Introduction to the special issue

Abstract

Both jazz studies and gender studies are relatively new academic disciplines. Both originated in the twentieth century, and neither were taken seriously by academia at large until nearly the twenty-first century. Since that point gender in jazz, and gender in relation to jazz, has been playing catch up to the rest of the field. However, in the second decade of the twenty-first century gender and jazz as an area of serious research has been slowly gathering pace, with an increasing number of publications on a variety of topics. This has been helped along by the rise of #MeToo, We Have Voice, Safer Spaces in Music and other similar movements promoting an a increase in awareness of gender dynamics and music, and the use and abuse of power structures, both personal and institutional. This special issue examines some of the many topics revolving around jazz and gender, in particular moving beyond the performance and performers of jazz to examine the support networks of programmers, journalists and the audience.