‘What would jazz sound like in a culture without patriarchy?’
It probably comes as no surprise in this day and age that there exists a place called the “Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice” at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.
The institute claims jazz “remains predominantly male due to a biased system,” which “impos[es] a significant toll on those who aspire to work in it.”
So its main page asks right under the title banner “What would jazz sound like in a culture without patriarchy?”
A recent study by the institute appears to confirm the assertion as it shows “male-identified jazz educators” outnumber “female-identified counterparts” by six to one. The latter group comprises just eight percent of instrumental jazz instructors, and only 15 percent of all jazz faculty.
Researcher Lara Pellegrinelli (pictured), an “ethnomusicologist” who received her PhD in music from Harvard and teaches at The New School, contributed to the study.
According to the research, “women are outnumbered substantially on the most popular jazz instruments; in every faculty rank and as administrators; leading ensembles and teaching studio lessons; and teaching academic subjects, such as music history, music theory, and composition.”
“How have these hierarchies endured?” the study asks.
The researchers further claim “although some scholars and writers have attempted to restore women to jazz history, this is not enough […] we must identify spheres of musical activity in which we can untangle the threads of systemic gender bias, halting the erasure of female-identified artists now while ensuring that their careers find the institutional support needed for them to thrive in the future.”
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Of note, in preparing the study Pellegrinelli and co. “prioritized each educator’s self-representation”:
To identify each jazz faculty member by gender, we examined the pronouns we encountered in these sources—and found only “he” and “she” in reference to the educators in our study. This is why we use the terminology “female-identified” and “male-identified” for our data, as opposed to sex assigned at birth or the descriptors “female-identifying” and “male-identifying,” which suggests a more active process of participant self-identification.
The researchers were sure to “acknowledge,” too, the “broader spectrum of identities” — trans men and women, non-binary, gender-expansive, and genderqueer individuals.
Overall, the study is “intended to help administrators understand how gender impacts the production and reproduction of knowledge in jazz education, a professional arena critical to halting women’s erasure and disrupting systemic inequalities.”
This means (in part) that even if gender parity is achieved numerically, there still may exist “stylistic divisions” within a department. As such, “other styles of music within the broader curriculum” should be considered.
A Berklee College of Music news release notes the study means university music departments “need to address […] hiring practices, the use of adjunct and part-time labor, and decision-making around course assignments.”
Institute founder Terri Lyne Carrington added “We hope that the study will drive action to address the stark inequalities we currently see and help to create a more inclusive jazz education community.”
According to its website, the Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice’s “vision” is to “cultivate creative practice and scholarship within an integrated and egalitarian setting,” “engage ourselves and others in the pursuit of jazz without patriarchy,” and “recogniz[e] the role that jazz can play in the larger struggle for social justice.”
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IMAGE CAPTION & CREDIT: A diverse trio of jazz musicians performs; The Jazz Gallery/Facebook. INTERIOR IMAGE: Berklee College of Music.