Women in Jazz

Introduction

Welcome to Harlem, New York City! It is the 1930s and the Great Depression holds its grasp tightly around the US. Imagine you were a female musician in an up and coming jazz band at that time. The band is called "Blue Ivy" and you regularily rock the dance floors. You would do what you love and what you are great at, but still your male band leader would get most of the attention from the audience. Wouldn't that be frustrating?

In this webquest, you shall explore the world of women in jazz. Female musicians have contributed - and still contribute - a great deal to the jazz movement. But as in other professions, it has never been easy for women to gain as much recognition in jazz as men, although they are equally talented:

"Women have participated on every instrument, in every style, and in every era of jazz history. Yet, with the notable exception of singers and a number of pianists, female jazz musicians have been continuously overlooked in the most prestigious areas of jazz practice, marketing, and documentation." New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, p. 978

You will learn about the most important female jazz musicians and how their music influenced the developments concerning gender equality in the US. And afterwards, you shall come up with a plan on how to outshine your less talented band leader.

Task

The idea of this webquest is to give you an overview of women's contribution to jazz music and an understanding of the problems they have encountered on their way to recognition.

 

As a female member of the group "Blue Ivy" you experience everyday that your male band colleagues earn better money and more attention than you. This is quite unfair, but unfortunately, this imbalance won't resolve itself until the 21st century. Therefore, you will be travelling in time through the centuries and see how women have made their way in the jazz movement.

You can work alone or in groups of three to four pupils. Using the links provided, you shall research historical facts, social issues and modern aspects of women in jazz. Some tasks will be individual and some group work. At the end, you shall come up with a presentation or poster to show your findings to the class. This way, you will have gained a deeper understanding of what it meant to be a female jazz musician in the band "Blue Ivy". Don't forget to think of ideas to outshine your male colleagues!

Process

Being a woman

Before you start your journey through the web, take a moment to think about your role in the band "Blue Ivy". How would you feel, if you earned less than your male colleagues? What would it be like, if nobody believed in your skills because you are a woman?

Write down some of your thoughts and then read through this article on Gender Roles and this one on Women's Liberation. Please take notes on the following aspects and compare them to your previous thoughts:

  • What was the role of women in society during the Great Depression?
  • How did jazz help women gain more freedom in everyday life?
  • "Jazz music provided females of all ages with an outlet for rebellion." - Comment on this statement and link your ideas to the role of women during the Great Depression.

You also know that it took a long time for women to gain equal rights and that there is still a lot of inequality going on in today's world.

Times are changing

Now that you have learned about the role of the woman during the Great Depression, let's enter our time machine and travel trough the years to discover how history went on. Please scan this time line on women in jazz and take notes on each period. Limit yourself to 3 points per period.

  • 1800 - 1920s
  • Great Depression
  • World War II
  • Postwar
  • 1960s & 1970s
  • 1980s - Present

Congratulations! You are back from your journey through time and have gained an impressive overview of what women in jazz did during the 20th and 21st century.

Women can do it, too!

To further show you that women played a big part in the jazz movement, please read this article from the Chicago Tribune and answer the following questions:

  • What was the typical part of a female musician in a jazz band?
  • Who were the most influential female artists over time?
  • Why is there still the need for women's jazz festivals?

Role models

You see, there was a lot of influence on the development of jazz by all kinds of female musicians, not only vocalists. Of course, as a member of the band "Blue Ivy", you have your personal favourite female jazz musician, your role model. Please choose one female jazz artist, known or unknown, and write a short essay on their life and achievments. You can use these sources to pick one and gain more information on their lives: Jazz Profiles from NPR, Rocking the Cradle of Jazz, The ten best female jazz vocalists of all times.

Presentation

You have gathered a lot of information and material on women in jazz now. Please combine what you have found to a presentation or poster, whatever suits you best. This presentation should at least contain some general facts about the role of women through the years and how jazz affected this development. Furthermore, include your short essay on one female jazz musician and don't forget to come up with some ideas on how to outshine your male band colleagues of "Blue Ivy".

Evaluation

You will be graded according to the quality of your presentation or poster respectively. Please use the following matrix as your guideline:

 

++

+

-

- -

Total score

Following instructions

The pupil has followed the instructions thoroughly and in the correct order. There were no difficulties in terms of understanding.

The pupil has mostly followed the instructions and has covered most of the tasks. Some difficulties occurred concerning understanding.

The pupil has not completely followed the instructions, but there is still some structure visible in his/her work. A lot of difficulties occurred concerning understanding.

The pupil has not followed the instructions at all and his/her work is without structure. Severe difficulties occurred concerning understanding.

 

Quality of information

All crucial and additional information has been found and clearly structured. The pupil has shown a thorough understanding of the subject.

All crucial information has been found and brought into a comprehensible structure. The pupil has shown a good understanding of the subject.

Some information is missing to complete the whole picture. Additionally, it is lacking structure and the pupils has shown some difficulties in handling the subject.

The necessary information has not been found. There is no structure and the pupils has clearly no knowledge of his/her subject.

 

Presentation / poster

The presentation / poster is well structured. All important information can be found and the project is easily accessible. The use of media is well balanced.

The presentation / poster lacks structure, but presents all important information. The use of media is slightly unbalanced.

The presentation / poster is without clear structure and important information is missing. The use of media is unbalanced.

The presentation / poster has got no structure at all and almost all important information is missing. The use of media is badly organised or non-existent.

 

 

Conclusion

Well done!

You have by now gained a good overview of what it felt like to be a female jazz musician through the years. And you sure have noticed that it wasn't easy at all. Women had to struggle their whole lives to be recognised as equal to men. Nevertheless, they have achieved great things concerning jazz music. Just listen to this collaboration of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong and you will finally be convinced! I hope your little journey has helped you appreciate the genre of jazz and has changed your view on the difficulties of being a woman.

Credits
Teacher Page

Dear teachers,

this webquest was designed as part of a set of subject-linking lessons called "Diversity and Jazz". The subjects involved are Music and English. The pupils shall gain indepth knowledge of the historical and cultural developments concerning jazz and the US American society. The quest is designed for non-native speaking tenth-graders, according to the curriculum in place. Of course, this project may be adapted to individual needs and/or native speakers.

My webquest "Women in Jazz" opens up another branch of diversity, with the other projects on this blog covering foremostly slavery and black culture. The pupils take the perspective of a female jazz musician in a band in the 1930s. This way, they are guided to uncover the problems female jazz musicians had to deal with - then and now.

The aims of this lesson were chosen in accordance to the Saxon curriculum (2004, p. 26, 28).

  • The pupils can work by themselves and follow instructions.
  • The pupils can independently search for relevant facts on webpages.
  • The pupils can scan a text for important information.
  • The pupils can reformulate found information into a presentation or a poster.
  • The pupils know about the historical developments concerning women in jazz.
  • The pupils negotiate the troubles of being a woman in men's business - with themselves and the class.
  • The pupils gain intercultural competences by looking at the developments that formed modern US society.
  • The pupils rethink their view on stereotypes and ethnic relations and form their own opinion on the topic.

I would advise you to talk about the role of women in general in class first. This way, you sensitise your pupils for the more controversial issues to come. Also, please use the other projects on this blog to give them an idea of what jazz is and which developments led to its contemporary appearance.

Best regards,

Robert Knaute

Leipzig, Germany