Trenton2Nite presents Women in Jazz Festival.
By: Susan Van Dongen
When classically trained woodwind musician Audrey Wright thought about testing the waters of jazz and improvisation, she was intimidated by her perfectionism. Growing up in a household where Charlie Parker and company were often the background music, she knew what a great solo sounded like but feared she couldn’t even come close if she tried it herself.
"It’s a totally different skill," she says. "Being a good classical musician can actually hold you back. I could read very well but I couldn’t improvise, so I told myself ‘I’m not even going to try.’"
About 10 years ago, Anthony Branker, director of Princeton University’s jazz program, took Ms. Wright under his wing and worked some kind of magic. It took a while, but the boundaries of the veteran music "reader" dropped away and Ms. Wright found herself creating some very fine improvised solos.
"It took a lot of undoing, but now I feel confident, I’m really comfortable with improvising," she says.
She’s comfortable enough to be a regular performer on alto and soprano saxophone with the Princeton University JazzTet. Along with pianist Julia Brav, bassist Allison Wood and drummer Chuck Staab, Ms. Wright will be one of the featured females at the first Women in Jazz Festival in Trenton May 11. JazzTet will be playing at the Trenton Masonic Temple, one of four venues hosting the event.
Presented by the Trenton2Nite Jazz and Blues Series, the Women in Jazz Festival also welcomes Tara Buzash, Wenonah Brooks, Doris Spears, Miche Braden, Virginia Mayhew, Carol Heffler, Lynn Randall, Jeanie Bryson, Denise King, Nicki Denner, Crystal Torres and Susan Giles.
In addition to live performances, the festival offers two workshops, free and open to the public. A jazz instrumentalists’ workshop with pianist Ms. Buzash and saxophonist Ms. Mayhew will be held at Gallery 125, 125 S. Warren St., at 4:30 p.m. At the same time, across the street at Café Ole, Ms. Braden, Ms. Brooks and Ms. Bryson the daughter of the late Dizzy Gillespie and songwriter Connie Bryson will give a workshop for vocalists.
To top things off, all evening and into the night, the Trenton Marriott at Lafayette Yards will be humming with a jazz vocalist jam.
"I grew up in New Jersey and I’m very excited about the festival," Ms. Wright says. "It’s amazing that Trenton would have something like this, something that you think would only be in New York. I’m really happy that it’s here, locally."
A general and humanities reference librarian at Princeton University’s Firestone Library, Ms. Wright had put her music aside and, in fact, hadn’t played at all for a while when she sought out Mr. Branker.
"It was my dream to learn how to improvise and that’s when I called Tony," she says. "I had always been interested but didn’t have the confidence to improvise a solo. I had been involved with music since I was a kid, playing classical clarinet and dabbling in big band music. But I hadn’t played improvised jazz before I came here. I credit Tony with a lot of my development as a jazz musician. I’ve been in the role of his student and he’s been including me in a lot of Princeton’s jazz activities."
For the Women in Jazz Festival, JazzTet will be performing a number of Mr. Branker’s compositions, as well as original works by the quartet’s own members. Ms. Wright says JazzTet has existed in different forms and with different personnel for the last couple of years.
"A lot of the people are also in the jazz vespers ensemble and we play once a month in the university chapel," she says.
Ms. Wright admits that jazz has traditionally been a man’s world, but she has no qualms about being a female single reed musician.
"I think it’s the greatest thing in the world I’ve never had a problem," she says. "I’ve heard other people describe gender bias, but I’ve never felt this. I’m also not a full-time professional musician so I’m not as emotionally invested in it. Maybe I’m just more comfortable in male-dominated situations."
So confident is Ms. Wright about her improvisation skills that she’s formed a duo with her best friend, Sarah Jane Cion. Les Jumelles Jazz has a number of gigs planned in North Jersey throughout the summer.
"Sarah is a jazz pianist in New York and we haven’t been able to play together too much, mostly because she’s always been on a much higher level than me," she says. "But in the last few years, I’ve improved to the point where we’ve put together our own duo. This is an exciting new thing for us."
Ms. Wright names jazz legends Charlie Parker and John Coltrane as influences, but says jazz wasn’t always her favorite kind of music.
"My dad would put on Charlie Parker and John Coltrane and in high school I just wasn’t interested," she says. "Then I started to understand as I listened more and more, so I had this embedded in my ear. By the time I started to improvise myself, I had this vocabulary."
The Princeton University JazzTet with Audrey Wright will perform at the Trenton Masonic Temple, 100 Barracks St., Trenton, May 11, 7:45 p.m., as part of the Women in Jazz Festival. Other venues include Café Ole, 126 S. Warren St., Gallery 125, 125 S. Warren St. and the Trenton Marriott at Lafayette Yards, 1 W. Lafayette St. Free admission. (877) 728-9335; www.trenton2nite.com