My new favourite album is out now. I was stunned by the brilliant sax of Nicole Glover when she appeared at Love Supreme in July 2024 with Christian McBride's Ursa Major. One of my favourite drummers has also been Allison Miller, who I interviewed in December 2021 for Harmonious World alongside musical collaborator Jane Ira Bloom. They're two fifths of Artemis, who are about to release 'Arboresque' on Blue Note.
She adds: “As a quintet, there’s a greater feeling of elasticity. We’ve become looser and tighter at the same time.” Arboresque really is an extraordinary work and I'm glad that I was able to interview Allison Miller (together with sax player Jane Ira Bloom for a separate project) in 2021 - now to track down the rest of this group to find out what makes them tick musically.
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| Artemis (c) John Abbott |
Alongside Miller (drums) and Glover (sax) are Renee Rosnes (piano), Ingrid Jensen (trumpet) and Noriko Ueda (bass). It seems I'm not alone in loving this ensemble - they have twice won Jazz Group of the Year in the DownBeat Readers' Poll.
Arboresque is the third album on Blue Note for Artemis and it is truly extraordinary.
When I heard Nicole Glover on stage with Christian McBride last summer, she was truly breathtaking in a terribly understated way. Her sax is confident and powerful - as are the performances of her bandmates in Artemis. Creativity and collaboration oozes out of every track.
The eight-track collection includes compositions by each member, together with Wayne Shorter's Footprints, Donald Brown's The Smile of the Snake and the rather wonderful Burt Bacharach What the World Needs Now is Love.
In 2016, Rosnes first assembled an all-star ensemble to celebrate International Women’s Day with live performances in Europe. She says of these five extraordinary musicians: “Our goal is to make honest music that touches people. We inspire one another and feel passionate about playing together. All that positive energy comes through in the music and I believe the audiences feel it.”
She adds: “As a quintet, there’s a greater feeling of elasticity. We’ve become looser and tighter at the same time.” Arboresque really is an extraordinary work and I'm glad that I was able to interview Allison Miller (together with sax player Jane Ira Bloom for a separate project) in 2021 - now to track down the rest of this group to find out what makes them tick musically.
You can also read my review on KindOfJazz
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