Sigma Alpha Iota

PAN PIPES • WINTER 2018 • sai-national.org 10 By Kathi Bower Peterson I t can seem, if one glances back through its history, that jazz is a genre dominated by men — both performers and composers or arrangers seem to be mostly male. ey have been the icons that come to mind when the average person happens to think about who represents jazz. But they are not the entire story — if one is made aware and looks beyond the narrative that our male-centric society has dictated to us, the view changes. Although they have been faced with challenges and have had to fight against discriminatory expectations, women have always contributed to jazz, both as performers and as composers of the music. ey have and will continue to make contributions that are no less significant than the men of jazz. A closer look at a few of these composers can provide a glimpse of the depth and variety of their contributions. It is important to remember, however, that the women mentioned here are just a fraction of the female jazz composers who have made an impact on music in the United States. Mary Lou Williams (1910- 1981) was born in Atlanta, but moved with her family to Pittsburgh when still a small child. It was there, in the neighborhood of East Liberty, that her musical gis made an early appearance. Although she had had no formal musical training at that point and could not read music, she was able to play anything she heard on the piano. When she was as young as twelve years old, she helped support her family by playing at parties and accompanying jazz groups at clubs. She joined the black vaudeville circuit around that same time, touring with the show Buzzin' Harris and His Hits and Bits. A few years later, when Williams was traveling with various other bands, she saw one of the first women to become known in jazz not only as an instrumentalist but as a composer, Lovie Austin (1887-1972). In a club in Chicago, Austin, who composed and arranged for the Blues Serenaders, Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory, and others, was playing the piano with her le hand and writing music for the next act of the night with her other hand. Williams thought to herself, "I'm going to do that one day!" She went on to do just that. Some of her earliest works appeared when her then husband, saxophonist John Overton Williams, began playing with Andy Kirk's band, Clouds of Joy, in the 1920s. She had become familiar with the abilities of each band member, and began writing solos for the non-improvising players. Because she still couldn't read music, someone else had to write it down as she demonstrated it on the piano. With Andy Kirk's help, she learned the basics of music theory, and eventually joined the band officially in 1931 as its full-time pianist. She began regularly composing and arranging music for Clouds of Joy, as well as for other musicians such as Benny Goodman, who even offered her a position as his exclusive arranger, and later as his pianist; however, she turned him down both times. Williams' music showed a variety of influences. For instance, "modern things" inspired her, as evident in her 1944 work "Eighth Avenue Express," a tribute to the subway line. She studied scores of composers such as Schoenberg, Hindemith, and Bartok, and wrote such "serious" music as her "Zodiac Suite," for chamber orchestra. Consisting of psychological portraits of different jazz musicians based on their astrological signs, this work puzzled reviewers, who were not used to hearing jazz performed in concert halls. Later on in her life, aer converting to Catholicism, her religious faith inspired her to compose two jazz masses. " And Now, the Queen " Women Jazz Composers in the U.S. Williams Akiyoshi WOMEN IN JAZZ

• Cover