The world of jazz instrumentals has been comprised mostly of males, but the women who did make it into the club did so because of sheer talent. While it was quite common for female jazz vocalists to appear on stage, when it comes to actually playing the music, few females have made the cut.

That being said, there are some truly amazing female jazz instrumentalists. Let`s take a look at a few of them.

Clora Bryant:

Referred to as the pioneer of female trumpeters, Clora Bryant took up the trumpet after her brother left to serve in the military, leaving his instrument behind. Born in 1927, she taught herself improvisation methods and later became the first woman to play with Charlie Parker. This impressive lady not only played music while young and single, she continued to do so after getting married and while pregnant, and even later, with small children. She did put her career as a musician on hold to raise her four children, but she never stopped playing completely. Now, suffering from heart problems, she can no longer play, but still lectures on jazz.

Melba Liston:

Melba played the trombone and during the early 60`s, she recorded with Randy Weston, creating what are now considered to be classic jazz recordings. She began her career in Gerald Wildon`s big band at the tender age of 17 and it was what launched her work as a musician. After touring with Count Basie and Billie Holiday, she became disillusioned with life on the road and took a job as a clerk. She also did some acting during this time. It wasn`t until her work with Weston that she returned to the music scene. This was a partnership that would last even after a stroke left her unable to play . . . they continued to compose together.

Cindy Blackman:

A more modern musician, Blackman focuses her energy on drums. Though most famous for playing with Lenny Kravitz, she has worked with a number of jazz artists including Cassandra Wilson, Sam Rivers and others. She has also recorded a number of her own jazz albums, making a name for herself in the world of female instrumentalists.

Women may not be as common in the world of jazz instrumentalists, but that doesn`t mean they are any less adept. As these three women have proven, it takes a lot more than gender to make great music.

Have you ever wondered about the creative process?  I know I have.  How does someone translate the idea for a song into an actual piece of music?  How does the original idea change as it is brought to fruition?  Here's an amazingly innovative album idea that explores these philosophical concepts.

Kate Schutt's new album, The Telephone Game, is about many things, but one of them is the process of creativity.  Scutt accepted song ideas from her listeners and then turned these ideas over in the mill of her own creative process, creating original songs with the input of her fans.

I remember playing the telephone game as a kid.  Everyone would sit in a circle and one person would whisper something in the ear of the person next to them.  That person would whisper the message to the next person, and the message would be transmitted around the circle.  By the time the message got back to the first person, it was usually drastically changed from the original message.

The title of the album is a great analogy for how Kate Schutt shared her songwriting process with her fans.  She received tons of responses from fans, including postcards, emails, stories, letters, and even paintings.  She responded in some way to each idea, whether it eventually became a song or not.

The originality of this idea is amazing.  I mean, have you ever heard of someone doing something like this?  Usually, artists guard their creative process carefully.  It's like a secret they don't want to share.  But Kate Schutt's album is all about sharing that secret.

The songs on The Telephone Game are strongly linked to the theme of love, which makes sense.  We've all felt love.  It's the most basic emotion humans can feel, so it's no surpise that it would be a common theme on a collaborative effort like The Telephone Game.

One of the songs on Telephone Game is called "You Can Have the Sky."  It's about giving everything away, including the sky, because you no longer have a need for it.  Loss is also a major theme on this album.

Kate Schutt is a relatively new artist.  She has a debut album out, called No Love Lost and just released The Telephone Game this fall.  Both albums are available for purchase on her website, http://kateschutt.com.