Female Martial Arts Heroes 5#, 6#, Yeung Pan Pan/Yukari Oshima

Introducing Yukari Oshima (pictured in freeze frame below) and Yeung Pan Pan. Also known as ‘Lady Jackie Chan’ – Yeung Pan Pan was/is often billed as Sharon Yeung Pan Pan. Like many stars, she began in the Chinese Opera before graduating to film. She stars here, alongside Japanese Karate master, Yukari Oshima, in a  medley from Deadly Target. As always, try to see past the dodgy voice dubbing, makeup and leg warmers and enjoy the action and athleticism, done in an era before CGI (admittedly, there’s some wire work in this sequence.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-snfe7MJiY&feature=related

Female Martial Arts Heroes 4# Polly Shang Kuan

They  said of this woman, (in relation to Bruce Lee)…’Bruce Lee is the Dragon, but Polly is the Phoenix…’

Trained in Judo, Karate, and Taikwondo, Polly Shang Kwan was characteristically rugged in her fighting style – coming from a martial, rather than dance background. Looking at her movies, especially the historical dramas, I can see where Lucy Lawless as Xena, Warrior Princess may have got some of her inspiration. Enjoy this  more 20th century vibe, from 1973 film Seven to One – then go and search for others; costume epics, sword and sorcery, bandit horsewomen – there’s a plethora of Polly Shan Kuan movie history to explore…

Female Martial Arts Heroes 3 # Judy Lee

Today I want to celebrate martial arts movie star, Judy Lee. Trained in a traditional Chinese Opera,  she was one of the first females to take leading roles in the opera. (traditionally all roles, including women tended to be played by men.) She studied diligently to adapt the more decorative, flowing moves of the opera into a harder style of actual fighting and actual hurting. She enjoyed a long and varied movie career. One of her best film sequences is an extended axe gang fight from the film ‘Queen Boxer.’ She plays a warrior out to avenge her brothers death. Against overwhelming odds, she prevails in a showdown that clearly pre-dates the kind of action beloved by Quentin Tarentino and Stephen Chow. Enjoy.

Smart Women’s Recording Club

If you haven't heard of the Smart Women's Recording Club, check out this link, which has a newsletter, interviews and lots of great information for female recording artists.
http://smartwomensrecordingclub.com/interviews/interview-with-nu-jazz-artist-faye-patton/

Free Download

click here for your exclusive pre-release download, ‘Bitter Seed’, from the forthcoming album, Dangerous Loving…

Female Martial Arts Heroes 1# and 2# Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock

Anyone notice that I’m doing a series on women of achievement in the realms of music? Alongside, I’m celebrating female martial artists. Inspired by my Top Fighter DVDS, which I return to again and again, I have, fortunately, found one of the best sequences, online. Got to love the 80′s costumes, clunky dialogue/subtitles and cheesy music. This is Michelle Yeoh in her Hong Kong based early days, before the fame of Police Story, James Bond and the much later cinematic exposure of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that made her famous worldwide.

This clip showcases epic stunt work (some of it silly, just enjoy) and some very solid, applicable Wing Chun style street fighting. Also featured here is the legendary American star Cynthia Rothrock, a celebrity in her own right, who fought hard and successfully to get taken seriously in Hong Kong, as a woman and as a westerner. I originally wanted to showcase these women as individuals but the range of material to choose from is overwhelming – therefore their work as a partnership is ideal. Move over Cagney and Lacey….

Wed 4th May Million Women Rise go to Parliament…

There is a human price for the addiction we have to our mobile phones and laptops. There’s no getting away from it. Virtually all our technical toys and gadgets are fuelled by coltan, most of which is mined in the Congo, in the midst of  war, oppression, murder, gang rape and vicious fighting over resources. Women and children in DR Congo pay dearly for  the richer countries demand for these goods. Million Women Rise have something to say about it and will be going to Parliament on Wed 4th May. If you are based in the UK, come along or at least pressurise your MP. I don’t have a great deal of faith in my MP,  but I will be going myself. I have respectfully duplicated this information, with thanks, from friends and sources at Million Women Rise.

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Please pass this invite wide and far. We need your support on the 4th May.

The UK delegation of Million Women Rise to the World March of Women International Action, Bukavu, east of the DR Congo will be presenting their report and recommendations to MP’s and Peers at a meeting co-sponsored by Jeremy Corbyn MP, the Great Lakes All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and the Million Women Rise UK delegation to the World March of Women on:

Wednesday 4th May 2011

6pm – 7.30pm

Grimond Room, Portcullis House, SW1A 3JA

speakers will include

Marie- Claire (WILPF, COMMON CAUSE, MWR)

Jane Gregory (Rape Crisis England & Wales, MWR)

Sabrina Qureshi (MWR)

Maman Louise (Common Cause)

Chaired by (Jeremy Corbyn)

Women wanted to take action. Here’s what we can do right now:

Please contact your MP, tell them about the APPG meeting and say that as a constituent you really want them to attend. You may want to make points about ongoing horrific violence against women in the east of the DR Congo being relevant to you, all UK tax payers and indeed everyone in the UK since the Dept for International Development spends a million $ a day in Congo, British based multi-nationals have been linked to the torture and murder of women e.g. Afrimex, UK Government foreign policy regarding support for regimes in the Great Lakes Region plays an important role and crucially we are all carrying mobiles and using technology that rely on minerals from Congo e.g. coltan. If you can take the time to write a personal email/letter to your MP it will have an impact. It’s our job to make all our MP’s take notice that this is an issue we want them to engage in.

If you want to attend the meeting on the 4th May in Westminster Palace that would be fab! Please email me at info@brcg.org.uk to register and get further info.

Lets see if we can be part of building an unstoppable momentum to end violence against women in Congo, in the UK and everywhere

Female Guitar Heroes 2#

Yes Lord! Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Not as famous as she should be. But really she’s one of those gems you don’t have to dig that deep to find. Her influence was enormous, and within her sphere, she was a star. I have a rare vinyl LP of herself and Little Richard, playing in church, veritably wrecking the house with rock n’ roll, and it hasn’t dated, to this day. She lived at the cusp of times when gospel was crossing over into rock and roll, and the unamplified guitar had thoroughly given way to the electric. Many gospel musicians were kicked out of church for fusing religion and pop, (Ray Charles for one, and Aretha Franklin) but broadly speaking, everything that came later in Western popular music can be traced back here, beyond rhythm and blues, to Gospel.

Thank Goddess!  Now…’Let’s do that again..’

Female Guitar heroes 1#

Let’s take a moment to celebrate the awesomely talented Jennifer Batten, in just one of her many incarnations, as Michael Jackson’s lead guitarist. Rock and Roll mythology tells us that she got this particular gig on the strength of John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, performed as a two hand tapping exercise…the mind boggles. (Ever notice how both Prince and Michael Jackson liked to showcase female artist/collaborators?) This guitarist is now more widely know for her supporting role in Jeff Beck’s band, and also has written some great CD accompanied guitar manuals. One of which I put on now and again just to hear her extremely pleasant, croaky, Southern accent telling me she’ll now demonstrate it ‘slowly’ – i.e faster than the human ear can hear. Go Jennifer!

Female Keyboard Heroes 2#

I remember the day an ex-student first put me onto Rachelle Ferrell. There is life before and after knowing about this artist. I love the way she accompanies herself and seems to have a symbiosis between the keys and her voice. It took me a while as an artist, to have the courage (?) not to be playing and singing all over the place all of the time. I think I worried that if I didn’t do solo pianistic flights of fancy all the way through the song, folk would think I wasn’t a decent technician. But actually it’s necessary to hold back, to allow the voice and the song to communicate, and give the solo its proper platform, at the appropriate time. I appreciate this woman so much for her subtle, laid back mastery, and long-standing, category defying, jazz/soul pedigree, going back many years.