Jazz Articles about Sherrie Maricle

About Sherrie Maricle

Album Review

3D Jazz Trio: I Love To See You Smile

Read "I Love To See You Smile" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
May 19, 2020

The spirit of sisterhood isn't based on size, but, rather, built on the power of kinship. If anybody in the jazz world truly understands that fact, it's drummer Sherrie Maricle. Way ahead of the curve when it comes to spotlighting the need for female empowerment and equality in the music, she's helmed the Diva Jazz Orchestra for more than a quarter of a century. And while that ensemble remains her flagship, some smaller spin-off combos that have followed it also ...

Album Review

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: DIVA + The Boys

Read "DIVA + The Boys" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
February 18, 2020

The all-female DIVA Jazz Orchesta has a boy-meets-girls story threaded into its origin, as drummer Stanley Kay served as the impetus behind the group's formation. Therefore, it's only fitting that the ladies have a few gentleman over to join them for some high times in the music every now and then. This eight-song set, recorded live at Pittsburgh's Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in March of 2017, finds clarinetist Ken Peplowski, dearly departed trumpeter Claudio Roditi, trombonist Jay Ashby, and ...

Album Review

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: DIVA + the Boys

Read "DIVA + the Boys" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
February 11, 2020

After more than twenty-five years as one of the world's most renowned big bands, drummer Sherrie Maricle's superlative all-female DIVA Jazz Orchestra invited a quartet of “the boys" onboard to help ensure the ensemble's twelfth album's success. Even though DIVA needs no consorts to affirm its unremitting mastery, it is nonetheless pleasurable to witness these talented women sharing the stage and blowing up a storm with such esteemed guest artists as clarinetist Ken Peplowski, trombonist Jay Ashby and (it hurts ...

Album Review

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: 25th Anniversary Project

Read "25th Anniversary Project" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 14, 2018

To mark the DIVA Jazz Orchestra's twenty-fifth year as one of the world's leading jazz ensembles--male or female--drummer / music director Sherrie Maricle gave herself and eight members of the all-woman orchestra a homework assignment: to compose and arrange each of the ten numbers on the group's eleventh CD, the bright and exhilarating 25th Anniversary Project. Now that the task has been completed and the grades compiled, it should come as no surprise that everyone's work--not to ...

Album Review

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: 25th Anniversary Project

Read "25th Anniversary Project" reviewed by Geannine Reid

by Geannine Reid
February 22, 2018

A 25th Anniversary is a rare event in today's music world, and Sherrie Maricle the leader and driving force behind the DIVA Jazz Orchestra has achieved just that. A vehicle for some of today's most recognized names in jazz, this Orchestra goes beyond the label of an all-female ensemble, it is more about the achievements and heights of each of its players, as a collective sound and a force of significant women who have worked hard for each of their ...

Album Review

The Diva Jazz Orchestra: 25th Anniversary Project

Read "25th Anniversary Project" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
February 12, 2018

The Diva Orchestra, with its vibrant sound and stellar soloists, is one of the premier large ensembles in jazz today. It also happens to be one of the few made up entirely of women. Therefore, it is both a creative hot bed for talented musicians and a forum for female instrumentalists, who remain sorely underexposed, to express themselves. The 25th Anniversary Project is an intriguing set of ten originals by various members of band that highlights their inventive and imaginative ...

Album Review

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra: Special Kay!

Read "Special Kay!" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 18, 2016

WOW! No, it is definitely not advisable to open a review with an unequivocal superlative (for one thing, it sort of gives the game away, doesn't it?). But on Special Kay!, its ninth impressive album in twenty-four years, DIVA--the gold standard among all-female big bands since its inception--really gives a commentator no reasonable choice. Simply put, this is a mind-blowing live performance at the Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek, NY, that electrifies and satisfies from ...