Meet Ella Grace

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ella Grace a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ella, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

Jazz is a male-dominated genre. As a female jazz musician, I am often the only woman in the bands I play in. Psychologically, being in a tokenized position like this makes you more susceptible to things like imposter syndrome (feeling like you are not skilled enough or talented enough to be in the environment), low self-efficacy (lack of belief that you can succeed), and stereotype threat (the fear of confirming negative stereotypes about your identity that comes with being the sole representative of a group). These are all things I have dealt with and continue to deal with as a musician. I find that my skills tend to be underestimated when people have never heard me play, and I have to work harder to prove my abilities. In can be harder to network, a vital part of a freelance performance career. As a woman in jazz, I also face gendered microaggressions and sexual harassment from other musicians, venue owners and bookers, and audience members.

Unfortunately, my experience is not unique. Women have faced gender discrimination in jazz since its inception. Most non-masculine presenting jazz musicians I speak to share similar experiences and interviews of female musicians from the 20th century also sound similar. This kind of gender discrimination is often just considered an inevitable part of the job, something we just have to grit our teeth and bear. As a result, women drop out of jazz at highly disproportionate rates to men.

My freshman year of college, I decided to research gender disparity in jazz, but found limited existing academic literature on the subject. This inspired me to conduct a survey of musicians exploring gendered psychological barriers to jazz participation, which became part of a thesis project I just completed. I find that while enhancing my understanding of these psychological barriers such as tokenization, stereotype threat, imposter syndrome, and low self-efficacy does not make them disappear, being more aware of them does help me mitigate their effects to some extent.

In my research, I also studied covering, the practice of minimizing certain aspects of your identity to fit in. While I have definitely felt inclined to do this at times, I ultimately try to embrace my identity as a woman in jazz. Jazz is a conversational music. It thrives on a diversity of voices participating in that conversation. For me, jazz improvisation is all about self-expression and authenticity. Being authentic and comfortable in my identity allows me to bring my own unique voice to the conversation and share my individuality.

In my thesis, I also explored several existing and proposed solutions to gender disparity in jazz. Part of embracing my identity means working to be a part of furthering these solutions. I aim to be a role model and mentor to other young women in jazz and bring more women into the jazz community. So far, my research has been used to help get grant funding for local programs focused on uplifting women in jazz. I hope that this is only the beginning of my continued work in this field.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a performer, composer, educator, and producer based between Minnesota and Chicago, IL. I work primarily as a freelance trumpeter, teaching private lessons, recording, and performing live in a variety of styles including jazz, r&b, salsa, ambient, and rock. I work both as a sidewoman and bandleader of a small group that performs my own original contemporary jazz compositions throughout the Midwest. I enjoy music journalism, hosting a weekly radio show, writing articles for a weekly music newsletter, and working as Web News Director for Radio DePaul. I also enjoy music academia, recently completing a thesis project on gender disparity in jazz that won the First Place Sloane Prize in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Undergraduate Research at the 2024 National Collegiate Honors Conference.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Three qualities that have been meaningful in my journey are persistence, curiosity, and creativity. I think it is important to be open-minded and diligent in any journey. Any new endeavor requires dedication, lots of practice, and time to reach mastery, and it is important not to get discouraged in the meantime.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I am lucky to study with incredible mentors and also have a very supportive family. I would not be where I am today without them. I learn so much from my mentors and they help me when I feel discouraged in the face of challenge. My family has supported me with their time and resources, making sure I always had private lessons and driving me to hundreds of rehearsals in high school. I am incredibly grateful to them as well as my wider network of patrons and fans who support me by attending my shows and my fellow musicians who support my musical endeavors as collaborators.

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