First: LA Salsa Divas. They're an all-women salsa band from Los Angeles. And they're pretty cool. I actually never realized that the trombone is a traditional instrument used in salsa music... and there's a woman playing it!
This next video is for Erica Lane. On one of Erica's blogs she mentioned not having any female jazz saxophonists to look up to... well, here's a bunch of them! I haven't heard of any except for Candy Dulfer. I actually listened to her growing up... my dad was a huge fan. So, it's not that women musicians don't exist.. you just have to look at little bit harder sometimes.
Even though we haven't made it to India yet, here is Suphala, a female tabla player. Apparently Suphala was the first female musican (really, the first musician) to play in Afganistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2005. She's pretty cool, so hopefully I'll get a chance to re-visit her when we talk about the music of India :)
And, finally, I discovered this video earlier this week and knew that I wanted to post it, so I've been racking my brain since then to figure out how to relate it to all of this.. Well, all I can come up with is that you don't have to be male, female, black, white, or even human to appreciate and participate in music :)
Oh my goodness, that dog video is so precious! Way to be extra inclusive!
ReplyDeleteI love that Suphala video. I am interested to learn what her culture and family's view of a female musician is. I'm sure her journey as a female musician is inspiring!
I love that you used women in music as your theme for this week! Women really are seriously underrepresented in the saxophone world, so it was cool to see so many other women playing it. And that's the first all women's salsa band I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteI also loved that you posted so many videos about women. And I agree with you in that women musicians do exist and that it is just harder to find them. I do hope that changes one day, though.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just wanted to say that the video of the puppy totally made my day. So thank you. I now desperately want a puppy to serenade me on the piano.
I love all three of these videos. As all the others have already mentioned, I appreciate you dedicating a blog for women. Even though there are stereotypes for different instruments, that shouldn't get in the way of us playing them!
ReplyDeleteThe first video is cool and is definitely a common salsa song. I believe when I was in Sorrento, Italy at a nightclub, this was played there. We had partners and everyone danced so fast. Well of course, they knew what they were doing. I on the other hand, did not. Although I learned!! Great blog!
Oh, that is right. You were there when we were dancing!! Remember??
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed your theme of women and music! The video with the women playing saxophones makes me want to play the sax too! The Suphala video really makes me excited about studying India, and the dog was ultra cute!
ReplyDeleteLike the others, I really liked that you focused on women in music. All of these women were extremely talented, and I really admire them especially because they're not in primarily women-dominated instrumental fields. My favorite was the all-women salsa band. And of course, I loved the dog.
ReplyDeleteGreat theme here, Sarah. And I love that tabla player! Fantastic! (Oh, and Tally really likes the dog...) :-)
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