Jazz Articles about Christine Jensen

Christine Jensen/Maggi Olin: Transatlantic Conversations: 11 Piece Band Live

by Hrayr Attarian
March 14, 2016

The engaging and inventive Transatlantic Conversations: 11 Piece Band is the result of a remarkable collaboration between Swedish pianist Maggie Olin and Canadian saxophonist Christine Jensen. What is exceptional about this Olin/Jensen pairing is the complementary nature of their singular musical visions. This is reflected in shared thematic structure and the creative spirit of the originals each woman has penned without either one losing her stylistic distinctiveness. The Elingtonian “Orange" is one of the five Olin compositions on ...

Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra: Habitat

by John Kelman
April 11, 2014

It may have been the title of her last album--Treelines, Christine Jensen's first large ensemble recording--but there was no song of that name on the 2010 Justin Time release. Instead, it's the lead-off to Habitat, Jensen's second album with her Jazz Orchestra, a commissioned work for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Jazz Orchestra, its director, Dr. Paul Haar, looking for the Canadian saxophonist/composer to continue the strong work begun on Treelines. And why not? Treelines may have been the Montreal, Canada-based ...

Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra: Habitat

by Jack Bowers
April 10, 2014

Christine Jensen is one of the new breed of composer / arrangers who write for large ensembles on a grand scale, favoring themes that paint well-drawn pictures and tell evocative stories, most of which are based on personal experiences or particular sights or sounds that have lingered in their mind and led them to put pen to paper (metaphorically speaking, of course, as most musicians these days use computers like the rest of us). Jensen, a Canadian, ...

Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra: Habitat

by Dan Bilawsky
March 16, 2014

The blurry photo that adorns the cover of Habitat is completely at odds with what awaits inside the package: Some of the most incredibly focused and finely wrought large ensemble music to emerge in recent memory. Canadian saxophonist/composer Christine Jensen won plenty of fans with the her last jazz orchestra album--Treelines (Justin Time Records, 2011)--but this one puts her in an entirely different category. With Habitat, Jensen joins the ranks of the large ensemble elite.

Christine Jensen: Impressionism

by George Colligan
October 25, 2013

[ Editor's Note: The following interview is reprinted from George Colligan's blog, Jazztruth] I was first exposed to alto saxophonist Christine Jensen through working with her trumpet playing sister Ingrid Jensen. We played some of her music, which really struck me as direct, mature, grounded and highly creative. Later on I got to meet her; unfortunately, we have not played together much (except for maybe one or two jam sessions years ago). I hope that will be rectified ...

Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra: Treelines

by AAJ Italy Staff
September 1, 2011

L'aria frizzante del Canada deve avere un effetto benefico sulla conduzione delle big band. La saxofonista Christine Jensen, sorella della più nota Ingrid trombettista, si presenta alla grande con questo ottimo Treelines che riporta d'attualità lo stile di Gil Evans, canadese di origine, cosmopolita di cuore. C'è un evidente anello di congiunzione costituito dal lavoro egregio di Maria Schneider che è stata assistente di Gil nella parte finale della sua carriera e che impiega nella sua big band Ingrid Jensen. ...

Christine Jensen: Looking Left

by Jason Crane
June 12, 2007

The Globe and Mail called saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen “one of the most important Canadian composers of her generation." She grew up with her trumpet-playing sister Ingrid near Vancouver, though she's now based in Montreal. Jensen has recorded three albums. Her most recent project is Look Left (Effendi, 2006), the result of a half-year spent studying and writing in Paris.

AAJ contributor Jason Crane caught up with Jensen to talk about life along the Seine, ...