The Women in Jazz Festival is now in its 14th year and in the past, this has always been a good overview on current music projects by the many women in the jazz world who by the way not only sing but play all kinds of instruments as well.

We here at JazzRadio try to prove this in our day-to-day programmes just tune in to listen.
This year's festival spreads over three evenings and is hosted by Dee Dee Bridgewater at Washington's Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center on May 14-16th. The Washington Post says about the festival that it speaks volumes about the contributions women have made to jazz-and continue to make-both here and abroad.

On the schedule, you can find bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding who just performed over here in Berlin before an enthusiastic crowd, and singer Janis Siegel who is readying her next CD due out this spring and who recently gave a one-off performance in Cologne (see JazzRiff column 3/18). I came across clarinetist/saxophonist Anat Cohen at last year's Northsea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam and was simply stunned by the power and originality of her music. She will lead her Anzic Orchestra as well.

Also on the schedule, flutist Anne Drummond, vocalist Carmen Lundy, composer Maria Schneider leading her Orchestra, percussionist Annette A. Aguilar with her StringBeans Ensemble, saxophonist Hailey Mae Niswanger who has won the 2008 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Competition, and Bridgewater herself.

For more info, visit www.kennedy-center.org