Wed 3/13 @ 7:30PM
Back in 2017, with energy and emotions still riding high off the first Women’s March in January, noted New York-based jazz pianist/composer Renee Rosnes, with a dozen albums and countless side musician jobs to her credit, founded an all-woman ensemble to mark International Women’s Day (March 8). It comprised a group of similarly skilled and experienced musicians: sax player Nicole Glover, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Norika Ueda and drummer Allison Miller.
The ensemble released its self-titled debut in 2020, followed by In Real Time in 2023, which they workshopped at New York City’s legendary Birdland club before going into the studio, both on the noted Blue Note jazz label. It was named Jazz Group of the Year in 2023 in DownBeat Readers Poll.
In the band’s bio, Rosnes says, “After that, we all just had so much fun playing together, we wanted to keep it going. For all of us, I think it’s about the power of the music, not the gender — that’s not something that we think about in terms of our art. And I wish more people would see it that way. Think about how many all-male bands there are, and gender doesn’t need to be mentioned. Why can’t it be the same for any gender?”
Yet look at any jazz ensemble — take the Tri-C High School Jazz All-Stars, for instance — and you’ll generally find one or two token women, if any at all. So what Artemis does is probably more essential than she gives it credit for.
The group will be playing at Oberlin’s Finney Chapel as part of the Oberlin Artist Recital Series where they promise material from their albums and some new things they’ve been working on. Get tickets here.
oberlin—artist_recital_series_artemis