Jazz is a style of music that doesn’t have a huge following, but it was huge in its heyday in the 1920s. What a lot of people don’t know is that jazz opened doors for women. The music was a force in women’s liberation of the era. Women had begun to rebel, to be seen as individuals outside of their family. Jazz clubs and speakeasies gave women places that allowed more freedom in clothing and behavior than the rest of the rigid Victorian society. Jazz was the rebellious music for these young women in jazz, much like rock was in the 1950s.
Flappers or jazz babies, the young women in jazz who flouted convention, were a growing force in consumerism. Advertisers began to target these women who were making independent purchases of garments, cosmetics and music. Jazz music also opened doors to careers for women. “Showboat,” the first Broadway musical, was highly influenced by jazz. Women could have stage careers. Radio shows were quite popular, which were another avenue for women to find work. The advertising and consumer industries began to hire women as well.
Women in Jazz, Names to Know
Lil Hardin Armstrong – You might recognize the name Armstrong, as Lil was Louis Armstrong’s second wife, but she was a jazz musician in her own right. She played with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band at the Dreamland in Chicago, one of the hottest nightspots in the city. She was a composer and a tailor as well as a pianist.
Valaida Snow – Ms. Snow was often compared to Louis Armstrong. She was probably the world’s second-best jazz trumpet player after the master himself. But Snow could play nine other instruments at professional levels before she graduated high school. She was truly a music prodigy. During World War II, she was touring Denmark and was arrested by the Nazis. She would spend about a year in a Danish prison before her release in a prisoner exchange.
Mary Lou Williams – Williams taught herself to play piano and helped to support her family by playing at parties at the young age of six. Her public performances began one year later, and she would go on to create arrangements for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. She influenced many of the great jazz musicians, because her talent was extraordinary. Many considered her “one of the guys.” In the late 1970s, she was artist-in-residence at Duke University, teaching History of Jazz and directing the jazz ensemble.
Sweet Emma Barrett – Although Barrett didn’t gain recognition outside of New Orleans until the 1960s, she was well known in the Crescent City for her work with the Original Tuxedo Orchestra in the 1920s. She was self-taught on the piano, and she could sing. Glamour magazine featured her on the cover in the 1960s, and her music was popular internationally.
Vi Redd – Ms. Redd played the alto saxophone, and although she never had the notoriety of Williams or Barrett, she is an accomplished musician who performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. The Los Angeles Jazz Society recognized her success with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. Redd received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award in 2001.
Dolly Jones – As the first female trumpeter to be recorded, Jones influenced many of the greats of the jazz era. She taught Valaida Snow to play, toured with Lil Hardin Armstrong and worked with Josephine Baker.
Listen to Jazz Music
Pull up a playlist of old jazz music to appreciate what these women did in the music industry. Jazz was instrumental in opening doors for African-American women especially. These women are just a few of the greats who should be remembered for their contributions. Jazz is part of the fabric of the history of the United States, and we should know the women who helped today’s music greats find success.