The Progression of Queer Culture in Jazz and Blues

Queer culture has been incredibly prevalent in jazz and blues through the 20th and 21st centuries, with queer performers as far back as the 1920s. There is much more to this topic than can be included in one article, but the following will highlight some major queer figures and events in jazz and blues past and present, and touch on what the future could hold.

 

 

 

Though historical accounts are not perfect, it is thought that Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith both dated and/or had sexual relations with men and women–and at some point in time–each other. Both Rainey and Smith were large figures in blues music–they were known as the “Mother of the Blues” and the “Empress of Blues,” respectively. Both of these women used sexual innuendo in their music, sometimes alluding to their relations with women.

 

“Went out last night, had a great big fight

Everything seemed to go on wrong

I looked up, to my surprise

The gal I was with was gone.

 

Where she went, I don’t know

I mean to follow everywhere she goes;

Folks say I’m crooked.

I didn’t know where she took it

I want the whole world to know.”

 

–excerpt from “Prove It On Me Blues” by Ma Rainey

 

 

 

Gladys Bentley was another well-known queer woman in blues during that time, as she openly dated women–even staging a public wedding. Bentley was a large part of the Harlem Renaissance, showing an intersection of her African American race and her homosexuality. She also blurred the lines of her gender as she regularly wore tuxedos for performances and sometimes even performed in drag under the name Bobby Minton. As Minton, she was one of the large draws at the Ubangi Club where she had her own drag show. However, not everyone was approving of her openly queer life, and there was a point in time where Bentley revoked her queerness in an article in Ebony, stating:

 

“Today I am a woman again through the miracle which took place not only in 

my mind and heart–when I found a man I could love and who could love me– 

but also in the body–when the magic of modern medicine made it possible for 

me to have treatment which helped change my life completely. I am happily 

married and living a normal existence. But no matter how happy I am, I am still 

haunted by the sex underworld in which I once lived. I want to help others who 

are trapped in its dark recesses by telling my story.”

 

One can only speculate as to what would cause someone to make such statements like that, especially when they were so confident about their identity at a different point in their life. Regardless the reason, the statements she made show how society viewed homosexuality and breaks from gender norms during that time, and how that could weigh on a person who did not fit into the heteronorm and likely lead to shame and internalized homophobia. 

 

 

 

Billy Strayhorn was a composer for jazz legend Duke Ellington during the 1940s, helping pen songs such as “Take the A Train.” Strayhorn has a Pittsburgh connection as he went to high school here and continued to live here for much of his life. He was also openly gay during his life with at least one long-term relationship with a man. Strayhorn chose to stay in the background during his collaborations with Ellington–often losing credit in the process–in order to avoid fame and the judgment that could come along with so many people knowing about his private life. 

 

 

 

Another Billy–Billy Tipton–led a different life than any of the musicians discussed above. Tipton expressed as a man from the start of his music career in the 1920s until his death. Only upon his death did anyone–including his five wives–know that he expressed differently from his birth sex. Some records of his life state that Tipton expressed as a man in order to be able to be a jazz performer, as he faced discrimination and obstacles when he still expressed as a woman. However, many of these records overlook the fact that Tipton may have actually been trans, with some people going so far as to claim Tipton as a “butch lesbian.” This controversy surrounding Tipton’s life and gender identity reflects how blurred queer history can get when viewed through different lens. 

 

Looking through the lives of past performers, it is clear that being queer–though prevalent in jazz and blues past–was still not easy, and caused stress for many of these musicians.

 

 

 

 

Now that it is the 21st century, the presence of queer musicians in jazz and blues is able to be discussed more openly and without as much judgment. Some contemporary queer musicians in jazz include pianist and composer Fred Hersch, bassist Jennifer Leitham, and pianist Patricia Barber. All three of these artists will be performing at the second annual OutBeat Jazz Festival–“America’s First Queer Jazz Festival.” This festival is helping contribute to queer visibility in jazz as well as giving the artists and attendees a place to find community among like-minded individuals. The festival also has a focus on the history of queer jazz performers, so that these stories will not be lost or forgotten as progress is made.

 

 

 

Hopefully events similar to the OutBeat Jazz Festival can extend to more cities and become more of a mainstream occurrence. This is a reasonable goal since Pittsburgh already has a large jazz scene and a large queer population, so an event like this could easily be accommodated here–and this is likely not the only city where this is true. 

 

Events that highlight queer jazz and blues musicians–past and present–are important because they can not only strengthen ties between people, but also bring light to the struggles and discrimination these musicians may face on a day to day basis and assist in reducing these injustices. 

 

Queer jazz and blues musicians deserve to live their lives without regret or shame, and should be able to share their music with the world while having to hide or deny their identity out of fear of losing their career.

 

 

The following sources were used to gather information for this article. 

 

http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/film/2012/07/13/mel-torme-wou…  

“Transgender Butch: Butch/FTM Border Wars and the Masculine Continuum” by Judith Halberstam