Results for "Women in Jazz"

Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra

Active since: January 1, 2000

The Seattle Women's Jazz Orchestra (SWOJO) features many of the finest female jazz artists in the region. Showcasing high intensity jazz, tight harmonies, and lush dynamic sounds, the band performs with a fresh energy stemming from seven years of thrilling audiences on two continents. SWOJO has come a long way in a short time. Since forming in 2000, the band has performed at clubs, jazz festivals, and concert halls in North and South America, released a critically acclaimed CD (Dreamcatcher), and was nominated for an Earshot Golden Ear award in 2006! SWOJO has appeared with a number of distinguished jazz artists including Ingrid Jensen, Christine Jensen, Grace Kelly, Don Lanphere, Mimi Fox, Curtis Stigers, Susan Pascal, Sue Orfield, Greta Matassa, Hazel Leach, Jill Townsend, Sherrie Maricle, and Sheryl Bailey

Laura Orzehoski

Wendy Jones

Born: June

Wendy is a jazz vocalist, recording artist, songwriter and arranger who is often praised for her approachable and accessible presence...both onstage and off. She consistently receives accolades for her authentic and honest renditions of jazz standards as well as her ability to transport an audience with her musical storytelling. She is drawn to music that is beautiful, somewhat nostalgic, but also though-provoking. 

 As a professional vocalist, Wendy has appeared on stages from NYC to Chicago to Tokyo and has performed with artists such as NEA Jazz Master Jamey Aebersold, legendary jazz guitarist Howard Alden, jazz violinist Christian Howes, Crystal Gale and has sung backup for the alternative hip hop group Deltron 3030.  She has appeared at Club Bonafide in NYC, the Jazz Arts Initiative in Charlotte, the The Mauldin Blues and Jazz Festival, Mountain Oasis Music Festival, the Spartanburg Jazz Festival, Our World Festival, and the Django Reinhardt Festival in Asheville, NC.

The Tiptons Saxophone Quartet

With a repertoire that ranges from New Orleans second-line to Jazz, Afro-Cuban to Balkan, klezmer and beyond, the Tiptons create some of the wildest sounds ever to come out of a sax quartet. An all-women sax quartet (who sing!) from Seattle, New York and points Midwest, with 10 CDs under their belt, touring and playing festivals in Europe and the US for more than 15 years. Each member is a solo artist in her own right. Their dynamic, playful concerts feature high-energy interaction between artists, and a repertoire that touches on soulful music from around the world.

Laura Klein

Mary Louise Knutson

Born: April 19

Minneapolis-based pianist and composer, Mary Louise Knutson, has been called "one of the most exciting and innovative artists to happen to jazz piano in quite some time." Her warm, inviting tone, broad range of emotional expression, and distinctive compositions have brought her much recognition on the national music scene. Knutson's long-awaited new jazz trio CD, In the Bubble, ranked in JazzWeek's Top 10 and remained on the chart for 19 weeks straight. Six standards and four originals - which range from a swinging Oscar Peterson Trio-style "It Could Happen to You” to a smooth jazz version of “You Don’t Know What Love Is” to a Keith Jarrett style "You Are My Sunshine" - complete this highly accessible mainstream-to-modern collection.

Joan Hutton

Born: May 18, 1969

Joan Hutton is a woodwind performer, composer and music educator residing in Minneapolis and hailing from Toronto, Canada. After many years performing primarily in the classical genre, with the Ancia Saxophone Quartet and as a freelance doubler, in 2017 she began devoting her energy to jazz and improvised music. Since then, Joan has developed her voice on bass clarinet in addition to saxophones and formed the Joan Hutton Jazz Project to feature her original compositions. She has become a regular on the Twin Cities jazz scene and has performed with the Joan Hutton Jazz Project at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival

Dr. Joan Cartwright

Born: March 12

Amazing Musicwomen Ensemble Jazz Vocalist/Historian Joan Cartwright and her ensemble trace the origins of Jazz from the West Coast of Africa to the clubs of Harlem. This presentation highlights the life, times and tunes of America’s premiere Blues and Jazz Women from Bessie Smith to Betty Carter and beyond. Selections include compositions of Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Cole Porter, Norman Mapp and Joan Cartwright. (1-2 hours)

Lara Solnicki

Born: April 29

"She has emerged from the Canadian scene with a spellbinding voice... with boldly unique style and a vocal attitude of her own. Solnicki has been rightfully labeled a vocal purist, and naturally sings any jazz arrangement with relative ease. With exceptional tonal control and her mastery of inflection, Lara Solnicki has without doubt, charted her vocal journey, affirming her position as a world class jazz singer. " (−Everett. R. Davis, All About Jazz) Canadian vocalist, composer and poet Lara Solnicki is one of Greg Osby's Inner Circle Music artists. She enjoys a busy schedule, performing and recording with many of Canada’s finest musicians

Joyce Spencer

As an award winning saxophonist, based in Dallas, TX, Joyce Spencer is a force to be reckoned with as a multi-instrumentalist of saxophone (soprano, alto and tenor) flutist, singer, songwriter and composer. The best way to describe Joyce is flexible and adaptable, as she is also a multi-genre artist of traditional to contemporary jazz, R&B, funk, fusion, Gospel./Christian, blues and pop giving her an added gift to provide the spice of variety to each event or even cater to one genre depending on the demands of the venue. Joyce's prior performance experience includes orchestras, concert bands, wind ensembles, choirs, jazz bands, stage plays, musicals, etc