To the women who gave jazz its voice
30 April – International Jazz Day
“Jazz has always been about bringing people together, breaking barriers, and inspiring creativity across cultures. International Jazz Day reminds us that music has the power to transcend borders, foster dialogue, and spark joy and hope.”
— Herbie Hancock
Every year, on 30 April, the world celebrates International Jazz Day, a global event established by UNESCO in 2011 at the initiative of pianist, composer, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock. More than simply a day dedicated to a musical genre, International Jazz Day was created to promote jazz as a universal language of dialogue, freedom, creativity, and peace—one capable of bringing together people from different cultures, traditions, and countries.
Since then, concerts, masterclasses, talks, jam sessions, and educational initiatives have taken place every year in more than 190 countries, reminding us that jazz remains a living, ever-evolving music capable of building bridges where borders too often exist.
Whenever this day comes around, I find myself smiling.
I don’t think only about the major concerts held around the world or the most celebrated names in jazz history. I think, above all, about the people this music has brought into my life over the past few years: musicians, researchers, teachers, students, festival organizers, and passionate listeners. I think about conversations over coffee during my fieldwork, jam sessions that lasted until the early hours of the morning, hugs after concerts, and friendships built through a shared passion.
Perhaps this is jazz’s greatest lesson: its extraordinary ability to bring people together.
And, in my own small way, that is exactly what I hope to do through Le Jazziste by Mary.
Photo caption: Dee Dee Bridgewater, James Carter and Gregory Porter perform Ramsey Lewis’ “The In Crowd” during the International Jazz Day Global Concert in Chicago — © Steve Mundinger
(jazzday.com)
But this is not the whole story
When we think about the history of jazz, the first names that usually come to mind are always the same.
Louis Armstrong, who revolutionized the language of improvisation and transformed the role of the soloist.
Duke Ellington, the visionary composer who brought jazz into the world’s great concert halls while remaining deeply connected to its African American roots.
Charlie Parker, the father of bebop and one of the leading figures behind one of the greatest musical revolutions of the twentieth century.
Dizzy Gillespie, an unstoppable innovator who built bridges between African American jazz and Afro-Cuban music.
Miles Davis, who reinvented jazz time and time again throughout his extraordinary career.
John Coltrane, who transformed improvisation into an unprecedented musical and spiritual journey.
These are indispensable musicians, and without their contributions jazz would not be the music we know today.
But fortunately, this is not the whole story!
Alongside these musicians exists an equally extraordinary universe, populated by women who made fundamental contributions to the history of jazz and who, far too often, still occupy only a marginal place in books, educational programmes, and the collective imagination.
It was precisely this realization that gave birth to Le Jazziste by Mary.
Over the past months, I have had the privilege of telling some of their stories.
Like that of Mary Lou Williams, one of the greatest pianists, composers, and arrangers of the twentieth century. A musician who successfully navigated swing, bebop, and modern jazz, becoming a mentor and source of inspiration for artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Bud Powell. Yet even today, her name is mentioned far less often than it deserves.
I have also written about Marian McPartland, the extraordinary British pianist who not only built a remarkable artistic career in the United States but also introduced millions of listeners to jazz through her legendary radio programme Piano Jazz, becoming one of the music’s greatest communicators.
Then there is Lorez Alexandria, one of the finest voices in vocal jazz. Her elegance, the effortless way she moved between blues, gospel, and swing, and her remarkable musicality continue to captivate anyone discovering her for the first time.
And Dottie Dodgion, drummer and singer, who challenged the stereotypes of an era in which seeing a woman behind a drum kit was almost unimaginable. Through determination and talent, she paved the way for generations of female musicians.
Finally, Alice Coltrane, who expanded the boundaries of jazz by weaving together spirituality, philosophy, and world music into a deeply personal musical language that remains strikingly contemporary.
These are just a few of the remarkable women featured in Le Jazziste by Mary.
And every time I immerse myself in their lives, I realize that my goal is not simply to tell the stories of women musicians.
It is, in my own small way, to help rebuild a history of jazz that is richer, more inclusive, and ultimately closer to reality.
Because this is not about adding women to an already existing history.
It is about recognizing that they have always been part of that history.
The American all-female jazz ensemble Artemis
A project that continues to grow
Over the past months, Le Jazziste by Mary has grown alongside me. It has grown through my PhD research on Italian jazzwomen, through my travels, festivals, interviews, encounters, and countless hours spent listening to and discovering the music of extraordinary women in jazz.
But it has also grown through music itself.
Because beyond writing about these artists, I feel the need to engage with their legacy through my own voice.
As a jazz singer, I have chosen to pay tribute to some of them by performing songs that are deeply meaningful to me: These Foolish Things, inspired by Sarah Vaughan’s unforgettable interpretation, as well as I’m a Woman, Corcovado, Willow Weep for Me, Autumn in New York, Darn That Dream, and many other standards that have become part of my own musical journey.
For me, research and performance are not separate worlds.
They are two different—yet complementary—ways of listening to and telling the same story.
Click on the image below to listen to some of my musical tributes:
Every new article, every new discovery, and every new performance represents, for me, another small step in the same direction: continuing to tell the stories of the women who have given—and continue to give—jazz its voice.
These are the women of jazz. These are Le Jazziste.
With kindness and swing,
Happy International Jazz Day!
Mary 🌹
