For those of you who would like to follow our team, we thought we would publish a monthly team update article to share some of the teams work both inside and outside of Women in Jazz Media. Our group is all volunteer based, so as you can imagine, everyone is working very hard doing their thing!

Esther Bennett was recently a guest for the Watford Jazz Junction podcast series where she talked about the London jazz scene, Duncan Lamont and women in jazz.Esther shares stories about her musical evolution in Birmingham and then onto the scene in 1980's London and talks passionately about her musical relationship with the late Duncan Lamont, and some of the hurdles she's faced as a woman in jazz. Definitely worth a listen! Available here: Chatting with singer Esther Bennett

Esther's most recent gig at The Bear Club had a fantastic line up including Hannah Horton, Terence Collie and Paul Michael. Great photo from Donna Canale:

Esther's next gig with Terence Collie, Richard Sadler and Sophie Alloway, as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, is at The Jazz Sanctuary on November 15th, tickets available here: Esther Bennett Tickets

To follow and support Esther's work, you can find her here: Esther Bennett Website

Fiona MacTaggart has mostly been busy setting up a brilliant jazz collective called Jazz Forward, with 3 established jazzers: Malcolm Macfarlane, Sophie Bancroft and Marianne McGregor. They are applying for grants for set up and launching costs, in order to do some pilot gigs which they will record etc.  Fiona will be doing the organisation/tour management/everything else other than the performances! Exciting stuff!

Fiona has also been busy writing and her recent articles published on London Jazz News and the Scottish Jazz Space are:

‘Roberto Bonati / Tor Yttredal – Some Red Some Yellow: An album of understated beauty’

‘Andrea Massaria: New Needs Need New Techniques’

To follow and support Fiona's work, you can find her here: The Scottish Jazz Space

Ashaine White has been performing all over London as well as doing some incredible work behind the scenes. Her EP launch is in London this month on October 19th, tickets available here: Ashaine Tickets

To follow and support Ash's work, you can find her here: Ashaine White

Jiaowei Hu has been busy attending the Jazzful Mid-Autumn Festival in Shanghai and says ‘I have been working with Blue Note China since 2017 and published over 50 articles related to musicians before & after concerts, jazz culture, sociological topics and so forth, I can’t quite find the right, precise words to describe how much I am looking forward to our next five years together. They owned my first compensated writing and have become my biggest (vice versa) and mostly trusted partner ever since. Apart from work, the friendship which I have gained and will always cherish with some of their amazing ladies is more precious than gold. Since we have survived the pandemic together, we will live through anything else as well’

To follow and support Jiaowei’s work, you can find her here: Jiaowei Hu

Rouhangeze has her picks and reviews for Jazz FM's Bandcamp Friday Picks published here: Bandcamp Friday Picks

To follow and support Rou's work, you can find her here: Rouhangeze website

And last but not least Kim Cypher has been very busy lately: ‘I love nothing more than working with amazing musicians, it's my absolute favourite part of the job. So, the past few weeks have been awesome. I got to record with musician, producer, singer-songwriter Harlano Weekes and his incredible CK Gospel Choir. They added the finishing touch to my forthcoming charity song and music video as part of my 'Bring Your Own Sunshine' project, due for release early next year. I also worked with two of my favourite female artists, our very own Fiona Ross for her 'Red Flags and High Heels' album launch at Pizza Express Soho plus Bulgarian jazz vocalist, composer and band leader Ami Oprenova as part of her UK album tour. I am currently writing a feature about Ami and an album review of her forthcoming album 'Precious Day's, to be published in the coming weeks. 'Precious Days' is available for download now on Bandcamp and will be released on all platforms on 5th November’: Precious Days

Photo by Mike Cypher

To follow and support Kim's work, you can find her here: Kim Cypher website

We are thrilled to launch the first episode in our new podcast series 'Knocking Down the Door' with partners Céline Peterson and Black Lives in Music, produced and hosted by Ashaine White. Platforming inspirational black women in the Jazz industry. Available on all platforms: Knocking Down The Door: Episode One

In our first episode, host Ashaine White talks to our partners Céline Peterson and Roger Wilson.

Artist Representative and Producer Céline Peterson has presented concerts and given inspiring speeches all over the globe (Canada, The United States, Denmark, Barbados, Switzerland, and South America), and manages some of the most exciting jazz artists on the scene today, including JUNO Award winner Robi Botos, 2018 Ellis Marsalis Piano Competition winner Ben Paterson, and Member to the Order of Canada, Dr. Dave Young. She is a producer of the Kensington Market Jazz Festival, which takes place every September in the heart of downtown Toronto and over the course of 3 days and presents over 400 local artists in 24 venues to 5000+ patrons. This artist-driven and volunteer-fuelled festival is led by singer, songwriter, philanthropist, and Officer of the Order of Canada, Molly Johnson. Céline has also worked extensively with Coalition Canada and their Youth4Music initiative as an Ambassador. Céline has always been a proud ally to the up-and-coming generations of musicians, and along with her work at the Coalition, has done workshops at various schools including Durham College, and The Chicago Academy for the Arts. "Working with Music Makes Us, and specifically as a youth ambassador for the Youth4Music program, Céline has consistently proven to be an articulate, passionate and inspiring leader who motivates others in person and through her writing." - Holly Nimmons • former Executive Director, Music Makes Us, the Coalition for Music Education in Canada.

Black Lives in Music addresses the current inequality of opportunity for black people aspiring to be artists or professionals in the Jazz and Classical music industry. Black Lives in Music believes in real equality for Black people to learn musical instruments at grassroots level and to allow them to pursue and realise their musical ambitions. Made up of a number of partners who are all working towards the same goal: to dismantle structural racism in our industry, they aim to support the industry in providing better professional opportunities and achieve equality for Black professionals at all levels and in all areas of the UK Jazz and Classical industry. Representation matters, we need to take action together and create a level playing field for everyone to have an equal chance to succeed. Black Lives in Music stands for equal opportunities – for Black people to be able to work successfully in the UK music industry without being the subject of discrimination.

Roger Wilson has many years of experience on both sides of the stage as musician, educator, tour manager and administrator. Conservatoire trained, he has worked extensively in the commercial, jazz and classical sector with a wide range of artists from Lesley Garett and Bryn Terfel to James Brown and Quincey Jones. He has also played in some of London’s most successful music theatre productions. As an instrumental teacher and lecturer, Roger has worked throughout the UK music education sector at all levels. In recent years, he has been dedicated in his support for the professional development of aspiring young jazz musicians.

The second episode in our new podcast series ‘On The Bookcase’, we welcome Monika Herzig with music from Hannah Horton. Available here: On The Bookcase Episode Two

In 1987, the pedagogical institute in Weingarten, Germany awarded a scholarship for a one-year exchange program at the University of Alabama to one of their students, jazz pianist Monika Herzig. Together with her partner and guitarist Peter Kienle, she arrived in the States on a one-way ticket, with one suitcase of belongings and one guitar in August 1988.

Since then she has completed her Doctorate in Music Education with minor fields in Jazz Studies at Indiana University, where she is now a faculty member in Arts Administration. Her book “David Baker – A Legacy in Music” was released November 2011 on IU Press, and Experiencing Chick Corea: A Listener’s Companion on Rowman and Littlefield, 2017.

As a touring jazz artist, she has performed at many prestigious jazz clubs and festivals, such as the Indy Jazz Fest, Cleveland’s Nighttown, Birdland, the Manchester Craftsmen Guild, to name just a few. Groups under her leadership have toured Germany, opened for acts such as Tower of Power, Sting, the Dixie Dregs, Yes, and more.

She has released more than a dozen CDs under her leadership on her own ACME Records as well as Owl Studios and Whaling City Sounds. Her awards include a 1994 Down Beat Magazine Award for Best Original Song, a Jazz Journalist Association Hero 2015 award, as well as grants from the NEA, the Indiana Arts Commission, MEIEA, among others. Her newest project “SHEroes” features the world’s leading female jazz instrumentalists including Leni Stern, Jamie Baum, Ingrid Jensen, Jennifer Vincent, Ada Rovatti, Mayra Casales, Reut Regev, and more with a second release date of March 2018. Thomas Garner from Garageradio.com writes, “I was totally awed by the fine musicianship throughout”.

https://www.monikaherzig.com/

For those of you who would like to follow our team, we thought we would publish a monthly team update article to share some of the teams work both inside and outside of Women in Jazz Media. Our group is all volunteer based, so as you can image, everyone is working very hard doing their thing!

Erminia Yardley has just published her latest article for Jazz in Europe, reviewing Chris Standring's new album. You can read it here: The Power of Music: Chris Standring at his best The article includes stunning photography from Carl Hyde.

To follow and support Erminia's work, you can find her on Twitter: Erminia Yardley

Kim Cypher along with her weekly radio show, is focussing on Bulgarian vocalist, band leader and composer Ami Oprenova. She is coming to the UK for a tour with a launch gig on Sunday 26th September at Toulouse Lautrec. Kim will be interviewing her and she is also collaborating with her for a gig in Cheltenham on Thursday 7th October. Kim is still excited about making her Ronnie Scotts debut a little while ago and you can read all about it here: Kim Cypher: Catching Dreams

To follow and support Kim's work, you can find her here: Kim Cypher

Rouhangeze has been working on her new album and we are excited for its upcoming release. She spoke to Chris Newstead of Watford Jazz Junction all about it here: Chatting with singer & composer Rouhangeze. She has a show coming up very soon at The Spice Of Life with her jazz fusion band The Scientists, tickets here: Spice of Life. Rouhangeze has also been announced as a new presenter for Jazz FM 'We're so excited for Rouhangeze to join the team and presenting her brand-new show 'Jazz Odyssey' every Friday evening from 1am, exploring the musical cross-pollination of jazz and beyond'

To follow and support Rouhangeze work, you can find her here: Rouhangeze

and lastly for this update, but by no means least, we are excited to see Wendy Kirkland's new single release 'Detour Ahead' which is available now: Detour Ahead. Wendy has also recently performed two sell out shows at Ronnie Scotts and you can read about them here: Wendy Kirkland: Her Time To Shine

To follow and support Wendy, you can find her here: Wendy Kirkland