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How does gender affect your music?

How does gender affect your music?

Katharine Cartwright, Jane Ira Bloom, Nora York, Ursel Schlicht, Jamie Baum, and Amina Claudine Myers respond.

Written By

NewMusicBox Staff

	Katharine Cartwright “In the jazz profession, I’m constantly reminded that I’m a woman and a singer, for better or worse. It’s certainly not the only thing, nor is it the most important thing. It’s simply there. It can be fun, or it can be a drag. So, in my art, I try to have some fun with it…”
	Jane Ira Bloom “I became a composer because it was as natural as breathing to me from the start but also because as far as I could see then the male-dominated jazz world didn’t embrace women instrumentalists as collaborators…”
	Nora York “I am a singer first—then a composer. Singing is the direct and immediate expression of my experience. My voice finds form inside my body, so, at that fundamental level, gender forms my music…”
	Ursel Schlicht “The concept of a mainstream seems to shift towards a multitude of musical expression, reflecting today’s broader understanding of gender. We have moved from the classic dichotomy of maleness and femaleness towards a variety of ways women and men identify with gender…”
	Jamie Baum “There have always been questions regarding the experience and difficulties of being a woman in the jazz profession, but not about the ways gender might affect my compositional style. I hadn’t thought much about it…”
	Amina Claudine Myers “Gender doesn’t have anything to do with my compositions. Well, not that I know of. My music comes from how I see my life, how I see other people, nature, my experiences, things that I see and think about. You could be either male or female to do it that way…”

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