We were lucky to catch up with Jen Martinez-Bre recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I don’t think I can choose one single project that has been the most meaningful – I think that most of the artistic projects I’ve done have had some sort of meaning to them. I can try to narrow it down to two things, however.

The speaking engagements I do, usually paid for on my own dime, are something that I wish was done before my time. There has been a lot of talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the past couple years but very few organizations take disability issues into account when discussing DEI – which is why I’ve felt the need to speak at any opportunity I can to give my take on DEI ideologies with an emphasis on disability.

Literally at every panel or solo speaking engagement I do, I get several people who come up to me afterwards to thank me for bringing our shared experiences as a disabled people to the masses. So it means a lot to me that taking the time, energy and financial burden of going out to these conferences/panel sessions actually impacts the audience attending the conferences/conventions/panels, and gets them really thinking.

Similarly, it both makes me proud and disheartened having created the first women in jazz vibraphone festival (“Vibefest”). Proud because I was able to get a a gig for my colleagues and other women I look up to, and having proof for the people that believe that there are only the usually mentioned 1-2 vibists, is something I value. Disheartened because why hadn’t anyone done it sooner? I guess the same could be said about my involvement in DEI initiatives revolving around disability.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a professional “pling-plonger”, otherwise known as mallet percussionist – though I do also play Latin percussion and keyboard/synths. My main instrument is the vibraphone. I lead my own Afro-Latin jazz/improvisational groups, as well as popping into others’ groups from time to time.

Being that I am physically disabled with a rare spine condition, I started doing speaking engagements and other side projects relating to being disabled in the music world. My disability advocacy work was heightened after an ankle injury, which caused me to use mobility aids for several months – allowing me to truly understand just how inaccessible our world is. I sometimes refer myself as the “angry disabled person” because of how outspoken I am about ableism (discrimination against disabled people), how inaccessible our world is, and how no one is really trying to fix our society’s shortcomings – regardless of the fact that 1 in 4 people have some sort of disability.

I have a day job unrelated to music, and have a business degree that only serves me to be qualified to speak about business practices for musicians (which I’ve given clinics about at the graduate level).

My mission in life, I believe, is to educate people on the spectrum of disability (in its varied forms) and give people access to knowledge they wouldn’t have access to otherwise. I despise the thought of gatekeeping information. I don’t even like my own speaking engagements to be hidden behind a pay-wall.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think the best way(s) to support artists is to share and buy their art. Of course, buying their art (in whatever medium – physical art, a digital download, a physical CD, etc) is the most impactful and direct help to an artist, but sharing their work to your own following/network will help artists potentially gain a new following and more visibility to their work. You could also go to their events, be it a concert, art exhibition, or livestream – just to show your support, as well as cross-promoting those events onto your own social media. Anything helps.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The impact. As I’ve mentioned before, I always have people coming up to me after my speaking engagements to tell me that they’ve learned something, or that they felt heard. It’s the same with the actual music: when you put out a song, EP, record, or play a gig and someone comes up to you and tells you that they were having a terrible day and your music, or what you had to say, got them to forget that… that’s priceless.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://malletmamacita.com/
• Instagram: @malletmamacita / https://www.instagram.com/malletmamacita/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/malletmamacita
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo7BPv6x-rJj_B_-X-aI8wA

Image Credits
Sebastian Fernando Pinillos (AnaPoPhotography)