“…but can she play? is the first feature-length documentary centered on the lives and music of women sax and brass players who are challenging gender biases and influencing the transformation of contemporary American jazz.The film spotlights such acclaimed talents as saxophonists Hailey Niswanger, Tia Fuller, Claire Daly, Lauren Sevian; trumpeters Linsey McDonald, Crystal J Torres, Christine Fawson; trombonists Robynn Amy, Aubrey Logan, Jennifer Wharton and Stephanie Baird — women who juggle their lives as wives, mothers and teachers while pushing themselves, and their art, on the road, on the stage and in the classroom.One of the goals of this documentary is to encourage girls towards careers in jazz and to support organizations and programs that provide jazz and music programs for students in underprivileged schools where funding for music education is lacking or non-existent.
E a proposito di donne e jazz, Musica Jazz dedica il numero di marzo 2014 alla sempre maggiore presenza femminile nel jazz contemporaneo alle donne «che stanno cambiando il jazz», come indica con chiarezza lo strillo di copertina. È un’iniziativa che intende offrire una panoramica il più possibile ampia, seppure incompleta, dell’argomento (la presenza delle donne nel jazz è per fortuna ormai tale da richiedere, per trattarla a fondo, ben altro che le 100 pagine del mensile).