Femme Jazz Day Welcomes Musical Risk Taking

Seattle JazzED presents this year’s FEMME JAZZ DAY, an annual initiative that invites and inspires femme musicians from across the state of Washington to join faculty for a day filled with learning, playing, and collaborating. Hosted on Sunday, April 30, one of the goals of the day is to support musicians in their soloing skills. The idea is not only to welcome femme students to start or continue playing jazz but also to nurture safes space for them to own their voice, feel courageous in improvisation, and take musical risks.

Organizer Jahnvi Madan says of this year’s event, “We want femme musicians to leave our space with excitement!  We’ve got some great guest faculty who are going to lead musicians through different games and activities centered around removing the concept of fear to create your own sounds.”

The movement towards gender parity grew root in the minds of Seattle JazzED staff members in 2013. As one of the largest jazz education organizations in the country, serving over 1,000 students per year, the organization began to see an alarming trend. Very few female-identifying or gender diverse musicians played in the traditional big bands. To break down barriers, the first Girls Jazz Day was created that year as a one-day workshop, and shortly after Girls Ellington Project, Seattle’s all-city, all-star femme band was born.

This year’s Femme Jazz Day is open to all femme instrumentalists and vocalists with at least one year of musical experience. No jazz specific experience is required. Like all Seattle JazzED programming, the workshop is offered on a sliding scale, where musicians may choose what they pay.

DATE + TIME
Sunday, April 30, 2023
10:00AM - 2:00PM

LOCATION
Seattle JazzED
380 Boren Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109

Musicians are invited to learn more and register at the link here.