Call and (Her) Response: Improvisation and the Myth of Absence

“The Routledge Companion to Jazz and Gender identifies, defines, and interrogates the construct of gender in all forms of jazz, jazz culture, and education, shaping and transforming the conversation in response to changing cultural and societal norms across the globe.” Reason’s chapter : “Call and (Her) Response: Improvisation and the Myth of Absence.”

+The Myth of Absence: Representation, Reception, and the Music of Experimental Women Improvisors

Current dispositions towards women, whether deliberate or unintentional, influence future engagements for women improvisers. In addition, the relative exclusion of feature articles on women improvisers or as leaders at festivals leads to what I call the myth of absence – the assumption that women are not interested in participating in the exploration and development of experimental creative improvised music. This assumption, as my research reveals, is false.

Pursuing an ethnographically oriented methodology, I conducted interviews with a diverse community of women improvisers. These women included accordionist Pauline Oliveros; pianist Amina Claudine Myers; singer Maggie Nichols; pianist Irène Schweizer; kotoist Miya Masaoka; drummer Susie Ibarra; samperist Ikue Mori; pianist Marilyn Crispell, among others.

Play Like A Girl

Play Like A Girl — An article, written by Dana Reason with Carrie Leigh Page, published by NewMusic USA, wherein the authors seek to address certain misconceptions about women in music, and demonstrate some vital contributions to the areas of composition and performance. 

“When coverage of women does occur in magazines or online, the tendency to foreground physical descriptions, make overtly gendered remarks, or advance theories as to the exceptionality of the woman in question. . . can distract readers from the quality of the work and the artistic achievements of experimental women.”

Read the full article and find out more about the International Alliance for Women in Music

Anthology of Essays on Deep Listening
Edited by Monique Buzzarté and Tom Bickley
Foreword by Pauline Oliveros https://popandmom.org/collections/all

Dana Reason’s Essay in Anthology of Essays on Deep Listening: