Jenny Scheinman

Jenny Scheinman, acclaimed violinist and composer, for many years a stalwart of the New York jazz and creative music scenes, returned to her native Humboldt County, California in 2012. There she has continued her artistic evolution, as heard on her recent albums Here on Earth (“packed with moments of joyous ecstasy and wind-swept solemnity” – Downbeat), Parlour Game, a co-lead collaboration with Allison Miller (“The band levitates and feels grounded both” – PopMatters), and The Littlest Prisoner, an album of songs in trio with Bill Frisell and Brian Blade (“self-assured, made with a deft, steady hand.” – New York Times).

For years, Scheinman nursed the idea of a musical homage to Humboldt, in particular the area known as the Lost Coast, a remote, earthquake- and mudslide-prone region of coastal northern California, where she was raised. She considered the project from many angles. She wrote a song cycle based on the “crusty characters” from her hometown and sketched out a surrealist multimedia project based on the county’s namesake, Alexander Von Humboldt. She collaborated with filmmaker Ai Aiwane on a video installation about the Mattole River (Cojo Come Home) and immersed herself in the sounds and cultural history of the region, with hopes of conjuring, in music, the extraordinary diversity of life in the Pacific Northwest. Her epic new release, All Species Parade, is the result of these meditations.

The all-original program is brought to life over the course of a double album, by pianist Carmen Staaf, guitar icons Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, and Julian Lage, and the revered rhythm team of bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. It was recorded by Eli Crews, mixed by Tucker Martine, and mastered by Greg Calbi.

Though All Species Parade offers a brimming 72 minutes of music, it only contains 10 songs, several of which are over 11 minutes long, and three of which (“Jaroujiji,” “The Sea Also Rises” and “All Species Parade”) comprise an Ellington-inspired suite that clocks in at 20 minutes. This long-form approach is a departure for Scheinman, whose ten previous albums tend toward a more concise, song-like aesthetic. On this album she says that she “wanted to let us play. I encouraged the musicians to spill over the edges and be their most expansive selves. This is nature worship music, and I didn’t want it to feel domesticated.” Scheinman also deliberately orchestrated the album with multiple chordal players which, “like the complex understory of a forest,” create a multi-textured, ever-adapting network of sound.

Scheinman’s playing is radiant, soulful, stamped with jazz vernacular and old-time fiddling tradition and buoyed by her superb lyrical poise and technique. Throughout we hear Frisell’s exploratory wisdom and evidence of his deep connection with Scheinman (whose side-person credits include nine Frisell albums). The songs with straight quintet range from the playful “Ornette Goes Home” and the Mancini-eseque “Every Bear That Ever There Was,” to the more placid, atmospheric “With Sea Lions” and the grooving and immersive title track, which Scheinman describes as “a party to which animals of all sizes, colors, and adaptations are invited.”

We hear Julian Lage on acoustic guitar on three tracks, including the processional “Jaroujiji” (dedicated to the Wiyot tribe), the Django-esque “Shutdown Stomp” and the fierce elegy “Nocturne for 2020.” The adventurous Cline, longtime member of Wilco, augments Frisell on the surf-rocker “The Cape” (named for Cape Mendocino) and the flowing “House of Flowers,” which is a sister piece to “A Ride with Polly Jean,” the leadoff track from Scheinman’s 2012 release Mischief & Mayhem (also featuring Cline).

While All Species Parade does evoke a sense of pastoral calm and wonder, it also strives to capture “a charged relationship to the natural world,” Scheinman says, “a feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves. Something powerful, and fragile, and constantly changing. Something alive. I want to recreate that experience of awe.”

In addition to her extensive work in jazz and improvised music with Jason Moran, Brian Blade, Ron Miles, Allison Miller, Vinicius Cantuaria and many more, Jenny Scheinman has toured and recorded with songwriting legends such as Lucinda Williams, Bruce Cockburn, Robbie Fulks, Rodney Crowell, Lou Reed, Ani DiFranco and Joni Mitchell. She is featured on the original cast recording of Anais Mitchell’s hit musical Hadestown, and has written several feature length movie scores, including the forthcoming Avenue Of The Giants. In March 2015 she premiered a multimedia performance at Duke University entitled Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait (the basis for her album Here on Earth), which she continues to present in theaters around the country.

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Jenny Scheinman: A Violin In The Wild

by Lawrence Peryer
March 16, 2025

Today, the Spotlight shines On violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman.Jenny Scheinman grew up on California's remote Lost Coast, and now she brings us music that captures the wild beauty of her roots. Her double album All Species Parade (Royal Potato Family, 2024), brings together jazz and folk to create something wholly original that feels like the natural world itself.With a dream team of collaborators including Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, and Julian Lage on guitars, Jenny's violin ...

Radio & Podcasts

Meet Jenny Scheinman

by Cheryl K.
January 12, 2025

In this hour, an interview with violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman. Her release of last year on Royal Potato Family is titled All Species Parade. Scheinman appears during this year's Winter Jazzfest, scheduled at various locations in NYC. Playlist Dennis Mitcheltree “911" from Nevermind the Circus (Dengor Music) 6:27 Jessica Jones Quartet “Little Melonae" from Edible Flowers (Reva) 7:50 Jenny Scheinman “The Cape" from All Species Parade (Royal Potato Family) 4:13 Jenny Scheinman “House of Flowers" from All ...

Interview

Jenny Scheinman Brings the Experience of Awe

by Dean Nardi
November 20, 2024

Play your violin for us like that wild, joyful hippie girl. You who look as if you might have come from the steppes of Russia instead of the Lost Coast, a remote region of northern California prone to earthquakes and mudslides. You who galloped into school on a snorting mare, its hair used to string the bow you wave before grabbing the violin as if it were a chicken running around the coop. Roll your perpetually startled eyes at it, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Mark Masters, Devin Gray, Andrew Vogt & Jenny Scheinman

by Joe Dimino
November 3, 2024

Welcome to the 878th episode of Neon Jazz, where the sounds of jazz legends and fresh talent collide. We kick things off with veteran, award-winning artist Jenny Scheinman, delivering the rousing “Shutdown Stomp" from her brand-new 2024 release, All Species Parade. Next, we dive into new material from her frequent collaborator, guitar virtuoso Bill Frisell, with tracks from his latest album, Breaking the Shell. From there, a lineup of jazz stalwarts lights up the playlist: Devin Gray, Andrew Vogt, Amanda ...

Radio & Podcasts

Scheinman, Gray, Hargrove, Wellins & More

by Bob Osborne
October 17, 2024

There are all new releases on this edition with the standout album being from violinist Jenny Scheinman bringing together an A-List band for some outstanding music. There is previously unheard music from 1979 and 1998 as well as up to date music from USA, Canada, Japan and Ukraine.Playlist Show Intro 00:00 Jenny Scheinman “Nocturne For 2020" from All Species Parade (Royalty Potato Family) 00:30 Devin Gray “Melt All The Guns" from Melt All The Guns II (Rataplan Records) ...

Radio & Podcasts

Jenny Scheinman: Jazz, Americana, and Finding Inspiration on the Lost Coast

by Steven Roby
September 24, 2024

In this episode of Backstage Sonoma, host Steve Roby interviews acclaimed violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman. Jenny shares insights into her latest album, All Species Parade, which is deeply influenced by her return to the remote Lost Coast of Humboldt County. She reflects on how reconnecting with nature and rural life, especially during the pandemic, has reshaped her musical direction. The conversation also explores the challenges of balancing her artistic career with motherhood and how the isolation of 2020 led ...

Radio & Podcasts

Chico Hamilton, Jenny Scheinman, and Weather Report

by Jerome Wilson
April 10, 2024

This show's eclectic playlist includes electric freakouts from Ray Russell and Jenny Scheinman, modern blues from Sarah Jane Morris, Fifties “cool jazz" from Chico Hamilton and Teddy Charles, and a large slice of 1971 Weather Report. Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can't Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Ray Russell “All Through Over You / Nearer" from Secret Asylum (Reel Recordings) 1:01 Jenny Scheinman “The ...

Recording

Jenny Scheinman’s "The Littlest Prisoner" Out May 6 On Sony Masterworks

Source: Sony Music Entertainment/Legacy
April 30, 2014

The Littlest Prisoner, the latest from critically-hailed singer, violinist, composer and arranger Jenny Scheinman, will be released May 6 on Sony Masterworks. Her eighth studio album, The Littlest Prisoner follows Scheinman’s 2012 release Mischief & Mayhem, which All About Jazz called “a near-flawless package of musical craftsmanship.” Scheinman, whom The New York Times has called “full of playful ideas” and “a soulful, generous improviser.” Mixed by Grammy-nominated producer, Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Neko Case, My Morning Jacket and Sufjan Stevens), ...
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Interview

Violinist Jenny Scheinman Interviewed at All About Jazz...And More!

Source: All About Jazz
February 27, 2012

It's often the case that the most interesting music is made by musicians with a broad musical palette and openness to new paths and horizons. Violinist/composer Jenny Scheinman certainly qualifies in both regards. Equally at home playing folk tunes or working in essentially modern jazz setups, Scheinman also jumps at the chance to play with classical musicians, and is increasingly in demand as an arranger for a diverse range of musicians, such as Lou Reed and Metallica, Lucinda Williams, Bono, ...
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216

Performance / Tour

Review Jenny Scheinman's Mischief and Mayhem @ Village Vanguard

Source: AAJ Staff
July 20, 2010

Kings of Rhythm and a Queen of the Avant-Garde By Will Friedwald

If the Knitting Factory ever established an outpost in Nashville, Jenny Scheinman's Mischief & Mayhem band is what you'd hear there. Ms. Scheinman, a violinist, composer, and vocalist, is one of those young players (at 31) who at first seems almost insanely diverse; I heard her for the first time (on records at least) playing behind Norah Jones on the blockbuster country-jazz hybrid “Come Away With Me" ...
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Performance / Tour

Jazz Violin, Given License to Operate

Source: Michael Ricci
October 30, 2008

The violinist Jenny Scheinman writes sensible, orderly music. Its phrases resolve, it doesn’t mess with abstruse harmony, it returns to its themes. It’s usually grounded in old variations of jazz, blues and folk song known in the bones of the average North American. Ms. Scheinman doesn’t fully take over a band, even her own; she’s not a battling player. But given some room, she makes an arresting, plainspoken sound. She can draw out a few notes, adding just a little ...
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119

Recording

Jenny Scheinman: Unfurling One's Wings

Source: JamBase
September 25, 2008

By: Dennis Cook

Jenny Scheinman by Michael Wilson It's hard not to fall in love with Jenny Scheinman. The violinist's raw talent, boundless creativity and ability to dovetail with a startling range of musicians and styles marks her as a singular talent. But there's an X-factor to Scheinman's appeal, a wondrous undercurrent that reminds one why music matters, why it stirs us to tears and laughter, why we hold it close to our chest and let it whisper in long ...
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153

Recording

Jenny Scheinman Tour/Albums

Source: All About Jazz
June 2, 2008

RIDICULOUSLY TALENTED VIOLINIST RELEASES TWO ALBUMS AND TOURS NORTHEAST

“...Ms. Scheinman is a killer player... She has the street musician's trick of getting attention with the pure power of a single, perfect note." - New York Times

“On her self-titled disc- one of two being released simultaneously- she reveals herself to be as personal a stylist with her vocals as she is with her violin, navigating roots and folk-rock styles with consummate ease. - No Depression

“Ms. Scheinman's ...
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155

Performance / Tour

Critically-Acclaimed Violinist Jenny Scheinman Northeast Summer Tour 2007

Source: All About Jazz
June 24, 2007

With Nels Cline, Jim Black & Todd Sickafoose

Thursday, August 2nd, “Celebrate Brooklyn" Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, NY Saturday, August 4th, Colony Cafe, Woodstock, NY Sunday, August 5th, The Stone Church, New Market, NH Monday, August 6th, Joe's Pub, New York City Tuesday, August 7th, International House, Philadelphia, PA Wednesday, August 8th, Regatta Bar, Boston, MA Thursday, August 9th, Turning Point, Piermont, NY * Friday, August ...
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248

Music Industry

Jenny Scheinman Quartet - West Coast Tour (2/10 thru 2/25)

Source: All About Jazz

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 01.25.01 THE JENNY SCHEINMAN QUARTET Featuring: Jenny Scheinman - violin Dave Mac Nab - guitar Todd Sickafoose - bass Scott Amendola - drums Will soon be on tour in support of Jenny's new CD: (featuring all of the above-listed musicians) -- “Live at Yoshi's" (Avant 045/Koch distribution) The confirmed dates are: 2/10 Berkeley/Oakland, CA (TUVA Space) [opening for the Ashley Adams Trio + Wadada Leo Smith] 2/12 Seattle, WA (OK Hotel Lounge) [co-billed with the Mark Taylor ...
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