Just recently I've been exploring the wonderful contributions the ladies have made to the prog genre.  While many are a tad overlooked, some vocalists in otherwise male bands such as Sonja Kristina, Annie Haslam, Heather Findlay, Barbara Gaskin are well known to all of us.

However I'm more interested in recommendations for all female prog bands (have been very impressed so far by Mother Superior, Beatrix Players, and the Japanese bands Ars Nova, OOIOO, and Angel'In Heavy Syrup), and solo artists such as Rosalie Cunningham, Tara Busch, Catherine Jauniaux, Diamanda Galás, and Annette Peacock, so quite an eclectic bunch.

So who else would you recommend I consider taking a look at?

Sounds good - I'll try and find it.

Curiously I also enjoy Yoko Ono's experimental albums - Plastic Ono Band (not to be confused with Lennon's album of the same name), Fly, and Approximately Infinite Universe. She probably gets overlooked as a musician with being in bad odour with many music fans for being responsible for the break up of the Beatles (she was probably a contributing factor, but that's a whole other debate).  So if you've not heard those three albums, try and put your prejudices and preconceptions aside and give them a try.

I'd also recommend Bat for Lashes, not strictly prog but you might like her.

Thanks for the recommendations Chopper.

I have tried Bat for Lashes, but she doesn't quite press all my buttons, she seems to cross over genres and maybe is better classified as Dream Pop.

As for Miss Bush - I just don't get on with her music at all (her voice just grates on me), even though I appreciate her for being possibly the greatest art rock musician/composer/artist of her generation, and (like Bowie) is an inspiration for so many other artists.

If you're fond of jazz fusion then I heartily recommend the work of piano wiz Hiromi Uehara:

I would actually love Hiromi Uehara to team up with Barbara Dennerlein, just as she did with the (sadly) late Chick Corea

Good call, Courtney Swain's solo work is great too, particularly Between Blood and Ocean.

if you are willing to go into jazz I suggest the all-female band Five Play led by drummer Sherrie Maricle.

here a track from their album "On the Brink":

the album features Karolina Strassmayer as one of the two sax and flute players. she is one of only 2 female members of the WDR Big Band (arguably the best big band in the world). she is married to drummer Drori Mondlak and co-leads the band Klaro! with him. since I never leave out an occasion to mention Barbara Dennerlein: Drori Mondlak was the drummer in her band for some time, and at one festival where both she and Klaro! appeared Karolina joined Barbara and her husband on stage; here a track from that occasion:

Check out CATHERINE RIBEIRO + ALPES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHdAKbjh-8c&list=PLC09F574D67B54BAC" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHdAKbjh-8c&list=PLC09F574D67B54BAC

I like Bat for Lashes too. I have all of her albums on CD, which reminds me, I had an eyelash sticking in my eye overnight while I was sleeping, which drove me batty when I woke up. My eyes were watering nearly all day yesterday, although that could have been because I was listening to sad songs which make me cry.  

Interesting - reminds me slightly of Aguaturbia from Chile, who made a couple of decent albums back in 1970

That would be nuts! 

I was just listening to her duet album with Chick. Absolutely stunning, and they had BARELY WORKED TOGETHER up till then. They met for the first time just recently before playing that night at Blue Note Tokyo. He heard her by accident!

I'll include it in the next CC poll; there's a hint for the theme.

If you haven't, check out The Stanley Clarke Trio's Jazz in the Garden.

The "trio" is Stanley, Lenny White and Hiromi!

The Anchoress doesn't quite press all my buttons so far, the songs are OK but everything seems so downbeat and not very inspiring to me.

Jarboe is on my (ever growing) pending list of stuff to appraise

Have listened to the first two albums so far '2Bis' and 'No. 2' and am very impressed. Catherine's vocal style is way out there (she sounds like a meld of Diamanda Galas, Grace Slick, and Nico), such a shame they were overlooked by the English speaking music world back in the day.

The rest of the Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes catalogue is high on my priority listening list.

I'm not sure that HIROMI belongs in a "Prog" (of any kind) conversation ... she is much more about jazz/modern classical than she is about anything that we "consider" progressive, or prog.

That said, she is a phenomenal player and her ability is incredible to watch, and so into the details and touch of the music, that it is scary ... most of us dream of having that kind of feeling in any music that we play, or create ourselves. The history of a lot of rock music is full of people that were "into" it heavy duty and it seems like they perished quickly, as their fires ran out ... and HIROMI's tastes in music seem to align themselves much better to jazz than it does to rock music of any kind.

Although she is not exactly an "original", the one person I would like to mention is RACHEL FLOWERS for her ability and desire to show so much "progressive" music and PLAY ALL THE INSTRUMENTS ... on top of it seeing her doing the PIANO versions of Keith Emerson's material is one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed ... showing what a great composer KE really was ... but he had to show his ability in a different medium, for him to get recognized ... only for us to find, in his death ... the greatness of the material he helped create for our ears ... something that we are not capable of appreciating or assimilating. 

For that alone RACHEL deserves to be mentioned as one of the top progressive players. Not to mention that she can play guitar as good as RF and FZ ... and has shown it in several pieces ... totally insane ... heck she can even make Bill Bruford sound better than he did with KC!

1. Linda Spa - saxophonist and keyboard player with Tangerine Dream

2. Chrissie Hammond - a singer on several of Rick Wakeman's albums

3. Amanda Lehmann - singer and guitarist with The Steve Hackett Band

4. Heather Findlay - former singer with Mostly Autumn

5. Candice Night - one half of Blackmore's Night

6. Floor Jansen - singer with Nightwish

Check out the awesome power of this song....

Gothica is the first track on Sarah Brightman's "Symphony" album.

Now I feel bad for forgetting to mention Rachel Flowers before, she really is a prodigy.

Speaking of ELP covers though, here is one by a different female prog artist:

A recent discovery (thanks to the Interactive poll) was Fovea Hex, a band led by Clodagh Simonds, who used to be in Mellow Candle. The band includes a number of other ladies besides her. They have released a number of EPs and a full-length album, all available on Bandcamp: https://foveahex.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - https://foveahex.bandcamp.com/

North Sea Radio Orchestra, with the wonderful voice of Sharron Fortnam, are a great favourite of mine. This song, in my opinion, is one of the best released in the past 20 years:

Not only a great woman but also one of the few great Czech prog musicians: Iva Bittova & her band Dunaj:

This one, actually an iconic Fred Frith song, has two great female instrumentalists on it: Carla Kihlsted and Zeena Parkins, who have collaborated with a good number of prog and non-prog musicians, mostly on the avantgarde side of things, including some projects led by them (if not listed here).

Ex-Art Zoyd keyboarder Patricia Dallio:

Have great Russian symphonic proggers iamthemorning already been mentioned?

Arguably not prog, but my favourite female musician together with Kate Bush:

Sounds promising - thank you. I'll investigate.

Miss Brightman is an incredibly versatile singer with an astonishing voice. I've always felt she could have done more rock style stuff instead of all that ALW cr@p.

not really prog, though her first album has the occasional prog leaning: Nina Hagen. amazing voice:

I've never quite got into Nina Hagen, so maybe it's time for a re-appraisal, once I've got through my current listening list... which could take some time!

[I do like some Nico though, such as her album 'Chelsea Girl' and the stuff she did with the Velvets of course.]

Hi,

Such an awesome album, and I was able to catch their show at the Whiskey in Hollywood, with the sad fact that the other act was Iggy and the Stooges and many in the audience did the boo thing for BR ... but Janita really made Iggy look like an idiot on stage, and pulled off a massive show. The band played magnificently.

That album, is now on its 2nd or 3rd generation for me, since it was played so much to the point of having to get another album ... and I have always appreciated Janita and talked massively nice about her and the show ... though sadly, the band was not able to break out of its small roots, or get the assist that it needed to get better and stronger. 

Hi,

I wish that she would finally come out of her cocoon and bring along some music. Some 20+ years with TD, only to be unceremoniously dumped ... and I really think that the TD music has suffered and become more "machine like" than it was before with its more "symphonic" feel that the two guys can not find ... they don't understand the influence of visuals and images ... they think that the machine elasticity is enough to make TD music, and it isn't.

Linda Spa, to my knowledge is likely retired. She has not done anything that I am aware of, and a few years back I wrote her a poem to try and inspire her and she replied very nicely and was appreciative, but I am not sure that she has been able to get past the TD train wreck that dumped the 2 women that had helped the shows get better, stronger and more symphonic ... for that matter Iris Camaa also deserves a mention ... but she won't since her own thing is not exactly "progressive" and she does not seem to drum as much on stage as she did with TD.

Whoa!! 

moshkito wrote: ... but Janita really made Iggy look like an idiot on stage, and pulled off a massive show. The band played magnificently.

Awesome! I've never understood the hoopla about Iggy, with or without the Stooges.

I don't think Linda was dumped. I think she was simply done after Edgar left this mortal coil. Linda also wasn't a member of the band from 1997-2004.

TD was already gravitating back toward their classic sound while Edgar was still alive. There really wasn't room for the "contempo" approach Edgar let Jerome steer the band toward in the early '90s. Linda's contributions to 220 Volt and Turn of the Tides were akin to a hitchhiker, tacked on, i.e. they didn't integrate that well. I'd never imagined TD with sax before "Long Island Sunset" on Lily on the Beach, and the title track of Melrose (performed in both instances by Hubert Waldner), and initially, I wasn't keen on it. 

moshkito wrote: Linda Spa, to my knowledge is likely retired. She has not done anything that I am aware of, and a few years back I wrote her a poem to try and inspire her and she replied very nicely and was appreciative, but I am not sure that she has been able to get past the TD train wreck that dumped the 2 women that had helped the shows get better, stronger and more symphonic ... for that matter Iris Camaa also deserves a mention ... but she won't since her own thing is not exactly "progressive" and she does not seem to drum as much on stage as she did with TD.

Again, the return to electronics was preplanned and started when Thorsten joined. I believe that's why Jerome left: His influence was waning and there really wasn't much more they could do with the approach he favored. (See also: The Dream Mixes I-V.) IMHO, the only really successful album from that period, musically, was Tyranny of Beauty.

An amazing band, and one of the first gigs I went to at uni back in 1974.  Jenny Haan was a stunning performer.

Hi,

I'm not sure that Jerome was that much of an issue ... he came up in a different era and his tastes in music differed from his dad's ... we all have that in common! But I think that EF wanted to return to the more symphonic sound, and Jerome was not into that as much, I don't think.

Linda is a different story ... she is classically trained and raised and I think that she helped EF bring about a sound that was closer to what he might have envisioned ... and I think that it shows on the LIVE albums, although it is really difficult for any of us to tell which moments she is playing or just augmenting. 

I do not think that her playing the saxophone is an issue at all ... it added another feel to the music that fit the instrumental and classical style really well ... and I am not sure that Hoshiko is as important, although she seems to be playing the "classical" (at least strings related) parts of all the music to allow the others to concentrate on something else ... she is also classically trained, and plays like it. Linda had a different touch that was not as clearly a classic touch, and she seemed to have played in the background except when it was time to play the flute or the saxophone, which I think she did admirably, specially considering the difficult music and with someone like EF that she shared many duets with ... when you know that he is going to do something different just for the fun of it. She adjusted well. 

verslibre wrote: ... Again, the return to electronics was preplanned and started when Thorsten joined. I believe that's why Jerome left: His influence was waning and there really wasn't much more they could do with the approach he favored.  ...

Agreed. Although in my book, Jerome lost an opportunity to learn a lot more and went his own way as a teenager would, so to speak. His music on his own, just is not as exciting and meaningful as he thinks it is, and I'm not sure he realizes why. But, I think that him wanting his own freedom is more important and that he might, YET, find his tune and show us that he had it from the start ... and we didn't see it coming.

Thorsten is quite capable ... the recent 40 minute piece with Marcus Reuter is outstanding, and reminds me of early days Ash Ra Tempel ... and it was a lovely listen ... and that is not to say that TQ can not bring about a more contemporary and soundtrack sounding style of music, instead of machine like sounding like they have done in the past few years ... it also shows that there is not enough "interest" in the new material as much as anything else, otherwise there would be a demand for more ... and this has not been the case ... the older stuff is still selling better!

But TD, as it is presently seen, is not capable of "improvisation" and on occasion find things that they did not realize how good they were and felt when it happened ... and in many ways, I really think that this is more likely to happen with women, than without them ... there is a difference in the "sight" between the two that is important ... for example, it is thought that women's intuition and vision is more physically related whereas the men's intuition is more developed in their minds, not bodies!

As such the more visceral, and stronger the woman vision, the more progressive that person is ... at the very least extremely different!

BTW ... I was thinking that LATOYA deserves a mention ... with her history ... as probably does SIOUXIE ... but I wonder if we think these more pop music oriented than otherwise ... and Mrs. RF is not exactly one for the top of the pops at all ... she had acting abilities that she has always used in her own work, and still does when having fun with Mr. RF on their fun videos!

Which albums would you recommend I start with?

Start with her first album, where the track Jean chose was from. Here another track from that album that is quite proggish:

I remember listening to NunSexMonkRock a lot around the same time I was really into Klaus Nomi.

And this one from Ekstasy.

 

Another singer I like very much is Inga Rumpf of Frumpy and Atlantis; Frumpy are in the archive, Atlantis not (rightly so, though there are some prog leanings on their first two albums; and their live album from 1975, though not prog, is one of the best live albums ever).

The second album of Frumpy is among my favourite albums. Inga's voice is often mistaken as the voice of a man, by the way. Here my favourite track from that great album:

I kept wondering if the vocal were ever going to start.

Well I've now sourced all her 70's and 80's albums... might take me some time to get round to listening to them tho.  BTW are there any more female (rock/prog/new wave) artists from your part of the world that I ought to be aware of?

Me too! 

Psychedelic Paul wrote: Progishness wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: Linda Spa - It's Not Over Now I kept wondering if the vocals were ever going to start. Me too!

BTW, another artist I can recommend to you, tho she's not here in the archives as she probably belongs in the 'New Age' genre is Caroline Lavelle (cellist/contralto), who has made three splendid solo albums, aside from her work as a jobbing session musician.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Lavelle" rel="nofollow - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Lavelle

Definitely Inga Rumpf, the singer of Frumpy. Here an excerpt from their Beat-Club appearance (Beat-Club was a German TV-program that ran from 1965-1972. Countless top rock acts appeared at it, including many prog bands):

Why the Swedish flag appears at the beginning is a mystery to me; Frumpy were a German band (with one French member, keyboarder Jean-Jacques Kravetz).

The bands played live at Beat-Club; no playbacks.

I understand that Jerome and "new arrival" Thorsten (a fan of the band's classic sound) did not see eye to eye, or ear to ear, where making new music was concerned. Without being a fly on the wall, we have to assume that was the primary reason for Jerome's exit. Seems like it to me. Views from a Red Train, an album I like a lot, would not sound the way it does with Jerome onboard (and that's mostly Edgar, with contributions from Thorsten). The live band (with Bernard Beibl on guitar) also handled the repertoire better, mixing good new tracks like "Trauma" with classics like "Cloudburst Flight" and "Choronzon."

moshkito wrote: Linda is a different story ... she is classically trained and raised and I think that she helped EF bring about a sound that was closer to what he might have envisioned

She's not the first. Johannes Schmoelling and Paul Haslinger were both conservatory-trained pianists. When I saw TD live in '88, Paul even mixed in a Bach piece in his solo on the electric piano pushed all the way to the edge of the stage. That was quite unexpected, but everyone ate it up.

moshkito wrote: But TD, as it is presently seen, is not capable of "improvisation" and on occasion find things that they did not realize how good they were and felt when it happened ... and in many ways, I really think that this is more likely to happen with women, than without them ... there is a difference in the "sight" between the two that is important ... for example, it is thought that women's intuition and vision is more physically related whereas the men's intuition is more developed in their minds, not bodies!

Johannes was the best improviser TD ever had. His loss is still greatly felt, more so than the exit of any other past member.

Don't remember if i posted this here before but i made a list on Rate Your Music years ago that compiled as many prog artists as possible that included female members. Not exactly a recommendation but rather a comprehensive list for further exploration.

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/siLLy_puPPy/goddess-prog-women-in-progressive-folk-rock-and-metal/" rel="nofollow - https://rateyourmusic.com/list/siLLy_puPPy/goddess-prog-women-in-progressive-folk-rock-and-metal/

By the way: When Nina was at the peak of her abilities her voice had an amazing range of six octaves. She was an opera prodigy too.

That list is very helpful, tho I noted the absence of the Incredible String Band (Christina "Licorice" McKechnie, vocals & percussion 1968-72).

I have got plenty to explore for now, and it could take me some time, but please keep the suggestions coming!

However relevant to the thread is the album Purgatorio , for me one the best things they ever did. It features several classically trained female vocalists and is absolutely stunning original music.

I will however second that emotion about Views From a Red Train. Great album as much for the guitar as the synths!

Thanks for pointing that out! Any suggestions are quite welcome.

There's no mention of the pioneering all girl bands Birtha and Fanny from the early 70's but I suppose they are more hard rock / proto metal than being prog related. The other band that springs to mind from that era would be Vinegar Joe (Elkie Brooks sharing vocal duties with Robert Palmer) but they are more blues rock.

Hi,

And above all ... her connection to THE FOOL, which even The Beatles made use of ... and they were from LA, not London of all places and ideas.

To me, it was the women that made the INCREDIBLE STRING BAND, and I think that their appeal and show suffered from not having the women involved as much other than background vocals, which I think the ladies were not happy with, is my thought.  They ended up with "U" ... which they performed at WOODSTOCK, of which there are no recordings or film, as it was in the middle of the night, and apparently too many folks were asleep .... but it was a stage show ... and I don't think it had been shown in too many places before then ... so Licorice, was at Woodstock with the band ... for this performance. 

I kinda thought that this "theater" was something that fit THE FOOL and the ladies more than it did Robin or Mike ... and you can see it on the film they made ... though in it, you get the feeling that the bits and pieces by the men, did not amount to much, and that the image of the women was more entertaining and alluring, than what the men did with it, which in many ways was almost opposite of what the women were there for or showed ... that is how I interpret it, btw.

It makes it easier to say that Licorice and her friend were likely the catalysts for the vision that became Mike and Robin, however, Robin in an interview with Guy Guden, explains that it was all about the poetry and the stage, and the attempt to make it come alive ... and that specific expression which Robin says helped their creativity since he came from a poet/writer background and Mike from a rock music background, which he says made things work when they got together. But the inspirations also went beyond the poetry ... into many areas that make things difficult to explain. By the time you listen to EARTH SPAN, it is a great album, fabulous material ... but you wonder what it is all about ... different inspirations from around the world? Or simply poetry within the context of a few stories and what ends up as "performance" instead of a person!

Again, I think the ladies had more to say here than we know or understand ... and Licorice will likely be remembered for her touch and expression, though she does not get much credit for it ... one is not likely to get her voice and stylings on so many songs, unless you have an inner flame that is so far apart, and yet ... a part of something else!

If only she'd have stuck to incorporating operatic vocals into a punk / new wave rock style, maybe she'd appeal to me more.

Otherwise I'll give http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2432" rel="nofollow - Frumpy a go once I manage to source their albums - they sound promising.

The band line up also included a couple of female keyboard players as it evolved during its early years.

Carol of Harvest

Octopus 

That is one of her more subdued offerings, this is something a bit heavier from her:

You can read all about her here:  https://olitunes.com/press-kit/" rel="nofollow - https://olitunes.com/press-kit/ .

OH yeah! I absolutely love METALLIA. Very unique sounding prog metal.

The rest of her band are all men though.

yam yam wrote: No metal here I can assure you - Lainey http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=9097" rel="nofollow - Schooltree  - a Boston-based, classically-trained multi-instrumentalist, composer and singer who composed an award-winning original rock opera called Heterotopia in 2017 about a girl who loses her body and must journey as a ghost through a parallel world of the collective unconscious to get it back.

Sounds promising - another for my (ever growing) list of stuff to be explored.

-AmartiA: Daylight Beauty,

-Illuminae: Dark Horizons.

Zeph wrote: Susanne Sundfør may be my favorite female artist featured on PA. If you like her stuff, maybe you’ll enjoy Aurora, also from Norway. She leans more towards pop perhaps, but very much in the same area.

Another name on my list of artists that I intend to explore in the near future..

You might want to check out http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=6030" rel="nofollow - Julie Slick if you like Eclectic stuff. From her https://julieslick.com/#bio" rel="nofollow - website : "Julie Slick is a virtuoso bassist and composer known for her wide array of unique tones and substantial melodic invention".

Her self-titled debut album from 2010 has no vocals, but is "a seamless blend of progressive rock, jazz-fusion, funk, electronica, avant-garde, and world music influences. The album features an incredible ensemble comprised of Slick’s friends, including King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Pat Mastelotto, drummer Marco Minnemann (Paul Gilbert, Kreator, Eddie Jobson), drummer and brother Eric Slick (Dr. Dog), Chapman Stick player Michael Bernier (Stick Men), and guitarist André Cholmondeley (Project Object)."  (taken from https://julieslick.bandcamp.com/album/julie-slick" rel="nofollow - bandcamp ).

Only five of the fourteen tracks can be heard on her bandcamp, but the whole album is on https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l-OieJTo4bL-3q6n2o_XJZ6frfj_TPk7I" rel="nofollow - YouTube Music .

Seems to be a rather little-known artist around here, despite her reputation and 'friends' list. No reviews for either of her albums in the ten years that she's been on the site, and only a handful of ratings.

Not my cup of tea really, but she certainly ticks the 'female prog artist' box in a big way!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiYg8-X_q7wAhVmAZ0JHSVbA4oQwqsBMAB6BAgFEAk&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUXxQJGOuZkA&usg=AOvVaw0jVrpORBj8cAuuL52VB2o7" rel="nofollow - PreviewPreview18:14The Far Meadow - Travelogue (Multicam)YouTube · Background MagazineMar 26, 2017

Thanks for the suggestion - definitely new to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVIvQhAH4Qc&list=PL3fG93mwTqjVzxue3UNNRKOtT_3ndKJ0b&index=7

 

Check out the self-titled album of Lily & Maria from 1968.

Here an example track:

Lily & Maria are already in my collection... others I have from that era which you might enjoy include: The Carolyn Hester Coalition, *Comfortable Chair, *Fifty Foot Hose, Jonna Gault & Her Symphonopop Scene, Kathy McCord, Linda Perhacs, Marcia Strassman, Margo Guryan, Michele O'Malley, Ruth Copeland, and Sally Eaton.

*These are particularly strange and might just be up your alley!

Thanks for the recommendations; Jean and I will check them out.