Righting jazz history
Women jazz journalists
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.24728Keywords:
jazz journalism, women writers, women journalistsAbstract
Given the historical focus of jazz journalists on the male jazz world and the propensity for early jazz journalism to be written by and for men, the lack of research on women jazz journalists is not surprising. However, women have been at the center of jazz journalism from the beginning. Their acceptance in the jazz world, however, has been hard fought. As writer Val Wilmer said in her autobiography, jazz writing is ‘something that men did’. This article seeks to address the lack of research that has been devoted to women jazz journalists by focusing on the work of journalists between the 1930s and the 1980s. Focusing on such women writers as H. M. Oakley, Marili Ertegun, Barbara Gardner Proctor, Dorothy Ashby, Val Wilmer, and others, this article will go beyond a reclaiming of these writers’ works and analyze how jazz journalism by female writers is feminist.
References
Armstrong, D. 2019a. ‘Ralph J. Gleason and the Beat Movement (Part 3)’. Music Journalism History. 14 June. https://www.music-journalism-history.com/2019/06/14/ralph-j-gleason-and-the-beat-movement-part-3/ (accessed 30 November 2022).
Armstrong, D. 2019b. ‘The First Women Jazz Journalists, 1920s–50s (Part 6)’. Music Journalism History. 11 September. https://www.music-journalism-history.com/2019/09/11/the-first-women-music-journalists-1920s-50s-part-6/ (accessed 30 November 2022).
Armstrong, D. 2020. ‘Hot Collecting Off the Record: Ralph J. Gleason’s Start in Music Journalism’. Jazz Perspectives 12, no. 2: 247–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/17494060.2019.1702574
Ashby, D. 1967a. Review of Max Roach, Drums Unlimited. Detroit Free Press. 15 January.
Ashby, D. 1967b. ‘Stan Getz, Shining in a New Style’. Detroit Free Press. 29 October.
Ashby, D. 1967c. ‘This Time the “King” is a Bore’. Detroit Free Press. 21 May.
Blackburn, J. 1937. ‘7 Dance Tunes Don’t Make a Rhythm Concert – & Duke’s Last Was Feeble’. DownBeat. 4, no. 2 (February): 23. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1937-02_4_2/page/22/mode/2up (accessed 30 November 2022).
Buscatto, M. 2017. ‘Jazz Critics: A Man’s World!’. In Du genre dans la critique d’art/Gender in Art Criticism, ed. Marie Buscatto, Mary Leontsini and Delphine Naudier, 17–29. France: Éditions des archives contemporaines.
Carlton, P. 1937. ‘Music Sent Thousands to Death in 1914—Now It Cures Disease’. DownBeat 4, no. 11 (November): 14. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1937-11_4_10/page/n3/mode/2up (accessed 30 November 2022).
Carlton, P. 1939. ‘Chi Hotels Kick in for Radio Wires’. DownBeat 6, no. 3 (March): 1. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1939-03_6_3/%20mode/2up?qPhyllis+Humphrey (accessed 13 January 2024).
Chambers, D., and L. Steiner. 2010. ‘The Changing Status of Women Journalists’. In The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism, ed. Stuart Allan, 49–59. London: Routledge.
Elizabeth, J. 2021. ‘Feminist Jazz Journalism, Now!’. Jazz Journalists Association News. 21 March. https://news.jazzjournalists.org/feminist-jazz-journalism-now/ (accessed 30 November 2022).
Elizabeth, J. 2022. ‘New and Diverse Voices on Jazz: Black Feminist Writing’. Jazz Journalists Association News. 27 February. https://news.jazzjournalists.org/9069/ (accessed 30 November 2022).
Ertegun, M. 1950. ‘Lost Sideman’. DownBeat 17, no. 7 (April): 10. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1950-04-07_17_7/page/10/mode/2up (accessed 30 November 2022).
Ertegun, M. 1951. ‘Just Playing Music I Love, Says Ory’. DownBeat 18, no. 16 (August): 2. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1951-08-10_18_16/page/2/mode/2up (accessed 30 November 2022).
Ewing, A. 1938. ‘Rebel’s Road to Glory: Part One’. Radio Mirror 10, no. 1 (May): 10–11; 63–67.
Gardner, B. 1960. ‘The Enigma of Miles Davis’. DownBeat 27, no. 1 (January): 20–23. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1960-01-07_27_1/page/22/mode/2up (accessed 30 November 2022).
Gennari, J. 1991. ‘Jazz Criticism: Its Development and Ideologies’. Black American Literature Forum 25, no. 3: 449–523. https://doi.org/10.2307/3041811
Gennari, J. 2006. Blowin’ Hot and Cool: Jazz and Its Critics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226289243.001.0001
Jacke, C., M. James and E. Montano. 2014. ‘Editorial Introduction: Music Journalism’. IASPM@ Journal 4, no. 2: 1–6. https://doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871(2014)v4i2.1en
Kilgore, G. 1937. ‘Ham Critics!’. DownBeat 4, no. 3 (March): 4. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1937-03_4_3/page/4/mode/2up (accessed 30 November 2022).
Kirkus Reviews. 1947. ‘Little Gate’. Kirkus Reviews. June. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/annemarie-ewing/little-gate/ (accessed 30 November 2022).
Mandel, H. 2005. ‘The History, Myths, Values and Practices of Jazz Journalists’. The Source: Challenging Jazz Criticism 2: 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1558/source.v2i1.71
Niccoli, R. 1951. ‘Steve Allen a Mean Man with Either Gag or Piano’. DownBeat 18, no. 4 (February): 4. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1951-02-03_18_4/page/4/mode/2up (accessed 30 November 2022).
Oakley, H. 1937. ‘Call Out Riot Squad to Handle Mob at Goodman-Webb Battle’. DownBeat 4, no. 6 (June): 1. https://archive.org/details/sim_down-beat_1937-06_4_5/mode/2up (accessed 30 November 2022).
Steiner, L. 2017. ‘Gender and Journalism’. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-91 (accessed 24 January 2024).
Welburn, R. 1987. ‘Jazz Magazines of the 1930s: An Overview of Their Provocative Journalism’. American Music 5, no. 3: 255–70. https://doi.org/10.2307/3051735
Wilmer, V. 1977. As Serious as It Gets. London: Pluto Press.
Wilmer, V. 1989. Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This: My Life in the Jazz World. London: The Women’s Press.
