Some myths are more pernicious than others. Among them, one suggesting that “women can’t play jazz” has proven strangely resistant to being busted.

Its survival into the 21st century is one of several reasons why, over the past decade, only 5% of incoming jazz instrumentalists at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music have been women.

Jo Lawry, leader of the new Equity in Jazz program at the Conservatorium, says it’s time to address this gender imbalance and prove that women are just as capable of excelling in jazz forms as any male counterpart.

Jo Lawry. Photo © Claudio Raschella

The roots of this gender disparity can be traced back to the very beginning of the music. Jazz in America developed in what many women saw as ‘unsafe’ spaces – bordellos, bars and juke joints. The scene itself was regarded as disreputable and therefore unsuitable for musically trained women of middle class and/or church influenced backgrounds, even if they were passionately interested in the music.

As it developed, jazz culture also became highly masculinised and competitive, typified by the “cutting contests” and band battles of the swing and bebop eras in which the...