HISTORY

New York City’s jazz history has always been shaped by visionary women—from the rebellious genius of Mary Lou Williams to the smoky defiance of Billie Holiday, the harmonic daring of Abbey Lincoln to the theatrical fire of Betty Carter. These pioneers carved space for women in a genre too often called a “man’s world,” proving that jazz thrives on multiplicity: bold voices, unapologetic artistry, and the collision of tradition with the new.

The Ladies of New York City stand proudly in this lineage.

Conceived by Charles Piazza—a longtime curator of NYC’s live music scene—the ensemble was born from a simple but radical idea: to gather six of the city’s most formidable female performers, each a modern heir to jazz’s matriarchs, and let their collective brilliance speak for itself.

The project’s first rehearsal crackled with the same energy that fueled the after-hours jams of Minton’s Playhouse or the sweat-drenched stages of Birdland. Vocalists and instrumentalists alike brought their distinct languages—swing, cabaret, Latin, blues—forging a sound as eclectic as the city itself.

Guiding this alchemy were musical directors Ron Drotos and Emiliano Messiez, whose arrangements honored jazz’s roots while refusing nostalgia. Like Toshiko Akiyoshi or Carla Bley, they understood that innovation isn’t rebellion—it’s tradition.

Today, The Ladies of New York carry forward what the greats began: a commitment to virtuosity without pretense, sophistication without sterility. They are the next chapter in a story that began with piano queens and scatting rebels—proof that the future of jazz remains, as it always has been, unmistakably female.