“It’s about building a community where people feel safe”: Conjuress, Gender Defying Jazz and creating a more diverse jazz scene

If pressed to recall a famous jazz musician, you wouldn’t be the only one to immediately think of a male jazz heavyweight like Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker or Nat King Cole. Sure, there are some very famous female jazz performers – Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald – but not enough for the average person to rattle them off ad nauseum. Jazz has always been a very male-dominated music genre, and female-identifying, non-binary and transgender people continue to struggle to see themselves represented.

“Things are changing, although it's still very unbalanced in the jazz world,” says Andrea Keller, Head of Jazz and Improvisation at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, and the first woman to hold the post in the Conservatorium’s history.

“There’s still so much work to be done looking at the history of jazz and getting a clearer picture of not just what was captured in books, but what was actually happening on the ground. And how we can then bring that into our curriculum so that minorities in our cohort can see themselves represented in the history, as well as what’s currently happening on stage.”

In an attempt to redress the gender balance in jazz, and create a safe and welcoming space for minorities, Andrea started Gender Defying Jazz, a workshop program for female identifying, transgender, and non-binary musicians interested in exploring jazz and improvisation.

Delivered over six Sundays in term four, the workshops involve performing in ensembles with alumni and undergraduate students from the Jazz and Improvisation degree. Participants engage in jazz and improvisation studies covering music ranging from free improvisation, to tunes from the American songbook and those by contemporary Australian jazz musicians. The Gender Defying Jazz program culminates in a live performance, which most recently was held at the Jazzlab, as part of the 2024 Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival.

Gender Defying Jazz workshop 2023, photo by Gregory LorenzuttiGender Defying Jazz workshop 2023, photo by Gregory LorenzuttiGender Defying Jazz workshop 2023, photo by Gregory Lorenzutti

“The program was originally called Girls Do Jazz, but that became an inappropriate name because we were having participants who identified more diversely in terms of gender in the program,” explains Andrea. “We wanted to encourage non-binary and transgender students to join the workshops as well. It’s about building a community where people feel safe.”

For current Jazz and Improvisation students at the Conservatorium, there are also plenty of opportunities for minority students to collaborate. One example is Conjuress, a jazz ensemble made up predominantly of female-identifying, non-binary and transgender musicians, that also aims to champion works by minority artists.

Saxophonist Natasha ‘Tash’ Lowe and singer Francesca ‘Fran’ Fimeri are current members of Conjuress, who opened the 2024 Melbourne International Jazz Festival (MIJF) at Malvern Town Hall.

“It was surreal to be on stage and have the announcer say that Conjuress is opening the Jazz Festival,” says Tash, who also participated in the Gender Defying Jazz program in 2022. “It was exciting, and I think we performed really well.”

“I’ve been going to MIJF for a long time, and have always dreamed of being on stage there,” echoes Fran. “Now that we’ve played the festival, it feels more accessible in the future.”

“My greatest hope from an opportunity like this is that the students have a great experience and come away feeling inspired and like this is something they can pursue,” says Andrea. “MIJF is the biggest festival that Australia runs for jazz, so it’s amazing to be part of that. It was a huge success.”

Despite offering plenty of opportunities for female-identifying, non-binary and transgender students to play and perform together, Andrea insists she is not trying to shield her minority students from the real-world jazz landscape, which is still male dominated. In fact, even around three quarters of Andrea’s current students are cisgendered males.

We're trying to create a community where people feel like they really belong.

"We aren’t trying to create a false reality. We're trying to create a community where people feel like they really belong. And we also want students to feel safe, nurtured and supported to try improvisation, which is a courageous thing to do, especially for a young person,” explains Andrea. “When these musicians feel like they have a safe space to be vulnerable and try improvisation, their confidence naturally grows.”

“The programs that Andrea is fostering, like Gender Defying Jazz, are creating the next generation of incredible jazz musicians that have a ready-made community they can join, rather than having to build the community from the ground up themselves,” adds Fran.

Conjuress provides a warm and welcoming community for minority Jazz and Improvisation students, but what happens when these students leave this bubble to play and perform with their majority male cohort?

“When people form bands, they mostly just choose their mates and as a non-male saxophone player, I’m sometimes not considered,” says Tash.

Natsha Lowe playing the saxaphone
Natasha Lowe on saxophone, photo by Tony Zara 2024

“It’s starting to change a bit. But I do get a bit of imposter syndrome and feel like I have to prove myself, and I wonder if I’m asked to join a band is it because of my talent or because they want to tick a diversity box?”

“All our cis-male peers are happy to listen and learn, but we still have to say ‘hey, I feel really isolated in this all-male space’. It’s up to us to voice it, rather than it being top of mind for the male musicians,” continues Fran.

“As a singer, it’s so normalised for me to be the only female in an ensemble. So recently, I’ve decided that I won’t join a project or a band unless there’s another female, non-binary or transgender person in it. And it’s surprisingly hard to do.”

I’ve decided that I won’t join a band unless there’s another female, non-binary or transgender person in it.

Tash and Fran also come up against outdated perceptions based on gender, including the idea that cisgendered males are inherently more talented and knowledgeable than their gender diverse counterparts.

“I've both headed and managed a few bands in my time and sometimes I’m not even taken seriously when booking gigs or trying to get recording time,” explains Fran.

“I would send these incredibly detailed requests with everything organised down to a tee, and either not hear back or get rejected. But one of my male band members could send a super short email and book a slot. I’ve realised that I can’t necessarily control how other people perceive me, so I’m just going to be professional and at least then I know I’ve done everything I can.”

“It’s common for me to walk into a rehearsal space and have to wait for someone to tell me it's okay to take up as much time and space and make as many mistakes as I want to,” explains Tash, whereas her male peers are generally more comfortable to experiment and play for as long as they like.

“I just want to say as well, that Tash and I are both white and female-presenting people, so even as a minority in jazz we are still incredibly privileged,” adds Fran. “I can’t speak for Black, trans or non-binary people who would have an even more difficult time trying to establish themselves in such a cis-male dominated industry.”

Fran Fimeri singing with a microphone
Francesca Fimeri on vocals, photo by Tony Zara 2024

Although the ratio of male to non-male students has improved in recent years, Andrea still sees parallels between the student cohort now and when she was a student.

“When I was a student decades ago, I was one of four females in my year. And I just assumed that within ten or 20 years it would look different, but the absolute truth is that it kind of doesn’t” she explains.

“I think some positive changes have been happening, but not enough, which is why I am so focused on providing a welcoming, encouraging and comfortable environment on this course.”

One key area of improvement is that now young musicians like Fran and Tash have a decent amount of female and gender-diverse jazz musicians to look up to, many of them based locally in Melbourne.

When asked to name some of their favourites, Tash and Fran’s eyes light up and they look at each other conspiratorially. “Three, two, one… Audrey Powne!” they exclaim in unison.

“She studied here and also performed at the Jazz Festival this year. She just released her second album, From the Fire, and Tash and I went to see her play at Howler in Brunswick and it was life changing,” gushes Fran. “She performed beautifully and was so genuine and warm.”

“We both reached out to her to ask for charts of her songs from her album and she got back to us immediately. She sent us the charts for free and asked if we can record what we do with them because she wants to hear it, which is amazing,” says Tash. “I’ve emailed unnamed male composers in the past and they didn’t get back to me. It was really nice to have someone actually respond!”

“Who else? Andrea Keller, of course! Helen Svoboda, Gian Slater, Hannah Cameron, Nai Palm from Hiatus Coyote, Hannah McKittrick, Kaiit, Jupita, Emma Volard, Bumpy and Yara," continues Fran.

"There's also a whole lot of incredible talent in second and third year, including Meg Davison, Abi Lee, Billie Rafferty, Anwen Roberts, Mia Barham, Maeve Grieve, Selenic, made up of Ava McDermott and Margot Petrie and Big Cat. It makes me so proud because not only am I their fan but I’m also their friend and collaborator. We all go to support each other's gigs. It's such a lovely community."

We all go to support each other's gigs. It's such a lovely community.

Looking towards the future of jazz, and making it a more gender diverse genre, Andrea, Tash and Fran have some advice for female-identifying, non-binary and transgender people hoping to pursue a career in jazz.

“My biggest bit of advice is just to stick with it and persevere through all the highs and lows,” says Andrea.

“Seek out likeminded people or people that are allies, and they might be cisgendered men! I’ve worked with so many men over the decades who have been incredibly supportive and lifted me up. You’ve just got to find the right people and not get too deterred by the ones who make you doubt yourself.”

Andrea Keller playing piano
Andrea Keller on piano, photo by Tony Zara 2024

“Find mentors or someone to look up to who has the sort of career you want to emulate,” adds Fran. “Also, know that your voice is important and someone, somewhere will want to hear what you have to say.”

Tash’s advice for aspiring jazz musicians is to stop comparing yourselves to others, and not to get disheartened if you don’t have as much experience as your peers.

“When I first started, I had almost no jazz experience and I was coming into a cohort where there were seven saxophonists, and I was the only female,” she explains.

“It was terrifying because most of the other students had a lot more experience than me. I compared myself a lot to my peers at the start. But the more I connected with other students who were like me, I realised it’s okay to not know how to play the saxophone as well as everyone else and I still have a right to be here.”

“Gender Defying Jazz is one way of trying to build a community where we can acknowledge that it’s scary for all of us, yet still try things out and have the freedom to fail,” Andrea chimes in.

"The program is important because it provides critical opportunities and connections for people interested in exploring creative music practices. Our hope is that it will open the door to a lifetime of fulfilling music making and friendships for many."

Find out more about Gender Defying Jazz on their YouTube channel, and the Bachelor of Music (Jazz and Improvisation) course on our website.

About Andrea Keller:

Andrea Keller is an Australian pianist, composer and improviser. She is an active member of Australia's contemporary creative jazz community through multiple roles as performer, composer, arranger, recording artist, researcher, educator, mentor, and curator.

Andrea has received multiple commissions to create new work for musicians in varying genres, including the Australian Art Orchestra, Genevieve Lacey, Flinders Quartet, Ensemble Offspring, Ten Part Invention, and more. Highly lauded for her music in Australia, Andrea has received numerous awards for her albums, ensembles, and compositions, including three ARIA's, multiple Australian Jazz Bell Awards, and more.

Find out more about Andrea on her website.

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