on the music of all those potential female musicians who never got to flourish because of social pressures.
But gender does have something to do with ability. Or "to do ability" as you would say. She even acknowledged that in the video.
Bro girls at my school are lazy I actually keep tryna get them in jazz but they’re like “that’s too much more music I don’t wanna play” nobody these days really gives af about if the girls have a ability speaking from a standpoint now girls are often given more praise than boys even if they show less talent.
@@SpencerTwiddy true. I mean name one WNBA player. Exactly you can't
Could you create a Spotify Playlist of your favorite women in jazz and share it to your followers?
Danny Sargeant I can totally do that. Give me a few days. :-)
That's a great idea!
@@AimeeNolte Nice! If you're taking suggestions, I recommend Dorothy Ashby, Rita Payes and DOMi. Edit: Doreen Ketchens is great too.
Try with Andrea Motis and Alba Armengou
you shook me Absolutely. See all the work by Joan Chamorro. Great work with youth in jazz. The young ladies are especially noteworthy.
It's been decades since I've played any jazz but I have a story that relates. I was asked to take over as a soccer coach of a co-ed soccer team composed of mainly middle schoolers. Turns out that one of the girls on the team was one of the fastest players on the team, and one of the best dribblers. She played right-side defender. Several times during a scrimmage, she would win the ball in the back and then fly up her flank toward midfield, leaving other players in the dust, with acres of space in front of her. When she reached the center line on the field, she would abruptly stop as if she had reached an invisible wall. She would then pass the ball to a teammate and retreat to her defensive position. I asked her why she did that. She said the boys had told her defenders need to stay in the back and not venture past midfield. I told her that that changes as of right now. I told her she can go anywhere on the field that she wants. I just told her that if we are in the attacking zone and we lose the ball, to get back and cover defensively. Her eyes lit up. She was all over the field from then on -- joining the attack and taking shots on goal, getting back and playing defense like a boss, and just playing with a joy and freedom I have rarely seen. Jazz, like soccer, is a place to express yourself no matter where you are at. Don't be pigeonholed.
Aimee, this really touches me. I am a first time father of a soon to be 2 year old little girl. One who's always banging on my upright or sitting on the bed strumming across the open strings of my guitar marvelling over the resonant quartal tone dissonance. It pains me to think of my little girl ever feeling pressure to deny herself of what's in her pure heart, but this video is helpful for me in terms of understanding what adolescence can mean for a young girl. Thank you!
I think she’s going to be just fine. Sounds like got a great dad.
@@AimeeNolte very sweet of you Aimee, thanks. I love your channel, youve taught me much.
Older player here. If I had a dollar for every “you play good for a girl” comment I heard in the 70’s and 80’s. ..and It still happens. We will never be equal until we have auditions behind curtains. Lincoln center needs this. We’re starting a class for young women improv in our city-girls need confidence to learn in an environment with no distractions or harassment.
"We'll never be equal until..." tell me about it.
In my industry people get hired just for being gay, black etc
Let's start doing applications with no names and doing blind interviews if people TRULY want equality.
Thanks!
Awesome Video... I have been teaching music for 18 years and I have noticed some of the things you mention. I specialize in elementary music and I feel that this area of music education is ground zero. I believe that is really where it starts. I have focused on Mary Lou Williams, arrangements of Melba Liston, Ella Fitzgerald and other women in jazz. Since I teach general music I feel it is also important to show minorities playing classical music as well. My school is predominantly African-American so I love to show videos and demonstrate the fact that all contribute to classical music. Therefore I play for the students and show videos of Wynton Marsalis playing the Carnival of Venice or show Bradford playing with an Orchestra. I also demonstrate that men and women play whatever instrument that desire. I play flute, clarinet, sax, trombone so they see that those instruments can be played by any gender. I assist our Middle School director on our annual Band night and i have signed up quite a few females on trombone and euphonium. I also have helped encourage boys to play flute and clarinet... Anyway your video resonating with this music educator... Thanks for the encouragement!
I'm a convert now . . . I've been watching your videos this year, and have really appreciated your ability to break things down in a way that's not too basic, and not too advanced. And now, this video convinced me to subscribe. I'm 57 and just now returning to music after a long break, and was hungry for a female role model and champion to say, "It's all doable - just listen, learn and work at it." Watching this video reminded me of how much confidence I've lacked, and was overlooked time and time again. My junior high band teacher encouraged me to learn tenor sax (I was a flute player) and he did give me a solo. We rehearsed at lunch breaks for days. The big day came, and I stood up and could only play one note. I was terrified. I didn't have any support at home, and just drifted away from music after that. I'm happy to return to it, and grateful for your videos. Thank you!
You are doing so much for women in jazz and music in general. I wasted my youth really I gave up piano age 12 and swore I would never sing again after a bad experience age 7. Age 30 I picked up a guitar and started learning Amy Winehouse tunes and singing quietly to myself my husband encouraged me to keep going. Now I’m 37 I have sung and played my guitar at local open mic nights I’m not a very accomplished musician there’s so much to learn but it’s a significant achievement for me and brings me so much joy. I have two little daughters 3&5 they are already scatting away and asking for jazz standards! I’m so excited to be a to guide them in the right direction and I’ll be saying “Aimee Nolte says practice this or listen to this”. So your message here is brilliant and will filter through everyone watching and results will be coming as these little children grow up. It is cool male jazz musicians who have encouraged me in jazz I now am even learning double bass but I’ll be making sure to listen to your playlist so my daughters know about the female contributors! X
Thank you for your comment, Ellie. I’m so glad! Have fun with those girls! I’m sure they’ve got a great future ahead. And keep it up with the bass! That’s rad. :-)
Such a great video. As a father of a 14 year old girl who started piano (after violin she decided, not for me & asked for piano after learning a couple short songs herself) this is GOLD. Speaking of solos, when recital time came, I had started piano too wanting to finally learn sightreading after years of singing by ear, I volunteered to perform because I won't ask her to do anything I wouldn't do. As the only 'adult' in the recital it was so great to see a huge variety of kids and so many encouraged ME and gave me compliments. They were all amazing musicians.
Sent this to my sister, who's a mother of a 4 year old girl. She doesn't listen to Jazz but I feel like there's a deeper theme here we can all benefit from hearing. 11/10 video as usual Aimee!
Aimee! Thank you for this video!
I'm 57 (mmmm 58 next month) and I started learning jazz piano (tried in the 1990's but gave up quickly ) and thanks to YOU, after trapeziectomy hand surgery in February 2019. My left thumb CMC joint was in terrible shape. I used the piano as my hand therapy. You are such a superb teacher and role model to me and yes, as a female musician, I have been asked too many times when playing in a band if i am the singer. I'd say 95% of the time it is assumed that I must be the vocalist or a back up singer and not an intrumentalist. When I was about 12 years old, I begged my dad to let me take saxophone lessons and he flat out refused. My cousin of the same age was having a blast studying it and performed in a small orchestra in Quebec City at the time. He provided me with about the equivalent of 1 year of piano lessons. I was 33 years old before I came back to music. That is also the year I enrolled in the University of North Alabama in Florence where I completed a degree in music, initially piano performance ( with sheer stubbornness and piano practice obsession)but graduated with a Commercial Music degree. There were many young women in marching band but during W.C. Handy jazz camps held every June, there were pretty much no women! So yes, thank you for bringing up the subject. And yes Ken Burns is amazing but not only did he barely mention female musicians, he only mentioned Bill Evans in the context of his performances with Miles Davis AND made it sound like jazz died in the 1970's! Maybe you should produce a documentary on women in jazz. Appreciate you tremendously.
There are many great female composers out there that I'm aware of that are in the Anime and Video Game fields primarily from Japan. Yoko Kanno (scored Cowboy Bebop a jazzy pop oriented soundtrack that many are familiar with), Soya Oka who scored Super Mario Kart for SNES (a jazzy pop oriented soundtrack as well). Yoko Shimomura (contributed greatly to the unforgettable Street Fighter 2 Soundtrack for SNES that has many Jazz elements contained within as well having participated in other well known projects). Michiru Ōshima is in my eyes, an incredible composer that has scored various Anime productions. I feel the biggest thing is, there are heavily talented female role models out there that have an extremely strong unforgettable musical voice, but they're not mentioned much in public discourse which causes them to never reach girls that may one day look into venturing into music themselves to become a future Jazz artist. I feel all the names I mentioned above would be great role models for anyone as their musical vocabularies are highly developed, unique, and sophisticated and I find their work to be among my favorites regardless of gender. To give a more concise answer, I feel there should be more attention given to or more interviews publicized with the great female composers out there that already exist and that may encourage more girls to get into the art.
There are some HUGE composers in the video game industry. I know they are seen as superstars over in parts of Asia, where people pay to see recitals of their scores. I believe the Final Fantasy series has a massive following, and obviously the Street Fighter 2 sound track was immense. A huge part of my childhood.
Nota have you heard the band “tokyo brass style?” so good. and it’s all women!
Amy, you nailed it! Your "clarinet or flute"-example is soo true! Over here (Netherlands) the women sing, and don't play instruments either.
I consider myself lucky to be in a ts/tp horn section with an amazing female sax player who has this huge blues tone and sound, that works so well with trumpet.
Awesome video, love it!!
So Many of my personal favorites in jazz are women, Nikki Parrott, Lisa Parrott, Chloe Feoranzo, Esperanza Spaulding, Marian McPartland, Bria Skonberg, you get the idea, the list is extensive. I'm glad to see you explain so effectively the sociological reasons behind this and why we can look forward to a greater participation of women in jazz. The ladies I have mentioned are So expressive and inspired in their playing, as are you Aimee. Thank you for this informative video.
You are a most excellent example of a woman who, from a very young age, was determined to follow her passion. Now you are inspiring other young women, I've no doubt. It makes me sad that so many schools have cut music programs to the bare bones, if they have a program at all. Music is a fundamental aspect of full human expression.
Hi Amy! I am a female trumpet player from South Africa. I love your music very much and you have a very special voice. Thank you for this video.
Great video, Aimee. I lost my wife of 41 years in December. She was one of the strong ones. I first saw her in a telephone company training course atop a pole. She was the first female foreman in NJ Bell. I said, "Who is that and I have to meet her." She also drag raced at Englishtown Raceway in NJ. Men either loved her or hated her. I was the luckiest man in the world to have loved her, and that she loved me back.
Hi Aimee, thanks for this video - in my home country of NZ, we had amazing support for girls at high school (I was super lucky) but I found that when I went through my jazz degree (tenor sax) the insidious sexism really got to me. So much so I stopped playing for quite a while after graduating and the idea of being a jobbing Sax player lost its appeal - though I never lost my drive to make music. I’m retraining as a composer now and looking at doing my masters at age 34. So many of us love music dearly as kids and teens and get knocked back and made to feel we “just can’t cut it”. I don’t think many guys I played with ever intended it to be a boys club, but we’ve got to all do our bit to invite everyone in!
I have a music professor, a great guy in his early 60's who's like an uncle to me, and he gave me a hard drive of music from many genres, mainly obscure 70's rock, blues and jazz, it's over 180Gb... And there aren't really female soloist in that whole hard drive except for Joni Mitchell and one or two other avant garde artists... Which astonished me, because he isn't a sexist to any degree, this is just his personal music library, not does he fawn over the swing queens like Vaughn and Fitzgerald. But it was still so crazy to think he gave me a massive library of musicians and artists to look up to and there wasn't really anyone I could truly relate to.
I'm also the one of very few girls in my music college and one of three female instrumentalists, the rest are all singers. And, I do get more vocal gigs than piano gigs... Which was a hard thing for me to put into context, because once there's another female on stage I was always told to step down so that people "won't compare us". This video is so uplifting though, you've been such an inspiration to me over the last few years - thank you 😁 I'm proud to be part of the 15%!
This is an incredibly important video and topic! I am a female classical guitarist, and I've noticed many of the same things in the classical guitar world in regards to gender as you spelled out for the jazz world. It's extremely male-dominated and focuses on machismo playing, teaching, and performing. Yes, it's getting better, but we still have a long way to go. Thanks for talking about this, Aimee!
Woman here!!!! Yess I'm going into my second year in college, I perform a lot and attend our school master classes, and I'm usually the only girl there unless the girl is a singer, or it's a singing master class, I've felt the SAME EXACT WAY, thank you for posting this Aimee and thank you for all your advice.
Hey, Aimee! I´ve been singing jazz professionally for about 3 years, but enough time to be surprised at the incredible small number of female musicians in my city ( and country, Brazil). That motivated me to form a ladies band, a quartet, and we´ve been working to change this scenario here. We´ve been taking part in festivals of relevance all over the state, so your words just bring more fuel to our ideas and project. Thanks for sharing all this with us!
Way to go, Mary!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼
I'm the only female in my jazz combo. This is years after college.
I was one of like, two girls in middle school and one of the only ones who kept playing jazz. Don't get me started on having to be the "leader".
We recently had a reunion show. I'm happy. Everything you said in this video is soooooo accurate.
Hi Aimee, thanks for this wonderful video. I can relate to your trombone story. From age 11 I was desperate to learn the saxophone and my parents steered me towards the violin. It hadn’t occurred to me at that age that the sax was not an appropriate instrument for a girl, as my inspiration was one of the greatest female sax players of all time: Lisa Simpson.
I’m 32 now and after years of half arsed classical training I’m finally starting to learn jazz. Channels like yours really help! It’s important to see women out there killing it (even if they are yellow and fictional) and I will check out those artists you mentioned. Regina Carter is a great jazz violinist but I’m sure you know of her. Thanks for the great content! Xx
There are a good number of killer female jazz players here in Kalamazoo, most of them by way of Western Michigan University's rather solid jazz program.. I used to be shocked by that, and then ultimately I was horrified that such a thing should be at all shocking. I've had the pleasure to work with a few of them on some local gigs and I'm really glad I had the experience. It was an eye-opener to the whole patriarchy-in-music thing for me.
@Aimee Thank you for posting this up as a reminder that we do have some influence to help make things better. I am a father of two girls and this is something I am trying to do my part as well to help them appreciate all aspect with a breath of perspective. Thank you for doing what you do musically.
As a jazz female musician, I totally relate to this video. My main instrument is the piano, but I have always been IN LOVE with percussion instruments since I was a very little girl (specially drums). Despite this, I could never admit it because of what the society taught me; I was completely afraid of playing a "boy's instrument" and being judged by everybody. Now i'm 19 years old, and a few months ago I finally decided to buy a kit and start learning drums. You can't imagine how happy I feel with myself.
It's so necessary that every woman feels comfortable and supported with any career decision! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences. These feminist actions help a lot with the society's change, and little by little we may have a better world!
Congrats on the kit, Laura. Go git em. 👊🏼😉
@@AimeeNolte thank you Amy 🔥🎶
Fantastic!
We need more women and female energy in the world
A list of those women instrumentalists for those interested in checking them out
Lil Harden - Piano
Hazel Scott - Piano
Marian McPartland - Piano
Melba Liston - Trombone
Mary Lou Williams - Piano
Marjorie Hyams - Vibes
Peggie Gilbert - Bandleader & Tenor Sax
Clora Bryant - Trumpet
Roz Cron - Alto Sax
Alice Coltrane - Pictured w/ Harp
Geri Allen - Piano
Carla Bley - Piano
Maria Schneider - Bandleader
Terri Lyne Carrington - Drums
Ingrid Jensen - Trumpet
Esperanza Spalding - Bass & Voice
and of course..
Aimee Nolte - Piano
Another one to toss in my two cents because they were fantastic when I saw them live
Anat Cohen - Clarinet
Tia Fuller - Alto Sax
The future is female!
Great list. I'll add Hiromi Uehara if you're into fusiony stuff.
Thanks so much for spreading awareness about this topic. I am an avid jazz listener and jazz photographer, and I'm always disappointed by the number of women playing (usually none). Despite religiously watching your videos, as well as all of the other jazz teachers on youtube, I myself (a woman) don't play jazz... I never had the opportunity to learn and have zero confidence to start! I hope more women become part of the jazz scene as time goes on.
Well formulated Aimee and with solutions. I ( a guy) grew up playing with girls from the beginning
up through my 64 years playing and have always thought this is how it is. Your history of how you felt
in middle school and almost dropping out of music is very illuminating to me.
I work in a music instrumental store and I can not tell you how many times I hear that phrase,”Girls don’t play such and such” and I literally have correct them. It infuriates me when parent play that card. I literally start to list all the killin’ female musicians and who the work with. I use Beyoncé’s all female band as the prime example on Women can play whatever they want.
Keep it up. Sheeze. Crazy.
Interestingly, when I was in high school (I'm 29 now so mid 2000s) a pretty large percentage of the members of the school jazz band were female, 2 of my close friends played sax and trumpet, and there were several other girls playing brass instruments, so hopefully things really are changing
I've always encouraged my daughter as she's growing up. She's 17 now and 2 years into learning to play drums. She loves Jazz, and enjoys playing classic rock. Today we spent 18 minutes or so listening to Coltrane "My Favorite Things". Our kids need to follow their passions and be encouraged to do so.
What a powerful video, Aimee! I'm an elementary music teacher and teach private lessons on several instruments and this is something that I care deeply about. My private students range from 7-19 years old, but my female guitar and trumpet students are some of my favorites because they truly love their instruments and it brings them so much joy despite the gender stereotypes in music. I had a 5th grade girl on trombone for the last 2 years in my school band and could see she was a little anxious (likely for reasons you mentioned here), but gave her frequent reminders of how successful she's become and not to give up or switch to another instrument that's more "girly."
I'm very fortunate to have some wonderful female musicians in my life - I met my wife in high school band (she played trombone, bass clarinet, and bass guitar) and I'm in a soul band with an incredible frontman who's one of my best friends from college.
Lastly, thanks for you all you do! You're such an inspiration and I'm currently working through your "Extreme 2-5-1 Workout" in all 12 keys on guitar. Keep up the good work and lots of love to you!
I have always related to this. Your basketball story reminds me of my own experience. Once at summer camp, the boys were playing volleyball and the girls were standing around in a circle talking. I knew some of the boys already from outside of camp, so I would spend time with them. One of the girls came over, pulled me into the group and said "you belong over here." They then proceeded to ignore me, despite insisting I be with them. I ended up sneaking back to hang out with the boys I knew.
❤️
Hello from one of your female followers!! My husband and I are both jazz musicians and we talk about this issue all the time. We are both educators too, so your take on this and advice on this issue is so helpful. Thanks for being so honest & open about it.
Excellent words of wisdom. I was saved by music and art throughout my formative years, along with the support of my mom (who was an accomplished piano, trombone, and viola player). I was lucky enough to have had a wonderful high school jazz band director that encouraged boys and girls equally. I went from playing Alto sax to guitar, and finally to piano.
Fantastic message, Aimee. You're fantastic! Keep going!
This is so important. We always supported our kids in music and anything else they were interested in. Our piano never sat idle for a whole day. Our oldest is studying Computer Science at BYU, your alma mater, and has chosen to let her musical talents enrich her life a hobby. Her sister just received her Masters degree in Film Music Composition from an eastern school and moved in with her sister in UT while she prepares to move to CA to break into an industry where the first major motion picture with a female composer was released just this year.
Joan Chamorro (Joan is a guy in Barcelona) working with young people. Andrea Motis (jazz vocalist, trumpet & Sax) is an international super star.
Thomas A. Torr ... yes, really amazing work...meditaçao with Andrea Motis on vocals and trumpet,, Triste with 4 young female top notch vocalists...
And Elia Bastida, Rita Payes... Alba armegou.
Really good video! I am happy that you're talking about this. I'm not a feminist at all, but because I'm a musician I can also see there is less respect towards female instrumentalists when it comes to making a band, for example. Music is one field where I feel a bit of feminism is needed. I released my single recently and we were all girls working on it. Just had a small help on songs master by one guy, but the mix of the song was done by a girl. I was on my own at first and I had to find someone who would play drums and bass for my song, because I play guitar and sing, and I don't have a band. I didn't feel mentaly strong enough to ask guys, because in my previous experiences I felt I had to earn respect from them. I really randomly remembered that wait... I have two girl friends who play pretty good and I asked them to play with me. It was so easy to work with them. None of us had ego problems while playing how it usually is with guys. :D In each country it's also different and in each music genre. I feel that jazz musicians are more respectful towards females, but they still are ignored a lot. Of course, I'm not playing jazz now, but it really insipres me. I like to listen to Alice Coltrane. If anyone is interested you can check out what girls in age of 18-21 have made. Here's our song : th-cam.com/video/a-wmSXJgxkA/w-d-xo.html
This is amazing! Thanks! It seems like it's not talked about enough. I would have never imagined that I was only part of 14% wacthing your channel. That's crazy! We definitely have to raise those numbers.
Fun story: I started band on the flute (thought it was too square and quit to go play hip rhythm section shit, but that's another story...) and was 1 of 2 boys in a 10-piece section. Similar ratio in the clarinet section, then pretty much the inverse for brass and percussion.
I think another issue is girls aren't encouraged or criticized the same way boys are: I became a pro in no small part because my teachers saw something in me and kicked my ass to keep exploring new concepts and keep my sights on greater heights. I very rarely noticed anyone pushing my female peers the same way, at least in music...
In addition to your amazing musical talent, I think you'd be a fantastic narrator in books, movies, and TV shows! You have a very relaxing and soothing voice.
Rick Williams I fully Agree, this is a valuable educational TED talk!
Someday if I ever have a daughter, I will make sure she plays the instrument she wants to play. If she doesn’t like music, I will probably cry inside, but I’ll support that too!
You brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for this...reminder
I hear you sister. I love singing jazz and haven't looked back since..
I also resonate with your experiences. I don't dumb myself down for anyone anymore.
This is such an important video. I never really thought about this because I go to an all boys school. But thanks for opening my eyes.
Thanks for sharing this, Aimee. It's been 40 years since I played drums in my high school jazz band, but I'll mention the (too few) girls who played in the band. Cathy, on trumpet; Hannah, on alto sax; Laura, on piano, and vocals as well. I'll never forget them, and I was happy to be playing along side them. Hannah was completely obsessed with jazz, and knew all the jazz drummers. I didn't even know who Max Roach was, which, justifiably, blew her mind :)
Thank you for highlighting this very important issue. I have two grown up daughters. They played guitar drums and piano when they were young. When they hit teens it was hard to walk the line between encouraging them and pressurising them to do it. I didn't want them to resent practicing. I find it sad when I hear 'my parents sent me to piano lessons and I hated it'. I hope my girls come back to it someday because they remember how much they enjoyed it and not just another class they had to do. On the other hand I sometimes wonder if I should have been firmer with them. Who knows? 😕
Ok run don't walk to check out The Sant Andreu Jazz Band from Barcelona Perhaps type in {Alba Armengou (Triste)} as an introduction. Now 3 of those 4 teenage singers performing those close harmonies are really very good instrumentalists . Type in Andrea Motis or Joan Chamorro director of Jazz Studies at that school he's doing jazz education right.
Awesome video Aimee. I will share this eith my 9 yo niece. Another amazing musician and the Godmother of rock and roll, sister Rosetta Tharpe!
I’ve been thinking so much about this lately, so interesting that you happen to post this video!! I’m a 17 year old girl, working towards playing jazz piano in college. You are such an inspiration. I’m so glad I saw this.
hi Aimee! I’ve been watching your videos for some time now, and I’m really glad you pointed this out. This has been on my mind for a LONG time ever since I started jazz, and im glad that patriarchy in jazz is getting more light shed on. I remember the first time I played with a jazz ensemble, it was predominantly male and anytime I fluked up some guy always had to point it out. All females in music should definitely watch this, this has been real inspiring.
Such a great video! Really heartfelt and inspiring. As a a male guitarist I'm floored and a bit embarrassed by the disparate ratio of male to female guitarists, and the same is true for jazz instrumentalist. I think the situation is getting better, but slowly. (PS - I just started watching @Tina Jäckel channel, love her stuff!)
At my local jam session, it is incredible how many young girls take the bandstand and tear it up. So inspiring to see how things have changed since "back in my day"
@google owns you I want as many people as possible enjoying and participating in this art form and this tradition. Saying jazz is "developed to capacity" is so antithetical to the spirit of the genre...and music generally
Thank you for this video, and for your personal story in particular. I'm a guy in his 60s, and observed all the stuff you mentioned. Societal evolution is slow, so the more energy like yours that can raise awareness and fuel change, the better.
This is a wonderful glimpse at a side of Aimee that we've never seen before. Thank you for revealing it.
Thanks for sharing! As a female instrumentalist, I totally relate!
Thank u Aimee for saying what had
To be said. Have 2 three year old twin daughters. They love banging around the piano especially when listening to Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown stuff. Hope it’s a good sign. Kudos to you for being such a wonderful role model for young women. U can bet I’m going to send your video to everyone i know who take Carr of young aspiring women. Keep being an inspiration 😊!
Amy, YOU. ARE. AWESOME!!! Btw - one of my mentor teachers, Laurel Verissimo, was SO good at getting girls away from flute and clarinet and onto trumpet, baritone, tuba, and percussion. :D
At risk of being the contrarian here, maybe the jazz art form is one that inherently appeals to men more than women. These days most college courses have a greater proportion of women than men attending, except for a hand full such as in the STEM fields and also apparently jazz. Check out the article in The Atlantic entitled "Why men are the new college minority". Currently, the opportunities offered women are far greater than for men.
She even called herself a "tomboy", which means she knows a lot of her preferences are the same preferences which men gravitate to - admitting that men and women generally have a tendency to like different things.
I have to be honest, I don't listen to tons of artists regularly, but up until Djesse none of the few I did listen to were women. Jacob's introduced me to Becca Stevens and Maro and I listen to them all the time now. Also Laura Mvula on occasion, in proportion with the volume of JC collaboration I guess haha
You make an interesting point. I never saw this point of view. Not just because I'm a guy but when I was coming up as a young church musician it was normal for females to be part of the band not just the choir which was predominately women including my own mother in the choir. Traditionally Black Churches used such instruments: Drums, piano/organ, bass and guitar which is the root for all blues. It was pretty normal for ladies to play any of thee above mentioned except for bass and drums. However there were a few female drummers around my church district and they all were tough, good drummers, better than me cuz I was 11 back then.
I can bet you appreciate what Prince was doing. Throughout his career he featured various female musicians such as Sheila E, Rosie Gains, Rhonda Smith, Candy Dulfer, Wendy Melvion and Lisa Coleman.
You are so right. I have tried to find women in music who play instruments and there are a few, but not many. Carol Kaye was an early musician who played guitar, bass guitar. I have enjoyed listening to Terri Lyne Carrington and sent her an email which she replied thanking me. She is awesome on Eric Marienthal's Crossroads release. I also enjoy hearing Hannah Welton-Ford, Hillary Jones. There really should be more. There is a teenager named Mia Morris who plays bass guitar, drums and sings. She writes songs. She is only 14 or 15, but she is a talented young lady. Good post!
You DID light a fire under me, I will keep this in mind. I absolutely love Esperanza Spaulding. She was one of the first female bassist my music teachers tole me about in sixth grade about 7 years ago and I fell in love with upright bass ever since
I identify so much with your life story. I was the tomboy, basketball and guitar player. Always the odd one out! Now in my jazz program I see killer female instrumentalists dropping out of Jazz because of how suffocating and unwelcoming this environment can be. The world is missing out on some amazing musicians only because they happen to be female.
Totally agree, but I think it’s the problem we (women) are having in general in life. I play guitar, when I was studying in college I remember being the only one in class, then I studied sound design and post production, we were 4 women among 60 men in class. It wasn’t easy for me trying to confront in some way the “male thought” that I wasn’t good enough as them. For many years I stopped playing guitar and begun studying piano. Now I decided I wanted to play again, and it’s what i am traying to do but now I have 2 little kids (maybe too late) I do it whenever I can(when they sleep usually) because it is what I love, but really very difficult for a woman to play and be mother of little children at the same time 🤦♀️ 💪🏻 You are awesome, I wish I had a teacher like you when I was younger! Sorry for my english, I’m from Argentina.
My daughter dropped the violin like a hot potato in high school and has never touched it since despite my cajoling. Broke my heart. My son is now teaching himself piano. I had three brothers growing up none of whom showed any interest in music. Me? I played everything I could get my hands on and joined every chorus. People are different, that's ok, we need to be ok with that. There are activities that are densely populated by women, (veterinarians & educators) and that's ok too. I'm all for equal opportunity everywhere, and encouragement, but I'm also ok with outcomes not being equal. Just sayin'. Peace & above all - harmony.
I'm a trumpet player in a 17 piece all female jazz big band and also in the all female jazz quintet/sextet formed in 2002 in Buffalo, NY. We trace our history back to the all female big bands formed during the WWII era. We had one of these WWII era jazz band women in our band until she passed away several years ago. She was a phenomenal alto sax player. We always include this history in our shows, especially in March during women's history month.
Amy, my daughter is going into 6th grade at an arts magnet school. She's talented and beautiful and I am so grateful for your balanced message here.
Thank you Aimee (my sister) for speaking Truth!
Thank you. This video was so thoughtful and insightful. I started out playing the flute in middle school, but always wanted to play the drums. It's so weird that musical instruments are almost gendered, but it happens. Thanks for bringing awareness to this.
Hey a female jazz drumer here!!!!!!!🙌
It’s nice to know that there are so many people that is same as me ☺️🥰
This is brilliant, Aimee. I'm sending the link to my daughter to share with her girls who are at just that important, formative stage. One did play trombone in school for a year! She's since gone on to other interests; I'm determined to not be disappointed, lol. As long as she finds her passion and has every opportunity and encouragement to pursue it, it's all good.
BTW, for what it's worth I've known some Piphers over the years and they've all pronounced their name like "pie-fer".
I can’t remember saying that last name. This video was awhile ago…I have a friend named Paul Pieper. Was that the name I mentioned? Anyway thanks for your sweet comment. ♥️
I love this video - so powerful. I was so happy yesterday that my 3 year old daughter started asking "is this middle C?" on one of my keyboards. It was! I'm definitely going to encourage her growing up to pursue her passions - no matter what they are.
My greatest memories being in a couple marching bands and pep bands was the three women who played mallet percussion with me. They were much better musicians than I was, but I absorbed so much from them.
If anyone hasn't ever seen them, I'd recommend checking out the Kyoto Tachibana SHS Band (Japanese high school marching band - 90%+ female) are one of the best in the world. I know it's not strict jazz related, but close enough? :)
So much to write, but it all comes down to two little words. As a musician and as a dad I'd like to write....thank you. Thank you for taking the time to share your history and insights.
I for one, am appreciative of that influence...Music is my medicine and I am thankful for all the Ladies and Gentelmen who precede me! Including Dolly, Patsy, the Carter family, Aimee and so many more! Thank you for your contributions to the world of Music! Love your channel Aimee!
This was so awesome. Got me right in the feels. This makes a difference when people get this kind of ideas in their heads. The numbers will go up because of info like this. Thank you.
Thank you so much for making this video. Looking forward to checking out your Spotify playlist of women in jazz. I know you are inspiring up and coming young female musicians everywhere.
Great video, Amy. My favorite composer is Carla Bley, although I doubt anyone would deny her amazing talent and hard work. Let's not forget people like Sandra Sherman, a fellow You-Tuber who does really nice chord melody arrangements - fellow jazzers helping us (non hall-of-famers) all appreciate and partake in this art form.
I will second everyone who mentioned Joan Chamorro from Barcelona and all the female (and male) young people who have been through his program--as well as those currently in the program, the 'Sant Andreu Jazz Band'. I will name a few: Andrea Motis--currently with 6 CDs out, just back from her recent gig in NYC-her group played 'Dizzy's Coca Cola'. She sings and plays both trumpet and sax. Eva Fernandez, Rita Payes on trombone and vocals-currently gigging with a unique back up band-her Mom on classical guitar, Magali Datzira, one great bass player, Abril Sauri, who can play bossa on drums while singing. She doubles on trumpet and is now singing blues Currently in the band: Alba Armengou on vocals, trumpet and alto, Alba Estafan on vocals and clarinet and bari , Elia Bastida on vocals, violin and tenor sax, Joana Casanova on vocals and alto.
This band is very well represented on TH-cam with very well mixed and listenable numbers. Have fun listening and, if you can get to Barcelona to hear them live, I envy you!
as a young jazz musician, i really appreciate this video. i play clarinet in band (not bc its “girly,” just cause i wanted to when given the choice) and alto sax in jazz band. i was in the middle school jazz band which pretty much held an equal proportion to girls and boys. now going to hs, the population of girls is lower. in middle school i was the only female soloist, and at my improv camp, out of my group of 20 kids, 3 were girls including me. please, lets raise the level of girls in jazz. it’s not super cool at my school and i’m the only girl doing it in my grade, but i love it and hope that all girls interested take part.
Keep it up, Emma! Thanks for sharing.
I played trumpet and my older sister played trombone. I was usually first chair (am female) so I got the solos. She was also first chair but trombones don't get solos. ;-) I realized as an adult (after suffering from crippling performance anxiety) that my passion is composition and theory, so now I compose/produce (and my anxiety has improved). Thank you for your videos.
This is important stuff! Thanks for bringing it up.
i’m so happy i found your channel
Thank you for bringing up this particular issue. It tends to be a very sensitive and political topic, but it is a very necessary one to talk about and you nailed it perfectly. Your teachings on music are incredibly clear and usefull, and now you're teaching us something that, although is related to music goes way beyond its realm. Again, thank you very for all your lessons. I very much apreciate and admire what you do.
So great. Thnx. Recently got hold of The Girls in the Band (dvd) and the docs on the Sweethearts. Spalding, Gerri Allen, Terri Lynn, Andrea Motis (the Barcelona school), and of course Carol Kaye ( backed Hampton Hawes in the 80s).
Precisely why I love you Aimee!!! You make the world a better place. Two of my other favorite jazz pianists are women, Beegie Adair, and Takana Miyamoto. I have been fortunate to meet both of them. Both are on TH-cam.
I feel like boys experience the same dissuasive pressures in to gender-stereotyped roles. They aren't pushed away from jazz, but are pushed away from other things that girls aren't.
Not sure if the "pushing away" is as strong as it is in girls, or covers as many disciplines/activities, but it is definitely there.
Loved that solo