(Reprinted from September 2020 issue of Downbeat magazine)
Last fall, Blue Note Records signed pianist Renee Rosnes‘recently hatched septet, Artemis, to its roster, with a plan to release their eponymous debut album in September. This deal stands out for its departure from the norm: Blue Note typically represents solo artists and bandleaders. The self-led groups it does represent tend to be small. And regardless of size, Blue Note’s signed groups overwhelmingly comprise male musicians. By welcoming Artemis into its pantheon of esteemed artists, Blue Note upends these precedents and, intentionally or not, expands the diversity of its ranks.
While Artemis pushes several boundaries—cultural, generational—it’s hard to miss that its lineup is exclusively female. By now, though, the all-female jazz assemblage isn’t as surprising as it once was. After all, Sherri Maracle’s The DIVA Jazz Orchestra has been together for more than 25 years; Terri Lyne Carrington released The Mosaic Project on Concord Records in 2011; and Monika Herzig created her SHEroes ensemble in 2018. (Several members of Artemis have performed with these groups, in fact.) So, what makes Artemis exceptional isn’t how they identify, but how they compose, perform, lead, and collaborate as the elite musicians that they are.
Collectively, the sheer force of the group’s ability is staggering. First, consider that Canada native Rosnes, Artemis’ musical director and a Blue Note artist in her own right, has been turning out award-winning albums for three decades. Juno-recipient Ingrid Jensen, also Canadian, has worked on nearly 50 albums as a leader or side player, making her one of the most prominent trumpeters of her generation. American drummer Allison Miller has worked with major headliners from the worlds of pop, rock, and jazz, and tours consistently with several musically diverse ensembles. Chilean-born tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana was both the first woman and first South American musician to win the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Saxophone Competition, in 2013. Clarinetist Anat Cohen was the first Israeli ever to headline at the legendary Village Vanguard in New York City and has received two Grammy nominations. Bassist Noriko Ueda, who grew up in Japan, received a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music and later won the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize from the BMI Foundation. And vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, US-born but living in France, not only won the 2010 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Vocals Competition, but received three of the four Grammy Awards for which she’s been nominated. Imagine all this talent on stage at the same time.
Beyond their achievement as performers, much of it groundbreaking, these musicians also excel as leaders, arrangers, and composers—individualized strengths that Rosnes wisely leveraged for the group‘s Blue Note debut. Five of the group’s members contribute originals to the album, with Rosnes and Jensen providing additional arrangements and Salvant curating the vocal selections. If taken in isolation, each of these unique tracks stands as glowing testament to the musical prowess of its champion. But taken together, they provide insight into how the group balances the seemingly conflicting musical values of structure and freedom, stillness and movement, assertion and aquiescence.
For instance, on her composition, “Goddess of the Hunt,“ Miller creates a propulsive context for strategic harmonic interplay among the three horns, in contrast with the supportive, loping groove that she sets on Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder,“ arranged by Rosnes, a track with some of the brightest horn solos on the album. Likewise, on Ueda’s high-velocity instrumental, “Step Forward,“ the ensemble functions as a decisive unit, with ferocious solos all around, only to fall back into gentle comping on Salvant’s tour-de-force performance of Stevie Wonder’s “If It’s Magic,“ also arranged by Rosnes. Such profound musical discernment is not so easily achieved.
In their namesake, though, the group finds an apt symbol for such virtuosity. Traditionally, the Greek goddess Artemis governs several contradictory natural forces—chastity and childbirth, the moon and the earth, the hunt and the hunted. Her superpower is her skill with a bow and arrow, her knack for hitting dead center every time. Swap the arrows for instruments, and you have Artemis—jazz musicians with unswerving aim.
Artemis joined Downbeat on a Zoom call in June, just as the coronavirus outbreak was abating in the New York City area, where most of the musicians had been living in lockdown for the duration (Cohen dialed in from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). On the call, they discussed the creative process behind the album, their views on inclusivity in jazz, and what the post-pandemic future holds.
DownBeat: You’d been playing together as a septet for several years before signing with Blue Note last year. How did the band originate?
Renee Rosnes: The first incarnation of the group was in 2016. A French promoter invited me to put together a band to celebrate Women’s Day for some concerts in Paris and Luxumbourg. We decided afterwards that we wanted to do some more work, and in 2017 we did a summer tour—three weeks on the European festival circuit. And we just had a blast. So, we thought we‘d explore the possibilities of continuing to play together.
DB: Artemis is a commanding figure in Greek mythology. Why did you adopt her name for the band?
Ingrid Jensen: What happened was, my husband [drummer Jon Wikan] and I were talking about our Norwegian Viking roots, thinking there might be some cool names from that [era]. But there aren’t—they were all horrible people. (laughs) So we looked at the Greek gods and goddesses to see if we’d have any luck there. I was reading about Artemis—she has a bit of a dark side, but for the most part she‘s pretty awesome. That powerful part of her, there’s that energy in [our] music. it’s just like on Ali's tune, “Goddess of the Hunt.“
DB: That particular track opens the album with such a solid musical statement. Allison, can you speak to its significance?
Allison Miller: Writing “Goddess of the Hunt,“ I was thinking about each member of the ensemble and their incredible feminine power. I wanted to explore that sonically, how the strong traits of women would sound. Resilience, persistence, elegance. So, the rhythm section groove during the tune represents the persistence of women, the determination that we have. Next, there's a harmony part with Melissa and Ingrid, in juxtaposition to the rhythm section. That’s the elegance, the mysterious quality of women. And then, when Anat and Renee enter, with that angular melody, it’s like a pounce. You know, don't mess with women, because we can really be fierce. I was thinking about all those things. And everybody in this band is such a badass that [the tune] just played itself.
DB: The group synergy is unmistakable on this record. Even so, your distinctive musical personalities come through in the writing and arranging. For example,“Big Top“ races just as hard as Allison‘s tune, but the vibe is lighter, more whimsical. Renee, how did you conceive this one?
Rosnes: Initially, when I began to compose a piece for the recording, I was thinking about the perception—in the past, anyway—that female jazz players are novelties. I wanted to take that stereotype and repurpose it, to rob it of its power. I also was thinking about a circus metaphor, where [the composition] has different acts, as in a circus. I love the part towards the beginning, where Allison is playing an amazing drum solo, and the horns play little bits of circus motifs, almost commenting on what‘s going on. It was so exciting to me because I could completely see a high wire trapeze act as [they were] playing. And in writing it, I was actually attempting to have the band reflect all of the qualities that Allison mentioned.
DB: Renee, you also wrote an eloquent septet arrangement of Stevie Wonder’s “If It’s Magic“ for Cécile to sing.
Rosnes: We first performed this tune at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2018, as a duet, just the two of us. Every time Cécile sings I get goosebumps, but that particular afternoon it was so special. The energy on stage, the audience, the sailboats, and the message of the song. It really affected me. When we came to talk about recording, this piece came up, and I thought that the whole band should play it. The recording was the first time that arrangement was played.
DB: Cécile, along with the Stevie Wonder hit, you chose to perform a lesser-known Maxine Sullivan song. You can really hear the group‘s formidable straight-ahead chops on “Cry, Buttercup, Cry.“ Where did you get the idea for this one?
Cécile McLorin Salvant: The first band that I ever played in was called Kirby Memory, a tribute band to John Kirby's music. He was an incredible arranger, bass player, and bandleader, and Maxine Sullivan sang some beautiful songs with [his ensemble], including“Cry, Buttercup, Cry.“ It's funny, though, because both of my songs on this album deal with love, but they're different from your typical torch songs.“If It's Magic“ deals with pervading love and aspiring to be extremely loving to all. And “Cry, Buttercup, Cry“ is a song about hope after lost love. I think it's important for women to perform these kinds of songs, with this kind of subject matter. They aren‘t about romantic notions of love from a woman's perspective. They’re broader and more complex than that.
DB: In your other work, and especially your originals, you often express the strong, self-determining point of view found in these two songs. What it's like for you to sing them with an all-female group?
Salvant: This is the first and only time, I think, that I've ever performed with an all-female band. But I almost don't want to answer that question. On the one hand, I don't want to consider Artemis an all-female band because that's a little reductive. At the same time, it's important that we acknowledge it, because it's extremely rare. We're still at a place, I think—and I might be wrong—where having an all-female band is a deliberate choice, with a deliberate message. I wish that it would just be an afterthought, you know, that we happen to be all women. Then I look at these incredible musicians and [remember] growing up, studying the piano but never really seeing any women play. Being able to see and hear women play on an extremely high level is really powerful. But in the moment, playing with them, it makes very little difference to me that they're women.
DB: To Cécile’s point, isn’t there value for young players to see groups of all-female musicians like Artemis?
Rosnes: When we play, it doesn't need to be said that we’re an all-female group. And the day is coming when this won’t be any more remarkable than a band full of guys. It's just a matter of time. Because music transcends gender. We need to let the music speak for itself. Today women are players. They're composers. They're leaders. And we're playing together because we dig the music we're making.
Miller: To add to what Renee said, this band is a group of strong musicians having a musical conversation that's deep, fulfilling, and inspiring. If there’s anything about this band that’s unique, it's how multi-generational and multi-cultural it is. Those are the two things that come to mind for me right away—how we bring a feeling of inclusivity to the stage.
DB: To that point, the album contains several compositions that give a nod to artists from different cultures and from outside of jazz. Melissa, what led you to write “Frida”?
Melissa Aldana: A couple of years ago, I was commissioned by the Jazz Gallery to write a full piece of new music. I was inspired by [Mexican painter] Frida Kahlo, but it didn't occur to me that she was a woman and Latin American. I’d been in love with her work since I was very young, and I used to do a lot of painting in oil. So, it was a natural thing to do something related with the visual arts and her story, and to connect that through the music. [The commission] became a six-piece movement that I recorded for my album Visions [on Motéma Records]. And one of the tunes that I didn’t use for that album—“Frida”—seemed right for Artemis.
DB: And Anat, what impelled you to write “Nocturno,” arguably the most contemplative composition on the record?
Anat Cohen: I was thinking about what to write for the band and decided to bring in a ballad. I didn’t imagine that anybody else was writing one for the album, and I was right. But composing doesn't always come easy for me, so I was trying to play Chopin, which as a non-piano player was quite a struggle. But I was so inspired by one of his nocturnes. I was by myself, trying to express [that] solitude, and imagining a melody that Melissa and Ingrid and I [would play] together in unison. I'm accustomed to imagining the horn player parts—I grew up with two [brothers who are] horn players. So, I created a sound with just this breathy melody together over an ongoing rhythm, while the rhythm section creates a vibe. Then I showed it to Renee and she helped me to touch up the arrangements.
DB: Next on the album is the contrasting “Step Forward”—so hard-swinging and irrepressibly fun. The band improvised really well on this one. What was your inspiration, Noriko?
Noriko Ueda: I started writing it, I remember, really late at night with headphones on, and suddenly the introduction came to my head. It brought back to me to a memory from my childhood, when I was practicing a [children’s] piano piece composed by Yoshinao Nakada, the Japanese composer. Usually, it takes me a long time to compose, but the night after that introduction came to me, the whole tune just came through. So, I wrote it very quickly, not because I was in a rush, but because I was thinking of everyone [in the group]. About what great players they are, and how it’s going to sound, and how they're going to soar. I heard all of their instruments when I was composing, and that really helped me to write the chart.
DB: What kind of influence do you think such a diverse and inclusive group like Artemis can have on the next generation of musicians?
Miller: I think it’s really important for young men and young women to see this group. I hope that when we get back to touring that we can perform and work with students in universities, high schools, middle schools—but also in underserved communities. Because, first of all, we're playing music that's rooted in history and systemic racism—this music is resistance music. I hope that as a band we can take that resistance and push forward even more for all kinds of justice. Not just gender justice, but all kinds of justice. I think that the youth really want that in the music today.
Jensen: Also, we're supposed to be apolitical as artists, I believe, but I don't think that's possible anymore. The tune that I arranged for the album, “The Fool on the Hill”—it's not a protest song, so I'm not going to say that it is. But it certainly is relevant to this time when we have this beyond-foolish situation, when so much good stuff is being kept down. Arranging that tune, for me, was about the beauty of the sound of the three horns. When the three of us first started playing together, we had such a magical blend and connection. The orchestration of our three voices was just stunning. So, [the band] is like a little orchestra, with the background lines, like the sound of a crowd, leading to a point of total screaming and chaotic insanity. Then it resolves with a fairly insistent vamp, with some punches [in the coda]. That’s us, insisting that something is going to move.
DB: In the short term, how has the pandemic affected your gigs?
Rosnes: We had so much work on the books, but, of course, everything is on hold now. We're hoping that a lot of or all of the work [for 2020] will be rebooked. We had a lot of exciting things planned—a tour of Europe, the Hollywood Bowl, a show with the Chicago Symphony [Orchestra], Seattle, SFJAZZ, and [the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts].
DB: And long term, how do you see yourselves as musicians moving through the post-pandemic world?
Rosnes: I think about the gravity of this moment in history all day long, and it definitely affects my music. During this time of isolation, I’ve had more opportunity to play than usual, and I find that when I sit down to play or compose, there's so much emotion. I feel the need to match the moment, to express the feelings that are swirling around in the world. To try and make it a better world.
Salvant: I think that we're all rethinking how we make music and what we make music for. Sometimes I feel that it is purposeless—who does this serve? But then, I was talking to an essential worker the other day, who was saying how important listening to music was to him. It drives him, and when he feels completely depleted it gives him energy. I hope that when this album comes out, it goes into the ears of some protesters, and that it gives them energy and hope and drive. All we can hope for right now is that our music gives people the lift that they desire so badly. DB