Nina Waymone Case Study

Mademoiselle Reisz understood what it means to be an artist. She was an “artist at the piano” (Chopin 554). Mademoiselle Reisz was isolated from society. She lived alone with practically no friends, except Robert and Edna. Her proprietor described her as “the most disagreeable and unpopular woman” (Chopin 580). Mademoiselle Reisz defied society’s convention. She devoted herself entirely to art; as a result, she became ostracized from society (Koloski 119). She plays music, not for others, but for herself. She told Edna that she was “the only

During the 1960’s, Nina got involved with the current events – the civil rights fight – as an activist. Outraged by the events and her own struggles this led her to take action; She used her music to try to change society. Her music was often anthems for civil right movements - such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee - during the 1960s and 1970s. After almost 50 years of music, Nina Simone

Aretha was born into a family that attended church, her father who was a Baptist preacher and gospel singer parents. She was the fourth of five children, and lost her mother from a heart attack, four years after her parents had gotten divorced. Aretha was then moved with her dad and siblings to Michigan where they attended a church named, Detroit’s New Baptists. Her father was recognized as a preacher and her talent was starting to peek out when she would sing at her Father’s congregation. She was mostly self-taught herself and was known to be a child prodigy, with a nice voice and a gifted pianist.

Count Basie, was born August 21, 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey. He was a gifted pianist, bandleader, and composer. His mother was a pianist and his father was a mellophonist. His mother, not realizing that he would become an amazing pianist and bandleader, started off his journey by giving him his first piano lessons. Later on, William and his family moved to New York, where he was further influenced by James P. Johnson and Fats Waller. In New York, Waller taught Basie organ playing techniques. Further on in his life Count Basie had many top chart hits such as “One O’Clock Jump” and “Blue Skies” In the 1858 Grammy’s became the first African-American male represent of a Grammy Award. Throughout his career, he won many more. Not only was he a great composer and musician, but he was a good person who influenced many people's lives. This essay will outline the life of Count Basie and all of his

There are many important women who significantly contributed to Jazz and left a legacy of women artists. In the early years of Jazz, it was considered a male professional and women who tried to be part of Jazz faced obstacles. This was from male musicians, critics, record producers, club-owners, concerts and also racism. Despite the obstacles, women forced their way to be part of Jazz and pushed for equality and visibility (“Gender Discrimination, 2014).

Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. (Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats had the pleasure of working with Ella.)

"The world of classical music - particularly in its European home - was until very recently the persevere of white men" (Gladwel 248). The idea that a woman was not capable of performing the same job designated for men is simply discrimination. Instead, it was a fact in defending the reasons for which a woman could not perform this task, that men produced better music than a woman. In the society, that we live each person has something different; when we see a strange we develop an impression of the personality, abilities, and skills of this person relying solely on past experiences we have. Gladwel says, "music is music" and "the only true way to listen is with your ears and your heart" (251). The ability of a woman when playing a musical instrument is the same as a man, without making a difference in the physical appearance. Not understand how much of that prejudice is clouding our approach is a mistake, that we have to understand and take responsibility. In order to, not repeat the same injustices committed in the past.

The 1960s marked a period of social unrest and frustration over civil liberties for black Americans. The dominant figures of the Civil Rights movement were often male political and social leaders such as Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. However, during this period music became an inseparable part of the Civil Rights movement. The civil rights and protest music had a remarkable influence on the freedom movements by spreading the political and social messages rooted in the movement. Consequently, musical artists also became dominant sources of leadership and influence. Nina Simone led an influential and successful life as a musical artist, especially during the civil rights movement. Her music fused genres of classical, soul, rhythm and blues, and jazz to create a completely unique, uncategorizable style of music. Her contralto voice and distinguished musical style made her easily recognizable and popular to a diverse, global audience during the 60s and 70s. Although Simone is often omitted from historical recounts of the civil rights movement, her songs are incredibly significant to the turbulent times as they promoted a sense of black pride and projected the frustration and anger over the oppression of black Americans, especially black women. Simone had dreams of becoming a classical pianist which were never reached. Despite these unobtained goals, Simone was able to become an eminent musical artist that always carried herself with the utmost honesty, dedication, and

Josephine Baker was the best of the best in Paris, but in America not so much. She went to America to make a name for herself there but racism would not let her. On her first performance in America the people did not like it. Josephine Baker could not bare the hate, so she went back to Paris. After being in America she saw how bad segregation was, so she stood up to racism. Her and many others marched alongside with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That day alone she made a name for herself in America, she now has her own holiday on May

Billie Holiday is considered by many to be, if not the greatest jazz singer of all time. She lived a hard and difficult life with many complications along the way. Although, she didn't allow

Nina Simone used music to challenge, provoke, incite, and inform the masses during the period that we know as the Civil Rights Era. In the songs” Four Women”, “Young Gifted and Black”, and Mississippi God Damn”, Nina Simone musically maps a personal "intersectionality" as it relates to being a black American female artist. Kimberly Crenshaw defines "intersectionality" as an inability for black women to separate race, class and gender. Nina Simone’s music directly addresses this paradigm. While she is celebrated as a prolific artist her political and social activism is understated despite her front- line presence in the movement. According to Ruth Feldstein “Nina Simone recast black activism in the 1960’s.” Feldstein goes on to say

Professional women often passed down their musical customs from mother to daughter, generation after generation. This was the tradition for well over two thousand years. As a result, women not born into these “musical families” often had to overcome many great challenges to become musicians. The girls born into these “musical families” began at a very young age, practicing music for many hours a day and being educated in music and the arts. Likewise, as these girls grew up, they were highly encouraged to pursue their musical passions as they would one day be expected to become professional musicians.

Leonin, Gabrieli, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang A Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky, are all famous classical composers from the six different eras of music. The music scene has always been male dominated from the composers to the performers. There were a few female composers however, for those times, but the few that there were, were shunned for their attempt at fame and those who were vaguely popular were claimed to have only achieved success from the fame of their husband. These issues of gender discrimination against women are still apparent in all aspects of music today. Society is slowly becoming more modern in their thinking, and with the feminist movement of the modern era, are beginning to accept females as equals, however the field of classical music is desperately holding onto their old traditions. It’s very apparent that in many of the major orchestras around the world, there are an abundance of more males performing and soloing, while none of the major five orchestras in the United States have ever had a female conductor. It’s not that there aren’t females well qualified for these positions in orchestras; however the opportunities are being closed off to them because the face that there are women and men do not want them to hold these positions. Although temporary solutions have been set in place for the gender discrimination issue within classical music, society should be changing their perspective on women to be solving the problem.

voice that captivated people across the world. She adopted a classical music style with a modern touch,

A woman’s self-worth is valued more than her sex appeal, especially in the world of music, where she is given the ability to create that touches many hearts and the power to also become a role model that many admire and aspire to be like. However, as seen in ghosts of history past and in examples of modern times, it stands true that women in music are pushed to be submissive, sexual creatures, incomparable to their male counterparts. Although there are some women who have step beyond the boundaries of their expectation, others still remain behind this line. These are the women that are pressurized by the business to exploit their bodies in order to strike it rich within the world of music. Especially by today’s standards, the music