via Downbeat
In some ways, it’s hard to believe that ARTEMIS is only 6 years old. Not just for the group’s rapid ascent into the jazz firmament, but for its players’ cool-headed resilience in the face of tectonic change. First, there was the sudden spotlight of the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival and subsequent major-label record deal. Then the social justice movement and the jazz world’s reckoning with its inequitable treatment of female musicians. And the global pandemic shutdown, just as the then-septet readied its debut album for release. Throughout all of this, the group continued to steadily build an admired presence with the listening public. DownBeat readers noticed: This year they voted Artemis the Jazz Group of the Year.
In other ways, however, Artemis’ success is neither surprising nor unexpected. As individual artists, the group’s core members have long graced all manner of concert stages and recordings: Artemis musical director/pianist Renee Rosnes has released more than 20 albums as a leader and racked up multiple Juno Award nominations and wins. Trumpeter Ingrid Jensen has led almost a dozen albums, garnered one Juno, and is a first call for bandleaders like Maria Schneider, Terri Lyne Carrington and Darcy James Argue.
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