As We Are Now by Renee Rosnes

I've know Renee since I was wearing braces, so I won't pretend to be writing an unbiased, critical review here - she's my homegrrl. That said, however, I would like to present her to you as a jazzgrrl role model.

On her fifth album entitled "As We Are Now" she leads a band of a bunchuvguys (that include jazz icon Jack DeJohnette) and plays primarily her original compositions. No timid flower here! Two of my favourite selections on this recording also stand out as tributes to female artists - "Abstraction Blue" is named for a watercolour by the painter Georgia O'Keefe, and aptly contains nuances of tone, hue and range. The title track "As We Are Now", refers to a short novel by May Sarton, although it apparently has nothing to do with that story - it is just an evocative title in and of itself.

So besides having a flourishing career as a jazz pianist, writing music and playing lots, Renee recently gave birth to a bouncing baby boy and is another of the jazzgrrls who chose drummers as spouses (ahem). And her playing is always true to her own voice, lyrical and thoughtful, so check it out. (And it's pronounced Ree-knee R-oz-nezz, fyi.)

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