Canadian Saxophonist & Composer Christine Jensen Shares New 19-Piece Jazz Orchestra Album ‘Harbour’

June 28, 2024 BY Emma Orland

Today, the acclaimed, multi-JUNO-winning Canadian composer, saxophonist, and big band leader Christine Jensen is proud to release her latest jazz orchestra album Harbour. This is her third album for her jazz orchestra. The seven-song follow-up to 2013’s Habitat features nineteen different players, a beautifully textured and nuanced record made up of commissioned pieces that all center around a feeling of home and launching of new beginnings. Recorded at Studio Piccolo in Montreal, guest soloists include Christine’s sister and renowned New York trumpeter Ingrid Jensen (Artemis, Darcy James Argue). Together, they highlight a familial bond that goes beyond words on cuts like “Passing Lion’s Gate,” “Swirlaround,” and “Fantasy On Blue,” to name a few. Elsewhere, Chet Doxas soars, lending his tenor sax to “Cascadian Fragments” while guitarist Steve Raegele and alto sax player Donny Kennedy can be heard on “Harbour.” Last but not least, pianist Gary Versace (Maria Schneider), drummer Jon Wilkan (Darcy James Argue), saxophonist Erik Hove, and bassist Remi-Jean LeBlanc make their presence known with their prowess.

Each player chosen embodies the feeling of safe harbour for Christine as she reflects: “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.”

Listen to ‘Harbour’ Here:
https://christinejensen.ffm.to/harbour

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 considered a masterpiece by Downbeat 5*) 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 have always loved the act of storytelling,” Jensen reflects. “My family and childhood friends constantly remind me that I had my nose in a book at all hours, escaping to so many different realms. In my compositions, I am always translating my stories through the characters of the orchestra. As my mentor Jim McNeely pointed out to me years ago in a lesson that stuck, he likes to think of the story as a play, working with the entrance of each character, or in this case each musician and improviser.”

“I think of this collection of songs as my commissioning series, with each piece marking time since the beginnings of life for my daughter Liv, who is now thirteen. I chose the title Harbour because I think of it as a 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 has, in relatively short order, evolved into a world class writer capable of going head-to-head with any large ensemble composer/bandleader on the scene today.”

–All About Jazz

“…orchestral jazz on par with the textural-lyrical magic of Kenny Wheeler and Maria Schneider, though with an earthy dynamism more akin to Wayne Shorter and a sense of bittersweet melody all Jensen’s own. …of the moment yet timeless; big band clichés avoided, but beauty is paramount’

–Downbeat 

“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

Download Album Artwork Here

Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra

Harbour

June 28, 2024

Nettwerk / Justin Time Records

Track List:

1. Passing Lions Gate
2. Swirlaround
3. Wink
4. Surge
5. Harbour
6. Cascadian Fragments
7. Fantasy On Blue