TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Jazz history isn’t just a man’s story—it’s been shaped, driven, and revolutionized by women from the beginning.
Take Lil Hardin Armstrong—a classically trained pianist and composer who helped craft Louis Armstrong’s early sound. Without her, jazz’s golden age might have looked very different.
Fast forward to today, and you’ve got Esperanza Spalding—a Grammy-winning bassist, vocalist, and composer whose fearless creativity pushes jazz into new territory. She blends jazz, soul, and classical in ways that defy genre and expectation.
In between, legends like Mary Lou Williams, Nina Simone, Geri Allen, and Marian McPartland not only played—they led, composed, and taught, reshaping jazz from the ground up.
From backroom clubs to world stages, women have always been at the heart of jazz.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina