Monthly Archives: March 2011

Mar 11 2011

NO JAZZ in Miami Gardens – it’s an outrage!

I don’t agree that Jazz in the Gardens is so great. I have never attended but this event draws 35,000 deluded people. This year, there will be only two jazz artists, Al Jarreau and Branford Marsalis and NO female jazz artists at all. This is an outrage.

The people on this festival are R&B and that is NOT Jazz. They never have jazz. It’s an insult to me and all the real jazz musicians I work with and promote in my organization. That would be like having a reggae festival that features country & western.

It’s abhorrent but the City uses the word “jazz” for insurance purposes. And they should be ashamed of themselves for exploiting the cultural production of African Americans who think above their navel.

Bobby Brown, Lauryn Hill, Gladys Knight, Charlie Wilson, En Vogue, El Debarge, Doug E Fresh, Slick Rick, none of these are Jazz Artists, meaning that people like me who perform jazz are continually OUT OF WORK. We are never engaged by these cities to bring real jazz to the community. I worked day in and day out to promote jazz music in South Florida and get very little recognition by any of these so-called jazz promoters. They are liars and thieves of the “only true art form in America”. Ella, Billie, Carmen, Betty are turning over in their graves from this fraudulent false advertisement. If I had the resources, I would sue the City of Miami Gardens for this terrible and continuous offense that is killing the art of jazz and all the hard work that so many African Americans artists did in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

It is a huge insult to the hundreds of African Americans in South Florida who know what jazz really is. However, I’ve moved away from being the complainer because people in South Florida have no respect for the culture of African Americans anyway, unless it’s gospel.

I wrote a book about Amazing Musicwomen – see it at http://fyicomminc.com/books.html

Visit our site: http://www.wijsf.org/

Also, see my site: http://www.joancartwright.com/

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&&note_id=10150114212673036

Mar 9 2011

Celebrating Women’s Music

For 14 years, I’ve collected data about women musicians, particularly those in blues and jazz in America. I received several grants from my county school board to present the story of Amazing Musicwomen and over 8,000 children in Florida, China and Japan have benefitted from this presentation. See photos of me with kids in China and Japan.

Finally, I published my book Amazing Musicwomen and my goal is to get this book into every school and library in the United States. The women in this book were what I consider to be the “first Civil Rights Workers” because they were the ones who stepped out on a stage and said, “I am a complete person, a Free person!” The directory starts with Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, known as the “Mother of the Blues”, followed by Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters, Lil Hardin Armstrong, Marylou Williams, then on to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Melba Liston, Marian McPartland, Peggy Lee and the others, adding up to 40 women. Their music began a revolution toward freedom in America that has resounded around the world.

So, You Want To Be A Singer?

A manual for up-and-coming Divas, Musicians and Composers

Also, I published a book entitled So, You Want To Be A Singer? A manual for up-and-coming Divas, musicians and composers that contains 20 chapters on the art of being a musicians and the business of music.

Presently, I am the executive director of Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes women musicians, globally. Our new compilation CD features 10 songs from 10 fabulous women musicians and is available at http://cdbaby.com/womeninjazzsouthflorida

Visit our website at http://wijsf.org