Spanish trumpeter/vocalist Andrea Motis, a star of the European jazz scene, wrote one of the early pieces in Nicky Schrire’s Mothers in Jazz/ Parents in Jazz series in February 2023. Two years on, she reflects further on the themes of motherhood… and sisterhood…
It’s always great to have references of people with similarities with you, like being a mum in the same profession.”
To me, motherhood has been the situation where have I connected the most with other women. It has made bridges and let beautiful feminine energy flourish through compassion, understanding, love and help. It’s been probably the nicest thing that has happened to me to nurture my “feminine energy”, let’s say. And also to start having more girl friends which I didn’t have much before, so it’s also improved my life.
I have received a lot of advice, and had great meetings and conversations with other women in my profession, and that has led me to reflect that before becoming mothers maybe we may saw each other like fellows…but also, in this old fashioned way, it was as if we also saw other similar woman as a threat. Sometimes I didn’t feel so welcomed by other women – and, I’ll admit it, sometimes also didn’t actually have that much interest myself in being friends with some… – but motherhood has changed that.
In Spanish there’s a word for this help between women: Sororidad. I don’t know how it is in English… But I reached out to so many women in music when I first became pregnant, and I received so much feminine love that now I feel more full and loving others, I learned so much and met all the power in others.
I’m mother to 2 boys and probably the most important thing I want to pass on is the respect for others, especially women…and to try to make my man emotionally responsible.”
Christoph Mallinger and Andrea Motis. Photo credit: Kaothic Alice
