Dr. Joan Renee Cartwright is a poet, musician, composer, author, historian, and host of <\/span>MusicWoman Live!<\/span><\/i>\u2014a show dedicated to supporting female musicians.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Queens, New York, \u201cDr. Diva JC\u201d (as she is affectionately referred to) started her podcast in 2008 as a service of Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. (WIJSF)\u2014a nonprofit organization that promotes women musicians globally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Covering an eclectic mix of topics related to jazz and the musicians who play it, Dr. Cartwright often features members of the WIJSF who compose and perform their own music. Commenting on the motivation behind the creation of the show, Dr. Cartwright said:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor 40 years, I toured the world as a jazz and blues vocalist. I worked with hundreds of musicians in five continents and 22 countries. I sang all over Europe, all over the United States, and in South Africa and Ghana. But, when I came home from Europe in 1996, I realized that I had worked with only six <\/span><\/i>women<\/span> musicians\u2014three of them in New York before I ever left. So there were only three after that: one from Holland, one from Germany, and one from here in Florida. I saw the lack of support available to women, so in 1997, I began to organize Gaia Fest, which was a celebration of Mother Earth, and that grew into developing the Jazz Women Directory, which is on WIJSF.com, to support women musicians. \u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Musicwomen Live! <\/span><\/i>is the broadcast platform of WIJSF that enables women musicians to be heard globally\u2014especially women who compose and perform.\u00a0<\/span>
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\u201cThere are plenty of women who write music but don’t play an instrument. They write lyrics, yes\u2026 but I’m looking for instrumentalists who create songs on their instrument,\u201d <\/span><\/i>Dr. Cartwright explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years, she\u2019s produced 300 episodes\u2014at first, each two-hour show included the playing of a female artist’s entire CD. Now, she plays only two songs by each guest, and follows it with an interview of about 30 minutes in length.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes featuring male musicians as well, Dr. Cartwright said, \u201c<\/span>Because men love those women, too!\u201d<\/span><\/i> And, in the rare case that she features a non-musician, she opens the show with her own music, or that of her daughter\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. Cartwright\u2014the only woman <\/span>in the world<\/span><\/i> with a jazz and blues songbook\u2014shared the reason behind the mix: <\/span>\u201cJazz is a child of the blues. The blues gave birth to jazz!\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 She\u2019s recorded 11 such songs, which are available online.<\/span><\/p>\n

Considering herself as a primarily jazz musician, Dr. Cartwright was unsure of where the jazz influence came from for the longest time. It\u2019s funny how the subconscious mind leads you on the right path\u2026 and that\u2019s exactly what happened with her: <\/span>
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\u201cI started out singing chants in Catholic churches. I went straight from that to jazz, because my father had all the jazz records\u2014it was the popular music of the day, where I grew up.<\/span><\/i><\/h2>\n

\u201cAt age four, I was dancing and singing with Bernice Johnson’s Dance Studio. Her husband, Budd Johnson, was a famous saxophonist from Kansas City. He would babysit me between the time my mother dropped me off and Bernice picked me up for dance school until I was eight years old. He would go down in the basement and play his horn. I was internalizing scatting and didn’t even know it! By the time I was 27, I was a bebop singer, but I didn’t know where that came from either. Then one day, I ran into the Johnsons on an elevator in a club in New York City, and it all came back to me in a flash. I put the pieces together\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Dr. Cartwright also credits her <\/span>\u201cwonderful\u201d<\/span><\/i> piano teacher in Philadelphia, where she earned her music degree from LaSalle University, for her musical influence. <\/span>\u201cI didn’t get any more degrees,\u201d<\/span><\/i> she said, <\/span>\u201cbut I’ve written more than 60 songs.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Some of those songs include \u201cTalking That Jazz,\u201d \u201cLonely Blues,\u201d \u201cNo Love,\u201d and \u201cBlues Medley.\u201d She\u2019s also written songs for the likes of Freddie Hubbard, who recorded her \u201cSweet Return\u201d for Atlantic Records in 1983 with the Cool Jazz All Stars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Her favorite guest featured on her show so far? The 92-year-old Jeannie Cheatham, who played with the Sweet Back Baby Blues Band alongside her husband Jimmy Cheatham. She wrote the song titled, <\/span>\u201cMeet Me With Your Black Drawers On,\u201d<\/span><\/i> as well as the book by the same name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc., a 501 (c) non-profit organization, is Dr. Cartwright\u2019s pride and passion. Of the 368 members, 224 are musicians, 62 are men, and 14 are students. They come from 14 countries and 22 U.S. states.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Members receive a subscription to <\/span>Music Woman Magazine<\/span><\/i>, a newsletter, and various other services. They also publish CD compilations from women who submit a song for a fee. Those featured get a lot of publicity in the newsletter and on the website, as well as opportunities for collaboration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to Dr. Cartwright\u2019s personal inspiration in the way of fellow jazz singers, she said: <\/span>
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\n<\/span>\u201cEverybody says I look and sound like Carla McCray. But I scat like Ella Fitzgerald.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Not bad\u2026 being compared to two of the greatest voices of all time!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Joan Renee Cartwright is a poet, musician, composer, author, historian, and host of MusicWoman Live!\u2014a show dedicated to supporting female musicians.\u00a0 Born in Queens, New York, \u201cDr. Diva JC\u201d (as she is affectionately referred to) started her podcast in 2008 as a service of Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. (WIJSF)\u2014a nonprofit organization that promotes women musicians globally.\u00a0 Covering an eclectic mix of topics related to jazz and the musicians who play it, Dr. Cartwright often features members of the WIJSF who compose and perform their own music. Commenting on the motivation behind the creation of the show, Dr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[289,290,288,286,287,285],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n