My name is Mary: I am a jazz singer and PhD candidate in Jazz Research. I sing and write to celebrate jazzwomen of the past and of the present

“I’m fighting for the freedom of jazz and for the freedom people hear in it”.

“When I started out, I had the wish, the need, to compete with men. But I don’t feel that way anymore. I take pride in being a woman”.

“I don’t think I’m singing. I feel like I’m playing a horn. I try to improvise like Les Young, like Louis Armstrong or someone else I admire. What comes out is what I feel. I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That’s all I know”.

“In a sense, you weren’t really looked upon as a musician, especially in clubs. There was more interest in what you were going to wear or how your hair was fixed – they just wanted you to look attractive, ultra-feminine, largely because you were doing something they didn’t consider feminine”.