Australian Women who are Changing the Face of Jazz-New Series

Image: Pianist Jann Rutherford performing in Sydney in the 1990s. Photo copyright Joe Glaysher
Over the past decade the face of jazz in Australia has been changing, slowly but surely. While we are used to seeing women singers fronting bands, there have been few women playing the instruments we associate with jazz-trumpets, saxophones, pianos, basses. There have been even fewer women leading jazz ensembles. That is now changing. This new series focuses on young women who have been making their names as jazz instrumentalists in the past few years. All of them have participated in projects aimed explicitly at encouraging more young women to study jazz and make it a musical career. Most have been recipients of the prestigious Jann Rutherford Memorial Award. They are all changing the face of jazz.

One musician will be featured each week. Wewill hear them talk about how and why they started playing music, how they got into jazz, who and what has been important to them in deciding to make music a career, and what advice they would give to a young woman thinking about taking that path. And, of course, we will hear their music.

The series starts with the most recent recipient of the Jann Rutherford Award, pianist Emma Stephenson, and the music of her Hieronymus Trio. In the following weeks we will hear from drummer Jodie Michael, trumpeter Ellen Kirkwood, trombone player Alex Silver, saxophonist Loretta Palmeiro, and two bassists, Jess Dunn and Hannah James.

This series of twenty minute profiles, produced by Mick Paddon, is being broadcast each week from January 16th 2017 as part of the long-standing, hour-long show, Jazz Made in Australia which airs at 3.00 pm on Mondays, and which Mick is presenting until the end of March. Every profile will be uploaded as a podcast