The Place of Female Vocalist in Jazz Band - Essay Example

The Place of Female Vocalist in Jazz Band The relationship between jazz music and the Black people has been strong over the years. Several standards agreeable to comprising the Jazz genre of music have been established. It is in this light that the females, especially the whites, have had a lot of troubles trying to carve out a niche for themselves in that sector. Do female journalists have a role in the jazz bands? That is a fundamental question that has elicited a lot of debates. Jazz music demands principles and experience that men can easily endure making it difficult for women to fit in hence difficult to secure a position in them. The primary role of women in jazz bands is for the aesthetic effect rather than provide vocals for the success of the band. Due to the serious and meditative mood created in a jazz performance, women come in to neutralize the effect by exposing the softer side of the situation (Toll 16). Most of the folks attending such events will be moved by the intricate steps and the general beauty of the women in the band (Lang 20). It is, therefore, difficult to ascertain whether the input from the women in bands will have any positive impacts on the audience. This dilemma arises since jazz music is supposed to inspire and motivate not merely arousing feelings of the listeners through the beauty of the women. The role of the girls in the bands is, therefore, not necessary. Most women have not familiarized themselves with the jazz culture hence they cannot bring out what is needed in a performance. Jazz is an area that has long standing culture. It relies on inspiration from the muses and not necessarily practice (toll 16). Some years back, the position of a woman in society was to revolve around the kitchen and her career. The females were note exposed to jazz music so as to be in a position to learn the unwritten rules of the genre. The strong women, who try their take at jazz, do so by practice. The result of practicing for a jazz performance will not be as compelling as that performance by one who has intrinsically learned the rules of the game through experience. Inspiration is the primary key in staging a great jazz concert. The other social factor that spelled out women from jazz bands was the fact that many men had tried to master the culture of jazz without success. The failure arises from the lack of understanding that jazz music is an uncultured form passed from one person to the other through inspiration (toll 16). Women of today cannot secure places in jazz bands since they copy other people’s material. According to toll, the women who performed in jazz bands and succeeded were original in their compositions (16). Artists such as Sophie Tucke and Helen Morgan use novel ways to communicate their messages. The fact that their presentations were unheard made the masses hooked to them (Dexter 4). Dealing with the problem of identity was difficult since even the ones that were to be copied were only a handful. Even so, the few women who had gained ground in the industry ended up being frustrated because they mostly dealt with men in the bands. The inability to cope with the pressure and completion ushered them out of jazz music. The other factor that kept the women out of jazz is that they were emotionally uninspired and uncultured in expressing mood (toll 4). As mentioned earlier jazz is not like a discipline that one sits down for days to master its principles. Most women focused on studying the laws of jazz leaving out the fundamental law of understanding the listeners’ mood and being inspired to play by the atmosphere in the room. The nice cultured voices that the ladies used did not lead to any musical satisfaction. The voices could only appeal to local groups who did not understand the basic pillars of jazz. Furthermore, organizing one’s performance into definite sequences only made the performance too predictable hence no inspiration. Another drawback that impedes women from actively participating in jazz bands is that they are good at back-stabbing. A point in the case is Billie Holiday, who took to the media to tarnish the name of his manager, Artie, because of payment disagreements (Dexter 4). The fact is that her arguments do not hold water since she revealed the information a year after their disagreement. More so, Artis confirmed that all the payments were settled. Such an incidence points to the fact that women who are disgruntled in jazz bands use unorthodox means to solve their qualms. Such careless means of solving issues leads to a taint in a band’s reputation which can result to collapse. Finally, failure of the public to respond to women vocalist has had a great toll on women vocalists. The conservative nature of most jazz lovers has made them connect easily with the male-dominated bands. Incorporating girls into such bands makes the listeners feel out of touch with the norm (Lang 20). This fact is unlikely to change soon since the issue of girls beautifying the stage is taking root. Most of the members of the audience will consider them as tools of admiration rather than inspiration. In conclusion, we find that the place of women in jazz bands is yet to be defined. Through factors such as culture, the listener’s attitude, and the female’s disposition, it has been hard for the ladies to make it in the jazz genre. I feel that instead of competing with the men to assert their relevance, the women should come up with their unique type of music that will still serve the same purpose as jazz does. Works Cited Toll, Ted. “The Gal Yippers Have No Place In Our Jazz Bands.” Down Beat 15 October 1939: 16. Lang, Don. “Chorines surprise Maestro Snoozing in Auto in lobby” Down Beat,1 November 1939: 20. Dexter, Dave, Jr. “I’ll Never Sing with a Dance Band Again—Holiday.” Down Beat 1 November 1939: 4. Read More