Christine Jensen Orchestra

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Canadian Saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen has led a distinct voice to the creative jazz scene for the last twenty-five years with her large and small ensembles. She is set to release her third jazz orchestra album Harbour (2024) which follows previous releases Habitat (2013) and Treelines (2010).  It features her Montreal-based orchestra, along with guest soloists NY-based Ingrid Jensen on trumpet and electronics, Gary Versace on piano, Chet Doxas on tenor saxophone, Jon Wikan on drums and Montreal-based Steve Raegele on guitar. This album captures over a decade of her compositions and commissions, with her sister’s improvisations infused throughout.

“I think of this collection of songs as my commissioning series, with each piece marking time. I chose the title Harbour because I think its place of shelter on the water, a respite before the new migrations that await on land. This ensemble of family and friends represents that feeling to me, as we all came out of so much turbulence to land together in a room, where my music could take flight. The musicians that I had the privilege to perform and record with took all this to another level and brought their own characters in through their masterful sounds and improvisations. This time around, I can’t be more thrilled with the magic that has surfaced, from the sculpting of forms to the performances that are so lovingly interpreted.”

CHRISTINE JENSEN IN THE PRESS…

“Always a compelling writer, capable of strong lyricism combined with harmonic invention and plenty of narrative twists and turns, Jensen’s music not only impresses on a first encounter, but reveals more with each and every listen.”  –  All About Jazz

“Jensen’s broad, burly, often vibratoless tone jumps out on both alto and soprano… a spirit of playful joy predominates…”  – Downbeat 4-Star Review

“Despite the ensemble’s size, and Jensen’s often swelling and soaring arrangements, everything is delivered with beautiful delicacy.”  – Jazz Times

“…Jensen composes warm, Fauvist pieces with nuanced dynamics – intertwining themes that grow, swell and shift – and solos that advance the narrative, rather than interrupt it with mere virtuosity.”

– The Seattle Times

Christine Jensen Album HARBOUR out June 28th

Harbour

And we will conclude with the fagship piece: Harbour. It is a rich, complex work which offers a diversity of atmospheres or climates with his sister Ingrid opening. As in Wynton Marsalis’ Citi Movement , it is the writing which serves the orchestral contribution. Mass work, with numerous individual choruses, we are gradually entering the realm of excellence.

Listen twice rather than once to grasp the depth of the profession and the essence of jazz in all its forms of course