Women in Jazz

The feminine side of Jazz. With "Sisters in Jazz", Cæcilie Norby, the grande dame of Scandinavian jazz brings together female musicians of several countries and generations: Rita Marcotulli (piano / IT), Nicole Johänntgen (sax / CH), Hildegunn Øiseth (tr, NO), Dorota Pietrowska (dr, PL) und Lisa Wulff (b, DE). Together they celebrate jazz- and song-classics by the likes of Betty Carter, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone or Abbey Lincoln alongside with original compositions by Cæcilie Norby.

lla Productions is proud to present Believe In Jazz, the first recording with Sheila Jordan and Serge Forté Trio. On November 8th 2003, during the 75th birthday Tour, this concert was recorded by Hubert Sewer, in charge of booking at “La Ferme Asile”, nice and warmly venue situated in Sion, Switzerland. She recorded her very first album, for Blue Note, in 1962, and was in January 2004 the recipient of the highest distinction for JazzWomen through Lil Hardin Armstrong Jazz Heritage Award ( IAJE Women’s Caucus annually honours a pioneering female jazz musician deserving of wider recognition for her artistic excellence and outstanding contributions to jazz and to the history of women in jazz).

Let us first salute the title, given by the publisher, and undoubtedly also by Jean-Paul Ricard and Jean Buzelin, co-responsible for this edition: Jazz Ladies, and not Women in Jazz as in the past, or even “girls » as was also the case. Not the “women” of jazz, a term that is used everywhere, but the “ladies”. We do say “ladies and gentlemen” after all. This time, the ladies are entitled to three CDs, one more than usual. The tenacity of Jean-Paul Ricard, a great specialist on the subject for years, collector of records and CDs, therefore produces its effect, and it is with pleasure and a certain amazement that we see the list of instrumentalists lengthening female who has practiced jazz. And again, the usual rights reasons limited the selection to the year 1962. We suspect that if we could go to the present day, we would need a good dozen cakes. Because, even if the figures do not seem to indicate a break in the famous “glass ceiling”, the presence of “ladies” is not weakening, and is even strengthening. Let us add that female singers are not included in this selection, except obviously the cases (not rare at all) of instrumentalists whom the producers pushed into singing, for financial reasons.

Nothing quite seems to help us through the hard knocks of romance like a heart-wrenching torch song. In the care of legendary songs stylists showcased on Great Women Of Jazz, twelve classic songs of heartache remind us all too vividly of the pain of failed relationships and the heartbreak of lost love. With such gems of musical history as Julie London’s breathy Cry Me A River, Billie Holiday’s classic rendition of Stormy Weather, and Nina Simone’s heartbreaking and bluesy Since I Fell For You, this collection is the quintessential soundtrack for love gone wrong.

In reggae women are in some way underrepresented, but in no way absent. This sampler gives you a glimpse in the female voices of most important reggae archive – Coxsone Dod's Studio One.

Rhino's five-disc box set Respect: A Century of Women in Music was surely assembled with the best of intentions, but it doesn't quite work. First of all, any collection that focuses solely on "the female contribution" comes off as a little condescending, no matter how good the intentions are. Still, the concept has enough weight to make for at least an interesting listen. However, any compilation that spans nearly 100 years and every conceivable popular musical genre is bound not only to be incomplete, but too sweeping to be totally effective. The scope is impressive, as are the featured artists – think of any major female musician and they're likely to be here, unless it's Joni Mitchell (Kim Gordon and Kim Deal are also missing, as are several other similarly minded post-punk rockers and various pop and folk singer/songwriters, but no omission is as shocking as Mitchell's) – but the overall effect is somewhat bewildering.