A major disappointment from a well-known authority on jazz.Gourse
(Sassy: The Life of Sarah Vaughan, 1993, etc.) starts with a noble
premise: that women are becoming increasingly visible in
contemporary jazz, despite lingering prejudice against them as
performers, particularly as instrumentalists. However, this
hodge-podge, which appears to be assembled from old interviews,
barely does justice to the many fine female performers whom Gourse
hopes to celebrate. The book is divided into three sections. In the
first part, Gourse discusses the general status of women in jazz
today, jumping from player to player and anecdote to anecdote,
making for at best a jumbled narrative. In part two, she profiles
specific players; many of these chapters read like magazine
profiles or liner notes, some several years old, with updates
tacked on like Post-it notes. The final section is a catalog of
women performers, some profiled in the book, some not, serving as a
kind of mini-dictionary of jazz players. Despite the book's
pro-female stance, Gourse manages to repeat several old myths from
the male-dominated jazz press, including such whoppers as "few
women play jazz guitar because it takes such strength to play"
(based on two false assumptions: that women lack strength and that
it takes enormous effort to play a modern, amplified guitar). And
although Gourse is celebrating women as musicians who can compete
head-to-head with men, she insists on describing each performer's
physical attractions, as if this were a Miss Jazz America contest
("Men in the audience were particularly charmed by the slender,
attractive multi-instrumentalist who could also sing" is her
description of baritone saxophonist Carol Sudhalter; stride pianist
Judy Carmichael is described as "a slender woman with cascades of
blonde ringlets and a peaches-and-cream complexion"; even elder
stateswoman Marian McPartland is complimented on "her trim
figure"). Gourse fails the very women to whom she is attempting to
pay tribute. (Kirkus Reviews)
Nadine Jansen, a flugelhornist and pianist, remembers a night in
the 1940s when a man came out of the audience as she was playing
both instruments. "I hate to see a woman do that," he explained as
he hit the end of her horn, nearly chipping her tooth. Half a
century later, a big band named Diva made its debut in New York on
March 30, 1993, with Melissa Slocum on bass, Sue Terry on alto sax,
Lolly Bienenfeld on trombone, Sherrie Maricle on drums, and a host
of other first rate instrumentalists. The band made such a good
impression that it was immediately booked to play at Carnegie Hall
the following year. For those who had yet to notice, Diva signaled
the emergence of women musicians as a significant force in jazz.
Madame Jazz is a fascinating invitation to the inside world of
women in jazz. Ranging primarily from the late 1970s to today's
vanguard of performance jazz in New York City and on the West
Coast, it chronicles a crucial time of transition as women make the
leap from novelty acts regarded as second class citizens to
sought-out professionals admired and hired for their consummate
musicianship. Author Leslie Gourse surveys the scene in the jazz
clubs, the concert halls, the festivals, and the recording studios
from the musicians' point of view. She finds exciting progress on
all fronts, but also lingering discrimination. The growing success
of women instrumentalists has been a long time in coming, she
writes. Long after women became accepted as writers and, to a
lesser extent, as visual artists, women in music--classical, pop,
or jazz--faced the nearly insuperable barrier of chauvinism and the
still insidious force of tradition and habit that keeps most men
performing with the musicians they have always worked with, other
men.
Gourse provides dozens of captivating no-holds-barred interviews
with both rising stars and seasoned veterans. Here are
up-and-coming pianists Renee Rosnes and Rachel Z., trumpeter
Rebecca Coupe Frank, saxophonist Virginia Mayhew, bassist Tracy
Wormworth, and drummer Terri Lynne Carrington, and enduring legends
Dorothy Donegan, Marian McParland and Shirley Horne. Here, as well,
are conversations with three pioneering business women: agent and
producer Helen Keane, manager Linda Goldstein, and festival and
concert producer Cobi Narita. All of the women speak insightfully
about their inspiration and their commitment to pursuing the music
they love. They are also frank about the realities of life on the
road, and the extra dues women musicians pay in a tough and
competitive field where everybody pays dues. A separate chapter
offers a closer look at women musicians and the continual stress
confronting those who would combine love, marriage, and/or
motherhood with a life in music.
Madame Jazz is about the history that women jazz instrumentalists
are making now, as well as an inspiring preview of the even
brighter days ahead. It concludes with Frankie Nemko's lively
evaluation of the West Coast jazz scene, and appends the most
comprehensive list ever assembled of women currently playing
instruments professionally.
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