Portraits of jazz music legends line the walls of The Nash Jazz Club where longtime Phoenix saxophonist Mary Petrich snaps her fingers in time with the swinging music that fills the room.
Petrich knows the tune well, but it’s all new to her students: girl jazz musicians, ages 10 to 18 — members of Phoenix Jazz Girls Rising, an all-female educational jazz group that Petrich and jazz pianist Claudia Bloom founded earlier this year. They say it’s the first of its kind in Phoenix.
The goal is to teach young female musicians the basic skills of jazz. Along the way, they also hope to build the girls’ confidence and inspire their musical spirit.
The girls are rehearsing for their culminating performance, which will be held at The Nash on November 21.
Petrich and Bloom said in most jazz music circles, female musicians are few and far between. As a result, both said they have faced sexism in the industry.
“We’d be rich if we had $5 for every time someone said we play good for a girl,” Bloom said.
Petrich said they don’t have role models and mentors among them to look up to because of this. For that reason, she said it’s crucial for the girls to be in an all-female environment that makes them feel supported while they try new techniques.
The girls stretch their comfort zones and learn new skills together. One of the more challenging skills for the young musicians is improvising.
Petrich said learning to improvise, or play your instrument spontaneously, is a skill that “takes the most courage” because it is the most personal.
Midway through the rehearsal, the girls practice improvising. One takes her turn with particular swagger, drawing exclamations of support from her fellow players and a proud smile from Petrich.
Petrich and Bloom said the girls were nervous in the beginning about trying new things musically. Now, Bloom said, it’s a different story.
“They’re just getting out there, and they’re doing it,” she said. “They don’t care and I love that.”
Currently, there are nine girls enrolled in Phoenix Jazz Girls Rising.
An hour into their practice session, Katherine Walsh, 17, one of the girls participating in the group, belts out an improvised solo on her saxophone, her eyes squeezed shut.
Her mom, Susan Walsh, said it had been her daughter’s idea to join the ensemble. Previously, Walsh had only ever played classical music.
“She got a flyer and she said, ‘You know, I think I’m going to try jazz this year to see if I can actually do it,’” Walsh’s mother said.
Though she says there’s been a learning curve, Walsh said she’s enjoying the opportunity to grow her skills and explore a new type of music.
“I wanted to diversify myself,” Walsh said. “I’m classically trained, and I’ve done concert band for two years in high school now and I was like, ‘I want to try something new senior year.’”
In classical music, the musician follows exact instructions to play a piece as it is written in sheet music. In jazz, the musician has more freedom to play and go off script.
According to Bloom, even really good classical musicians can struggle playing jazz at first.
“Jazz is learning a whole different language in music,” Bloom said.
All members of the band are required to have at least one year of experience playing their instruments. That way, Petrich and Bloom are able to focus on teaching them more about the concepts of jazz and less about how to play their instruments.
Despite the challenges, both instructors said they have been impressed by the girls’ progress, both musically and personally. Walsh agreed.
“On a personal level, I feel like it’s improved my self-confidence,” she said. “But I also think it’s helped me think in a new way musically.”
Phoenix Jazz Girls Rising will hold their final performance on November 21 at 7:30 at The Nash Jazz Club.
Contact the reporter at kgsypher@asu.edu.
