Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 1:21 pm Post subject: Who is today's best female jazz trumpeter?
I sponsor guest artists to give clinics and perform with the jazz orchestra at my local university. I have an interest in sponsoring a female jazz trumpeter. Who do think is the best female jazz trumpeter today and, equally as important, why do you think she is the best? _________________ HERMOKIWI
Joined: 30 Mar 2015 Posts: 131 Location: California
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 1:35 pm Post subject:
Ingrid Jensen. She's an amazing player who's been on the scene for decades now. If you don't know her, look her up. I've also heard that she's an amazing teacher and a very sweet woman. I'm sure you would not regret having her work with your kids
Joined: 19 Dec 2013 Posts: 613 Location: Oakville, CT
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 3:28 pm Post subject:
It's hard, no, impossible, to define "best," but you can probably narrow things down if you know which direction you want to go.
For my money, you can't find anybody who embodies jazz as a lifestyle as much as Shaye Cohn of Tuba Skinny. Third generation jazz musician, great leader of one of the most popular trad jazz bands in the world...classically trained but made her mark busking in New Orleans.
That said, she may not be what you're looking for in a university setting.
Joined: 13 May 2015 Posts: 295 Location: Mississippi
Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2019 5:56 pm Post subject:
I heard Bria Skonberg last week and was greatly impressed. I've only heard recordings of the others already mentioned. While I enjoy her recordings, they do not do justice to the way she played in person.
Ingrid Jensen
Cindy Bradley
Shaye Cohn
Gunhild Carling
Bria Skonberg
That's not very many names. I'm not certain whether the lack of names is astonishing, tragic, embarrassing or something else. So I'm bumping the thread to see if any additional names turn up.
In the meantime I'll comment on the players suggested.
To me, there are two basic camps in improvisation based on individual preferences. The first camp consists of those who prefer what I call melodic improvisation. The second camp consists of those who prefer angular improvisation. Some players fit squarely within these definitions, that is, they are predominately melodic or predominantly angular. Some players are somewhere in between. Of course, there are other ways to subdivide improvisational types but for the purposes of this discussion I'm going to use the melodic v. angular comparison.
I've heard Ingrid Jensen live. She has a tremendous jazz vocabulary. I place her strongly in the angular category. I tend to favor melodic soloists but that doesn't diminish the fact that I recognize that Ingrid Jensen is extremely skilled in what she does.
I once sponsored Clay Jenkins (another very angular player) to come here. This was at the request of the jazz faculty. I'd never before heard of Clay. I listened to his recordings with a degree of mixed bewilderment/astonishment. Hearing him live was a much more fulfilling experience than listening to his recordings. Everything made a lot more sense in the live performance. Even though I lean to the more melodic I have to say that Clay was brilliant. It was difficult to imagine how he thought of what he played. He was an absolute wizard.
I feel similarly about Ingrid Jensen. What she does is a little too random and angular for my tastes but in terms of technical proficiency, imagination and execution she is, to me, at the top of the pyramid in terms of female artists performing contemporary jazz.
The biggest objection I have with Ingrid Jensen is her sound. She sounds a little tubby to me on the Monette. She was interviewed right after she started playing the Monette in which she commented that she felt the sound wasn't quite right and that she felt there was an adaptation period. I don't think her sound has changed, however.
I'd never heard of Cindy Bradley so I listened to her recordings. She is an extremely good player with a great sound. Her recordings are in the "techno" vein rather than straight jazz as we tend to think of straight jazz. However, she is very skilled technically and leans toward the melodic. Because I tend to prefer more melodic soloists I prefer listening to her compared to listening to Ingrid Jensen. However, I wish I could hear her on straight jazz without the "techno" influence. In the Wikipedia article about her she says that her primary influences have been Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan and Blue Mitchell. I don't hear Freddie in her playing at all. I do hear Lee and Blue. So, overall, I like her styling and sound more than I like Ingrid Jensen's style and sound. That being said, what Ingrid Jensen does would be a lot more difficult for me to do than what Cindy Bradley does. Overall, however, Cindy Bradley is wonderful.
I've heard of Shaye Cohn. She does not appear to have any recordings featuring her as the primary artist. What she does (traditional New Orleans jazz) she does very well. However, I don't feel she's in a class with either Ingrid Jensen or Cindy Bradley as a contemporary jazz artist.
Gunhild Carling is a force of nature. She is an astonishing multi-instrument jazz player and a well schooled jazz historian. However, she stays mostly with traditional New Orleans styling in her playing, she's more of an all around entertainer than a jazz trumpeter and he primary instrument is actually trombone. So, I can't put her in the same class as Ingrid Jensen or Cindy Bradley as a contemporary jazz artist. In some ways, however, Gunhild Carling is in a class by herself. I'm a big fan.
Finally, I'd never heard of Bria Skonberg so I listened to her recordings. She is, to me, a vocalist who plays trumpet. She plays with a lot of stylings similar to those used by Louis Armstrong so, to me, she is not a contemporary jazz artist in a class with Ingrid Jensen or Cindy Bradley.
So, that's my take on the 5 names so far. Anyone care to join in on these 5 and/or suggest other names? _________________ HERMOKIWI
Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Posts: 9014 Location: Hawai`i - Texas
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 11:08 am Post subject:
No offense intended, hermokiwi, but why are you including Clay? This thread is about women.
It should go without saying, for most, anyway, that there is no one best. That criteria is, maybe, more "who do you like listening to best?" I think Carling plays her but off, but I prefer listening to Jenkins if it got down to that. I think most other posts take that into account, also. _________________ "If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird
You might want to consider that you aren't getting so many names because people aren't comfortable with sending in a list of ostensibly 'best' players; it's not a competition.
Speaking for myself, I wouldn't recommend anyone for a gig where the booker seems to feel comfortable giving opinions about the player's shortcomings in a public forum. All the performers listed above are professionals who have dedicated enormous amounts of time, energy, and attention to craft - none of them need a job working for someone who will make public comments about their sound being "tubby."
Joined: 19 Dec 2013 Posts: 613 Location: Oakville, CT
Posted: Tue Apr 09, 2019 12:07 pm Post subject:
So OP posts an amorphous "Who's the best" question with no real detail, then lectures those of us who contributed our perspective - and, TBH, I quite clearly said naming the best was difficult to impossible - with why they aren't the best.
No offense intended, hermokiwi, but why are you including Clay? This thread is about women.
It should go without saying, for most, anyway, that there is no one best. That criteria is, maybe, more "who do you like listening to best?" I think Carling plays her but off, but I prefer listening to Jenkins if it got down to that. I think most other posts take that into account, also.
I mentioned Clay just to illustrate the point that someone who favors a more melodic approach can fully appreciate an angular player as well, that one approach is not necessarily "better" than another, that players with different approaches can be equally amazing in terms of what they do, that "better" and "more enjoyable" (in the listener's opinion) are not the same thing.
The point made by some responders that this is an opinionated subject is true. I thought that much was understood and quite obvious without me actually saying it. What is surprising to me is that so few players are being suggested. _________________ HERMOKIWI
So OP posts an amorphous "Who's the best" question with no real detail, then lectures those of us who contributed our perspective - and, TBH, I quite clearly said naming the best was difficult to impossible - with why they aren't the best.
Oy.
Your conception of a "lecture" and my conception of a "lecture" are considerably different. Opinions are not lectures. Opinions are just opinions.
Obviously, there is no definitive objective answer to my original question. That much should have been understood without me saying it. That's why I used the word "think" twice. I'm just soliciting opinions. That's why I asked for some clarification as to why the responder thinks that this, that or some other player merits their recommendation. _________________ HERMOKIWI
You might want to consider that you aren't getting so many names because people aren't comfortable with sending in a list of ostensibly 'best' players; it's not a competition.
Speaking for myself, I wouldn't recommend anyone for a gig where the booker seems to feel comfortable giving opinions about the player's shortcomings in a public forum. All the performers listed above are professionals who have dedicated enormous amounts of time, energy, and attention to craft - none of them need a job working for someone who will make public comments about their sound being "tubby."
In her interview even she was uncomfortable with her sound. So, she said it first in a public forum, not me. Here are quotes from Ingrid herself when she switched to the Monette (these were posted here on TH):
"Anyhow- my horn.
For the record, that video is from the 1st day (hour) of playing on it.
Yes, it sounds diffused and edgeless (in that video)."
"I am still in the learning process with the Monette and it's been the greatest "trumpet" year of my life. It all began with the mouthpiece change. Dave sent me a bunch of pieces to try (by mail)
and I freaked out a bit, because I couldn't play any of them."
Maybe I heard her live while she was still working things out. I'm simply describing what I heard and, if anything, her own comments are far more critical than mine. _________________ HERMOKIWI
I'm OK with the comments that have popped up. I always try to be responsive. I fund an "Excellence in Jazz Performance" scholarship program and right now we have one trumpet player (female) receiving support (we also have two drummers and one saxophone player in the program, all male).
I'd like to see more diversity in guest artists and I'm partial to trumpet players. Thus the source of my original inquiry. I think getting opinions from other trumpet players and sharing my own thoughts in the conversation are productive in terms of gathering information to make good decisions. I'm not intending to insult anyone. My motives are positive. _________________ HERMOKIWI
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