ARTEMIS ANNOUNCE MAY 5th RELEASE OF NEW BLUE NOTE ALBUM "IN REAL TIME"!
FEATURING A DYNAMIC NEW LINE-UP WITH RENEE ROSNES, INGRID JENSEN, NORIKO UEDA, ALLISON MILLER, NICOLE GLOVER & ALEXA TARANTINO
Three years after the release of ARTEMIS’ self-titled debut album, the acclaimed ensemble returns with the May 5 release of In Real Time, a marvelous follow-up that highlights the improvisational strength of its members as well as their respective gifts as composers. The album showcases a new lineup of the collective with founding members—pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller—joined by newcomers Nicole Glover on tenor saxophone and Alexa Tarantino on alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, and flute. The 8-song set presents compelling originals along with choice arrangements of pieces by Lyle Mays (“Slink”) and Wayne Shorter (“Penelope”).
The album is introduced with the brightly swinging single “Lights Away From Home,” a piece composed by Ueda which was inspired when the bassist witnessed a meteor shower on a small, isolated island in upstate New York. “I made a sketch of the piece the next morning while sitting on the same rock where I saw the shooting stars, remembering the excitement of the experience,” Ueda recalls. “My aim was to write something with a positive, upbeat vibe.”
The band’s 2020 debut was met with wide critical acclaim. “Collectively, the sheer force of the group’s ability is staggering,” wrote DownBeat. The Wall Street Journal praised their “ability to move gracefully through various styles and moods and to sound, by turns, authoritative and playful, locked-in or loose-limbed,” adding that “ARTEMIS means to upend expectations, gently and yet with force. Its music comes off like a nuanced argument for a fresh point of view.”
“The new album is an authentic representation of the collective and the individual,” Miller says. “Our growth as a band is clear from the downbeat. There is a trust that has become even more solidified since our first recording and the chemistry is palpable.”
"The Power of...ARTEMIS"
DOWNBEAT Sept. 2020
ARTEMIS IS FIERCE!
By Suzanne Lorge
Last fall, Blue Note Records made history by signing pianist Renee Rosnes' adventurous septet, Artemis to its roster. The deal stands out for the departure from the norm: Blue Note typically represents solo artists and bandleaders. The self-led groups it does represent tend to be small. And, regardless of size, Blue Note bands overwhelmingly comprise male musicians. By welcoming Artemis into its pantheon of esteemed artists, Blue Note upends these precedents and expands the diversity of its ranks. The label will release Artemis' suberb eponymous debut on Sept. 11.
While the band pushes several boundaries –cultural, generational– it's hard to miss that its lineup is exclusively female. By now though, the all-female jazz band isn't as surprising as it once was. So, what makes Artemis exceptional isn't how they identify, but how they compose, perform, lead and collaborate as the elite musicians that they are. Collectively, the sheer force of the group's ability is staggering!
To read more of the article, purchase this issue: https://downbeat.com/magazine/2020-09
[During a Zoom conference call with Down Beat, the members of Artemis discussed the creative process behind their eponymous Blue Note debut, their views on inclusivity in jazz and why the group decided to name itself after the Greek goddess of the hunt.]
ARTEMIS ON JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA
Hosted by Christian McBride
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/21/669962702/women-in-jazz-for-artemis-its-bigger-than-a-cause
"Their set played like an expertly crafted mixtape, moving from a knotty version of Thelonious Monk's Brilliant Corners to a surprisingly dramatic version of the Beatles' 'Fool on the Hill." –– ROLLING STONE