The description of my trip to Europe from July 3-27, is “Mission Accomplished!”  Our International President Cettina Donato (right) met me face-to-face at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia.  (SPECIAL SHOW with International President Cettina Donato on Monday, August 12 @ 3 p.m. EST on MUSICWOMAN RADIO)

Quincy Jones (80) graciously accepted my book that contains the interview I did with him in 1993, in the same building in Montreux, Switzerland. And, most importantly, I represented WIJSF and the USA at the 3rd WIMUST Conference convened by Fondazione Adkins-Chiti (pronounced Kiti) in Fiuggi, Italy. [Read their August newsletter.]

It was an honor to give the following presentation on July 4th to 40 women composers and musicians from the European Union (EU):

While touring Europe as a vocalist from 1990 – 1998, it was clear to me that music, jazz in particular, is a universal language. Upon returning to Florida, in 1996, I needed to do something else to make a living, as musicians make very little income in the USA. So, my lecture on Women in Jazz for school-aged children, became my focus, which I presented through grants from the Broward County School Board’s Student Enrichment in the Arts (SEAS) to thousands of students, since 1997.  The book Amazing Musicwomen , was published in 2009, along with my book about the business of music, So, You Want To Be A Singer?

Since 2012, an 8-woman ensemble (3 vocalists, 1 dancer, piano, bass, drums, and sax) performed twice in 2012, and twice in 2013. Although audiences said they enjoy our presentation, it is difficult to book this all-female ensemble. [Amazing Musicwomen Ensemble].

For 34 years, I worked with male musicians. I joined International Women in Jazz (IWJ) in New York but the distance to Florida (1,300 miles) is too great to address the status of women in music in Florida. So, in 2007, Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. was incorporated as  a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that promotes women musicians, globally.  To date, we have 225 members with 108 musicians and 117 supporters, including 47 men. As the sole staff member, I meet with board members (5) to determine how we can move the organization forward. My duties include maintaining the website www.wijsf.org, writing grants for concerts of original music by our musical members, hosting a weekly online radio show at www.blogtalkradio.com/musicwoman, and publishing our online, monthly newsletter, featuring news, CD releases and performance schedules of members. 

In 2010, 2011, and 2012, we released compilation CDs of 10 fabulous female composers. The music of 27 women are available at www.wijsf.com/compcds.htm. The music is eclectic, that is, not all jazz. The only requirement is that is it original.
Members of IWJ referred me to Fondazione Adkins-Chiti: Donne in Musica, resulting in Sarah Ernst Edwards’ interview with me, published in the book Donne in Jazz; our organization is an International Honour Committee Member; and my attendance at the 2013 WIMUST Conference, sponsored by 85+ donors at www.gofundme.com/jc-wimust that raised $5,000 in cash and in-kind services for my travel expenses!

In my third year of Doctoral studies in Business/Marketing at Northcentral University online, my dissertation is The Music Service Provider, Business Responsibilities, and the Inequity of Income Earned by Women Musicians.  

Research shows that

1. Music is a $27 Billion industry with $12.5 Billion in the USA
2. Although women pay 53% of the taxes on Earth, only 1% of public funding in Europe applies to women’s music. Men head 89% of cultural organizations and the 11% headed by women do not support women musicians and composers. In the USA, organizations like Florida State Cultural Division, Broward County Cultural Division, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), ASCAP, BMI, and the Musician’s Union have few statistics about the number of women musicians.
3. Jazz Musicians are 85% male, according to Joan Jeffri’s report to the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA).

Attendees at the 3rd WIMUST Conference in Fiuggi, Italy

While WIJSF’s association with Donne in Musica remains the most important international affiliation for our organization, we are members of Women in Music in Serbia, at the invitation of Vojna Nesic!

These associations increase our visibility and strengthen our potential to increase the profile of our members. We MUST continue this important work to make those who pay taxes, control budgets for cultural programming, and general audiences aware of the inequity of income earned by women musicians and composers. The Business of Music among women must be discussed and improved. 

As I journeyed on to the Umbria Jazz Festival, in Perugia, and Montreux Jazz Festival and Montreux Meets Brienz, in Switzerland, I noted that

1. At Umbria Jazz, few female instrumentalists headlined – Diana Krall and Sarah McKenzie (piano/voice), Hiromi (piano), and vocalists Simona Molinari, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gal Costa, and Cecile McLorin Salvant. Noted guitarist/songwriter Pino Daniele had three females in his band – Elisabetta Serio Bis (Rome) on keyboards, Lakecia Benjamin (USA) on sax, and vocalist Awa (Paris). I asked Elisabetta if she gave Daniele her music. She said “No”. I encouraged her to do so, though she seemed a little reserved. Another fine pianist/composer Sade Mangiaracina from Sicily performed with vocalist Simona Molinari. Also, our International President Cettina Donato was engaged to accompany student vocalists of Berkelee College.
2. At Montreux Jazz featured even fewer female musicians. I enjoyed the country singer/songwriter Valerie June who played guitar and banjo. I gave my book A History of African American Jazz and Blues to Quincy Jones, whom I interviewed for this book in 1993, in the exact same building! This was a very special moment for me, especially, when I told Quincy that I had attended the WIMUST Conference. His response was, “I always worked with women musicians like Melba Liston!” Also, much to my surprise, PRINCE was accompanied by three females on guitar, bass, and drums.
3. Of the bands I heard in Brienz, no female musicians were featured. I was told that Julie from Paris performed wonderfully, on saxophone. There was a dynamic quartet of teenage boys (13-15) from Russia and three male saxophonists with a trio from Sicily, leading me to believe that the Good Ole Boys Club is being proliferated through European youth bands. The young bassist from the Open Jazz Youth Band from Sicily did say, “My dream is to find a girl drummer!”

MONTREUX MEETS BRIENZ

My conclusion is that the low numbers of women musicians being booked at major and minor festivals and concerts is largely due to lack of awareness or, perhaps, consciousness about this problem. We MUST continue to create awareness in all arenas, not just cultural arenas, but in political and economic arenas because women musicians only earn 64% of what male musicians earn, while women in other fields earn 75% of what men earn.

Fondazione Adkins-Chiti: Donna in Musica – Future Developments

• On the 12th September, we are at Europe House in London for the English presentation of WIMUST.
• On the 13th November, a Workshop for Composers will be held at the European Parliament in Bruxelles.

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FOUR CALLS TO ACTION

1. WIMUST – Access and Equal Opportunities for Women in the Performing Arts

Gail Jhonson		Gail Marten
HRS Princess	8-1-13 Gail Marten 8-8-13 Colleen Chanel 8-12-13 Cettina Donato @ 3 pm 8-15-13 Rondi Charleston 8-22-13 Gail Jhonson 8-29-13 HRS Princess	Colleen Chanel

Debbie Pierce Trio featuring Giuseppe Pucci (d)

10181 W Sample Road

Coral Springs 33065

Debbie Pierce performs with Kickback

Boca Town Center

6000 Glades Road

Boca Raton, FL 33431

Internationally recognized jazz pianist and Steinway artist Lenore Raphael will perform at the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Festival at the Market Theatre in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa on Saturday, August 24, 2013, joined by bassist Jimmy Mgwandi and drummer Walter Kotu. Raphael’s hard-swinging mainstream style is compared to Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, and Bill Evans. She’s appeared at major jazz clubs and festivals like Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, and The Blue Note in New York City; Ronnie Scott’s in London; The S.S. Oosterdam Jazz Cruise; the Ottawa Jazz Festival and the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) Convention in Toronto. Raphael has seven critically acclaimed recordings on the Swingin’ Fox label, including Loverly with guitarist Howard Alden.  Listen to Lenore’s recording of Emily on the Joy of Jazz website: www.joyofjazz.co.za. Visit Lenore’s website:  www.lenoreraphael.com. For booking: lenmarpromo@att.net