Copenhagen — In the morning of late June, 16 girls arrived in the urban courtyard for a timeless summer ritual at the camp drop-off. Some came holding their parents’ hands. Others competed before to greet old friends. A young teenager with a strawberry blonde curl who came because her working parents told her she couldn’t sit alone all day was nervously waiting for things to start. However, it wasn’t long before a 13-year-old kid was willing to take part in an icebreaker game. “Hello, my name is Anna,” she chanted, slamming the rhythm that others would repeatedly return to her. “Bubba Bubba”.
Campers between the ages of 9 and 15 had just taken their first jazz lesson. Over the next four days, they learned about the unique rhythms and melodies of this genre and challenged improvisation of various instruments.But perhaps the most important lesson for students is Jazz camp for girls Jazz has a place for them.
There are gender imbalances in many forms of art, but inequality is especially noticeable in jazz, where men dominate the industry’s production, consumption and education. From 2007 to 2018, female musicians NPR Jazz Critics Vote.. One of the recent studies It turns out that only 4% of the prominent British jazz musicians are women. And perhaps even in egalitarian Denmark, the proportions were completely uneven. According to a 2012 report, women make up only 20% of the rhythmic music industry.
“I was shocked,” Jazz Danmark, An organization that co-founded a women’s camp in 2014 in response to its abominable research, and today oversees only the program. “So we created a project to encourage more girls to play rhythmic instruments, and hopefully we can change gender equality in the future.”
Jazz musician Johanna Sulkunen was thinking about the effects of the imbalance when she enrolled her daughter in a camp in Copenhagen. “You aren’t taken seriously,” she explained. “I don’t get a solo. You aren’t seen as a musician.” She says goodbye to Alma, who plays with the bottom of the saxophone on a stool because she’s small, and Sulkunen becomes easier for a nine-year-old kid. She said she wanted. “For her, I sincerely hope that it is just the joy of making music.”
This year’s camp was held in 11 cities across Denmark from June 27th to 30th. The girls, grouped into a band of eight, were taught by an instructor who also works as a musician. The four days culminated in concerts for family and friends.
On the first day of the Copenhagen camp at the Wrightmisuk Center Music School, the girls were drawn to the instruments they knew. 10-year-old Laura Engel in a Rolling Stones T-shirt hit the beat as Flora hit the drums. Aaris-Hoeg, 11 years old, strapped to an electric bass. The jazz camp focuses on rhythmic instruments to counter the historical demotion of jazz women to songs. This was often cast as “entertainment” rather than the serious art practiced by men. And it makes the point of moving the girl through those numbers.
“Rotation is a big part of what we do,” said instructor and saxophonist Cecily Strange. “Some girls have never sat behind a drum set. Some girls say” I don’t think so “when asked to play a drum set. But it’s really important to get everyone to try everything. And from time to time, you may find that the girl has some musical instrument tips that she has never tried. “
Emphasizing rotation is also intended to help girls overcome the self-consciousness that sometimes limits them. “Girls are, of course, interested in almost the same instruments as boys,” Strange said. “But they need more control. They worry about what they look like and don’t want to make mistakes. That can be a barrier.”
The 11-year-old Flora, who is based on the first instrument, said she likes to have no boys around.
There is no sheet music in the camp, so encourage girls to improvise to gain confidence and introduce important aspects of jazz performance. Strange taught girls to play some classical music from a jazz repertoire like Sonny Rollins’ “Sonnymoon for Two,” but other camp instructors, saxophonists and composers. Carolyn Goodwin has taken the girl in a more experimental direction. “I want these girls to feel like they can find themselves in music in a different way, without having to empathize with the traditional approach,” she said.
On the second day of the camp, Goodwin played a selection from the “Zodiac Suite” and let the girls start their improvisation by asking if anyone knew the composer. When no one in the camper raised her hand, Goodwin told them that the female composer was part of the jazz story, even if they weren’t well known. “This is by Mary Lou Williams,” she said. “Can you say her name?”
Viola Sisseck Rabenhoj (10 years old) had the knack for composing. Even before the camp, she and her fellow camper Alma wrote an article about Alma’s pet hamster, Vinnie. Now, Goodwin took the melody created by the viola and asked the girl to riff around the constellation, both playing and short text, following Williams’ example. They later combined the elements into a song with spoken lyrics. Aya Knusen Rein, who practiced on the last day of the camp, livened up her drum solo and smiled proudly.
Years after attending the 2014 and 2015 jazz camps, the 23-year-old Kathrine Stagsted Lund is grateful for this experience. “It definitely affected me,” she said. “I was introduced to the contrabass and continue to play it. I am volunteering at a jazz club and always looking for a jazz concert in Copenhagen.” But above all, this experience is her rhythmic. It was useful for playing in a jazz ensemble. “The large number of young female instrumentalists has always given me confidence and courage.”
For the first time this year, Jazz Camp for Girls will be held in Finland, Poland and Sweden. But for all the anecdotal successes, the program still has several ways to move forward before its impact becomes measurable. Last year, Jazz Danmark investigated why the needles did not move so much in the 80/20 gender distribution. “We have found that private networks are really important in jazz,” says Seerup. “Many jobs in the music industry are offered at the bar one night. If you’re not on that private network, you’re less likely to join that network. What we’re looking at right now. Is to build a strong relationship between girls now, and it may become a network later. “
On the final day of Jazz Camp, these networks seem to be off to a good start. Anna Kirkov Eriksen, a strawberry blonde drummer who didn’t know when she arrived at the camp, became a close friend of Riva, who excited the audience at her last concert with keyboard-playing Sarah and trumpet solos. And while the bass was comfortable, Flora, who was nervous about playing her first drum solo, was pleased that it was all over.
“That was amazing!” She spewed out, exchanging phone numbers with her new friend Aya and Laura. “We should form a band!”