From Jazz Manhood to Jazz Personhood

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From Jazz Manhood to Jazz Personhood

There has been a lot of talk online recently about jazz, gender, and sexuality. Musicologist Guthrie Ramsey, for example, gave us a historian’s take on what he calls “jazz manhood” in bebop and the career of pianist Bud Powell, and how this contributed to his own embarrassment as a boy playing the piano, which he loved, rather than the more masculine saxophone. Drummer Allison Miller wrote a moving essay on the challenges of being not only a woman, but also a lesbian, in the jazz world. Crooner Spencer Day discussed coming out, homophobia, the absence of gay voices in jazz, and how all of this has influenced his career, both creatively and commercially. And singer Michelle Shocked, long believed to be a lesbian herself, lashed out with an unfortunate, if predictable, homophobic rant during her recent appearance at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco.

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You don't know me... (Part 2)

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You don't know me... (Part 2)

In my last post, I wrote about how Sarah Vaughan was an intensely private woman leading a public life, and how she kept her fans, members of the press, and even, sometimes, her own family at a distance.

Since then, I’ve been thinking about why that was and how it influences my work as her biographer. Part of my job is to tease out the details of her life, provide a glimpse into the woman behind the scenes, the private Vaughan. But what does a biographer do when her subject doesn’t cooperate? How much do I extrapolate from the information I do have? In other words, how do I read an absence? And how do I respect my subject and her desire for privacy while satisfying the desires of readers in search of an intimate portrait of a performer they admire?

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It’s not you. It’s me.

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It’s not you. It’s me.

I’ve often wondered why we love the music that we love. Why does one performer captivate and excite us, while others simply fall flat?  This is a complex question. One that involves the artist’s mastery of her craft, stage persona, and creative vision, not to mention the nuts and bolts of the actual music performed. But more often than not, it boils down to an artist’s ability to move her listeners – to create emotional, very visceral responses to the music she performs.

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Why Sarah Vaughan?

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Why Sarah Vaughan?

I've always been intrigued by the paths people take en route to their life's work; how one passion leads to another then another until you have found what truly inspires and motivates you. For me, my interest in vocalists and women in jazz began with Sarah Vaughan. I guess you could say that she was my crossover moment. 

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Welcome to the Boys Club

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Welcome to the Boys Club

Years ago I sat in on an undergraduate jazz improvisation class. Week after week, a collection of non-majors stretched themselves as they learned the art of small ensemble jazz playing. On the whole, they had a lot of fun – listening, collaborating, and experimenting. But I was surprised by how quickly this group of novices adopted the cult of masculinity so prevalent in jazz.

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Welcome!!

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Welcome to Lady Be Bop, a blog on women in music and popular culture. All music is fair game here, but I’ll spend most of my time discussing jazz, in particular jazz vocalists. I love the great ladies of song: Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Anita O’Day, Nina Simone, and more recently the likes of Dee Dee Bridgewater and Dianne Reeves. And I’m fascinated by the music they created, the lives they lead, and the challenges they encountered along the way.

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