Music for London - Andrea Louise Female Jazz Singer Vocalist London

Demo
	East of the Sun West of the Moon

	Its wonderful Its Marvellous

	Afro Blue

	Your Love is King

Client Comments

"Andrea and her band were just fantastic at our wedding reception.....They were so friendly and amenable, their music complemented the mood of both the drinks and dinner receptions perfectly and she looked divine! All our guests were in awe of them - I can't recommend them highly enough."

Emma Crozier, bride

"A sultry voice and a sparkling personality...Andrea is hugely enjoyable. She performed at the festival to critical acclaim, singing both jazz standards and modern songs with flair and style. Definitely someone on the fast track."

- Mark Allen Director, Dinton Jazz Festival

"Andrea always goes down really well at our venue. She has a very warm presence on stage, sings a great repertoire of songs and is always highly professional in her work. I fully recommend her"

- Peter Lewis, Owner/Manager. The Battersea Barge

"We received masses of compliments on Andrea's performance at our wedding party......Her gorgeous easy listening voice - accompanied by a brilliant guitar player - was the perfect backdrop to the first part of our evening celebrations."

- Tracy Thompson and Mathew Toor, bride and groom

Brief History of Female Jazz Performers

Source : Women in Jazz

In 1942, Viola Smith, a veteran drummer with 17 years of professional paradiddles under her belt, sent shock waves through the readership of Down Beat by extolling the existence of "hep girls," female jazz musicians "who could sit in any jam session and hold their own." A firestorm of letters-to-the-editor ensued, passionately debating the topic: Can women play jazz?

While this controversy may seem hopelessly outdated in an era of such commanding female jazz performers as saxophonists Claire Daly, Fostina Dixon, and Jane Ira Bloom, and drummers Terri Lyne Carrington and Sylvia Cuenca, its effects linger like a haunting refrain. Women who play jazz on saxophone, brass instruments, bass, or drums still encounter befuddled reception to their very presence: "I've never seen a woman do that!" or the ubiquitous, "You play good for a girl!" or "You play like a man!" Commentary about women in jazz still sticks at fundamental questions: Do they exist? Are they serious? Can they play?

The early music history of the roots of jazz is rich with the active participation of African-American women in spirituals, gospel and blues. Piano skills were historically considered appropriate (and often desirable) for women in both African-American and Euro-American contexts. This is not to say that professional jazz musicianship was always condoned by white and black religious or middle class families. Yet, many female pianists and composers participated in the ragtime craze of the early 1900s. Women pianists, and sometimes brass, reeds and rhythm players, also worked — often in family bands — in circuses, carnivals and tent shows.

In the 1920s, while African-American female vocalists were cutting what are now known as the "classic blues" recordings, often collaborating with (usually, but not always, male) jazz instrumentalists, many female pianists busily participated in other hubs of jazz development. New Orleans pianists included Dolly Adams and Emma Barrett; while the Chicago roster boasted Lil Hardin Armstrong and Lovie Austin. In addition, several female horn players launched formidable careers, including the trumpet playing mother and daughter, Dyer and Dolly Jones. Frequently, women who played instruments other than piano in the 1920s did so in all-woman bands, including Bobbie Howell's American Syncopators and Bobbie Grice's Fourteen Bricktops.

One way to address the question of women's roles in jazz would be to talk about those with the highest profiles, women who made records and appear in jazz history books. These women are generally vocalists, such as the great Billie Holiday, whose contributions to jazz are widely acknowledged, and sometimes pianists, such as Mary Lou Williams, whose multiple influences as a musician, composer, and arranger, and in shaping the Kansas City sound, are well established. Another route would be to discuss women about whom much less is known: those who played instruments associated with men, often in all-woman bands. We don't tend to think of women saxophonists such as Vi Burnside and Margaret Backstrom squaring off at co-ed jam sessions in the 1930s and 1940s, or groups of 17 women hitting the road together in band buses, but these scenarios existed historically. If we knew more about such women, perhaps the question would be, what roles haven't women played in jazz? Because information on female jazz vocalists is more readily available.