"Watching [Ingrid] Jensen lead all-star bands at Port Townsend, I've been impressed with her centered, athletic grace and Milesian strength," writes jazz critic Joseph Blake.
Ingrid will be teaching and performing at Jazz Port Townsend, July 22-29. She sat down with us for a recent interview about her music, discussing her development in jazz, how jazz can move from the artist to the listener in the post-CD era, and what the future could hold for the next generation of jazz musicians.
Centrum: You grew up in Nanaimo, Canada, you've played in the subways of New York City, and you now teach and play at internationally renowned conservatories and workshops. What was your development in jazz like?
Ingrid Jensen: I got started in the public school system. There were a lot of good players and a good jazz scene in Nanaimo, and there was a local big band called the NMA (the Nanaimo Musicians Association). I was mentored by a lot of great people in that band that really loved the music. A big step for me was when I went to [Jazz] Port Townsend after my second year of college. It was a big epiphany for me, to play with such a high level of musicians.
They encouraged me to go east, which was something that I had no thought of doing up to that point. I had a bunch of scholarship money that I’d accumulated over the years, as well as grants (I would later receive) from the Canada Council, and went to Berklee for three years. When I graduated from Berklee I moved to Europe for while, first Denmark (to practice and think) and then to Austria where I taught and played. It was great time for me in both places as I played a great deal with a variety of musicians and in a wide variety of styles.
