WHO: Jazz Weekend featuring the New York Voices, Ingrid Jensen and music workshops
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7-8 (New York Voices Friday; Ingrid Jensen Saturday)
WHERE: Lawrence University Memorial Chapel, Appleton
INFO: lawrence.edu, ingridjensen.com

>>WIM: Ingrid Jensen
WOMEN IN MUSIC

British Columbia-born trumpeter Ingrid Jensen has been dazzling audiences in her own bands, as well as performing with some of the leading lights in jazz, including the Maria Schneider Orchestra. She peforms the second night of Jazz Weekend at Lawrence University. If you love music, this is a don’t-miss show. We caught up with Ingrid while leading her band as part of a cultural tour through Mexico.

SCENE: I read a review of “At Sea” that began: “Look, it’s a lady with a trumpet, and she’s really good!” (I found it even more interesting that the review was written by a woman!) That line led me to think that, yes, there is a good deal of macho swagger associated with the trumpet, but one only has to listen to your playing and realize it’s all so much nonsense (conversely, was Miles tapping his feminine side when he went all quiet and muted?). But I wonder if, perhaps early in your career, you had to jump more hurdles, work harder, because you are a woman trumpet player in a highly competitive, male-dominated arena? Just the fact that I had to put “woman” in front of “trumpet player” leads me to believe there must have been some slights and struggles along the way. At what point do you  become just “trumpet player” or “musician” without the adjective before them?

INGRID JENSEN: I would have to say, from the very beginning, Jim. Maybe even before birth!? The adjective became an apparent distraction to me when I came to the states to study at Berklee. Up until then, I can only remember a few ignorant comments from people saying the classic, “you  play really good for a girl” or something along those lines. I guess I was lucky to be brought up in a very supportive arts community, surrounded by people that loved to play music together without caring much about gender, race or anything else that was unrelated to the music. Thanks to my Mom having programmed me with great music from the womb until she passed (including the likes of Louis Armstrong, Basie, Ellington, etc.) I was already into jazz and on my way to being a player before I realized that there weren’t a lot of female trumpet players.

There were bumps along the way like there are for anyone that takes on a challenging career of any type, but the bottom line is that I knew that there was nothing else in life I wanted to do, other than play. In actuality, there is no reason to put “woman” in front of the title. We don’t put male in front of painter or female in front of opera singer, so why take the focus off of the craft by focusing on an element that is only a small part of the artistic equation? As far as working hard goes. Yes, I worked and work very hard, that is just par for the course when you play trumpet, two days off and it’s back to the beginning! Not to mention all of the time and energy that goes into writing, arranging, band-leading and running the business on my own.

Q: When did you begin trumpet, and at what point did you realize, this is it, this is what I am going to do with my life?

A: I started playing trumpet in 7th grade band. I realized that I was what I was going to do with my life about two years later while watching my hero Clark Terry play in Duncan, British Columbia.

Q: Was your family supportive?

A: They were supportive to a point. They were not convinced that I would ever make a career out of it. Even in my early 20s when I landed a record deal and a high paying job at a conservatory in Austria, they worried. I can’t blame them. It’s a crazy thing to do in many ways, play the trumpet for a living; but my choices were pretty limited as far as career dreams were going for me at the time and I was, as one of my many mentors, Hal Galper said, “without a choice – it has chosen you, so stop worrying and get shedding!”

Q: Was there a defining moment for you when you decided I am a musician, or was it a natural progression?

A: It was a natural progression. The more I played and listened, the more I realized that I was in love with music and, eventually, the trumpet.

Q: Did it help having a sister playing sax?

A: No. Christine is younger, so it actually helped her more than me. 

Q: Have you two always made music together, push each other to practice and explore?

A: No, it took awhile for us to play as I was off to college when she was just getting her chops together. Also, she was torn between alto and piano for many years, a choice that has made her into an extremely strong musician on many fronts. I actually recorded her compositions before we really got into playing together, I mean, aside from our family Christmas jam sessions.

Q: Did you have a musical mentor growing up in Nanaimo, someone to help give you the confidence and direction that led to the Berklee scholarships and beyond?

A: Diana Krall was very encouraging to me, as were the many band teachers that I had over the years. I was also keeping company with some of the top players of my generation, Phil Dwyer, Pat Collins and Brad Turner ( to name a few) who all kept on me to keep playing, even during times when my confidence was at an all-time low and I wanted to just toss my horn into the Pacific.

Q: I read somewhere that you have become an e-mail musical mentor to many young female horn players. What sort of advice are they seeking or what do they want to know from you?

A: Many of the young players are just looking to connect with me. Some have confidence issues, some just want to know that it’s ok to do something different, like play trumpet. Many want lessons, which I do my best to find time for. Some of them comment on how cool it is that I am doing what I do.
 
Q: I think people will find it interesting that your drummer, Jon Wikan, is also your husband. Does sharing a professional life pose any problems? Will the band be joining you at Lawrence University? 

A: The band will not be joining me at Lawrence. I will be playing with the stellar big band and faculty ensembles there and am very much looking forward to the event! Actually, Jon and I are just finishing our last day of this AMAZING tour of Mexico with the Jensen Five, a group I put together for this tour. No problems at all sharing our personal lives together. It actually works out really well as we get to hang out in amazing places AND play great music together, it’s quite the privileged life!
 
Q: How is that tour going? I ask because I’ve never considered jazz and Mexico in the same sentence.

A: Being in Mexico is incredibly humbling. We are the only jazz group in a massive arts and cultural festival that tours groups for the month of October all over the country.

It’s called the Cervantino festival. We have been to the heart of the country several times as every town or city has its own energy and its own unique way of digging what we do. Talk about playing for a clean slate as far as ears go! People of all ages come up to us after the gigs, trembling with excitement and overwhelmed with what they have heard.

We are playing mostly original music as well as some classic standards, arranged and deranged as much as possible. The more we connect on stage, the more excited they get. It’s also al lot of fun on a sonic level as I am utilizing my electronics (creating loops and wild delays) to show them trumpet sounds that are very new to them and NOT, the typical Mariachi sound that they are accustomed to.

Q: You have worked with another musician whose work I admire, Maria Schneider. How did you hook up with her orchestra?

A: I was called in one night at the last minute when Tim Hagens couldn’t make it. I actually knew from the first day I heard the band at Visiones, that I would be in her band and that we were some kind of musical soul mates.

Q: I sense a natural musical affinity between the two of you, perhaps a shared sense of growing up in northern climes and what that does to a person’s psyche?

A: Not only our northern climates bind our backgrounds, but there is also a similarity in upbringing. We both have two sisters, our middle names are both Lynn, we are middle class girls that received, what I consider, upper class exposure to the arts, and were both allowed a dreamy approach to life that was kept in balance with a good old-fashioned work ethic.

Q:. What’s next for you? Any projects coming up in 2009? 

A: MANY! We will record a new CD with  Nordic Connect and I will start on a new ArtistShare project of my own that will be funded (hopefully-ha) by my fans.

Q: Anything else people should know about Ingrid Jensen?

A: I love good espresso, people that like to listen and communicate and, oh yeah, since I’m Canadian and can’t vote in this VERY important election, I am officially endorsing the man that wants to get music back in the schools, Barak Obama!