While the Kennedy Center’s annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival should be applauded for honoring the women of this great American art form, it is a shame that it is even necessary. While artists such as the festival’s namesake and a host of others have made major contributions to jazz, the fact of the matter is that this music is still heavily male dominated. When asked how she viewed the festival, drummer par excellence Allison Miller (pictured) chose to look at it from a broader perspective.

“I don’t look at it like something where women need a jazz festival,” Miller told DCist. “But women need a community in this genre of music and it’s more like a gathering and celebration of women.”

Miller will be performing at the festival’s sold out finale on Saturday along with the Bay Area’s swingin’ Montclair Women’s Big Band. The performance will feature special guest Vicki Randle, the talented vocalist/percussionist who is beamed into the homes of millions as part of Jay Leno’s Tonight Show Band. Also on the bill that evening is another outstanding drummer, Cindy Blackman, best known for her decade of work backing rock star Lenny Kravitz. Other notable performers of the three-day festival, which begins tonight, include vocalist Sheila Jordan, 2007’s Women in Jazz Competition Winner, Helen Sung, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, and keyboardist Keiko Matsui.