(photo of Jenny Scheinman by Kory Thibeault)
We always jump at the chance to present a new project by hometown hero Jenny Scheinman—and this one, whose namesake is a venerable fall tradition at Arcata’s annual North Country Fair, got us leaping higher than usual.
For ages, Scheinman nursed the idea of a musical homage to Humboldt. A stalwart of New York’s jazz and creative music scenes for thirteen years, she returned to her redwood roots in 2012, and since then, even as she’s continued her artistic evolution, she’s also studied Humboldtian themes from a number of angles. In recent years Scheinman has (among other things): written a song cycle based on the crusty characters of her childhood home; sketched out a surrealist multimedia project based on the county’s namesake, German naturalist and polymath Alexander Von Humboldt; collaborated with filmmaker Ai Aiwane on a video installation about The Mattole River (Cojo Come Home); and immersed herself in the sundry sounds and the wild cultural history of this place—all with the aim of conjuring in music the extraordinary diversity of the life and land, past and present, of the Pacific Northwest in general and the Lost Coast in particular. Her epic new release, All Species Parade, is the result of those meditations.
In the studio, Scheinman brought the all-original program to life in the form of an expansive double album featuring pianist Carmen Staaf, guitar icons Bill Frisell, Nels Cline, and Julian Lage, and the revered rhythm team of bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. (On the road, Scheinman, Staaf, and Scherr are joined by guitarist Adam Ratner and drummer Mark Ferber.)
Though All Species Parade brims with an hour and a quarter of music, it contains just 10 songs, three of which make up an Ellington-inspired suite that clocks in at 20 minutes. This long-form approach is a departure for Scheinman, whose ten previous albums tend toward a more concise, song-like aesthetic. On this album, she says, she “wanted . . . the musicians to spill over the edges and be their most expansive selves. This is nature worship music, and I didn’t want it to feel domesticated.” She also orchestrated the album with multiple chordal instruments, which creates a multi-textured, ever-adapting network of sound that she likens to “the complex understory of a forest.” While the project’s sonic soundscape often evokes a sense of pastoral calm and wonder, it also strives to capture “a charged relationship to the natural world, a feeling of being part of something bigger than ourselves. Something powerful, and fragile, and constantly changing. Something alive. I want to recreate that experience of awe.”
Scheinman’s playing is, as always, radiant and soulful, stamped with jazz vernacular, infused with old-time fiddling tradition, buoyed by her distinctive lyrical poise and technique. While some songs are a pared-down dialogue of fiddle and guitar, the full quintet tunes range from the playful “Ornette Goes Home” and the Mancini-eseque “Every Bear That Ever There Was” to the more placid “With Sea Lions” and the grooving title track, which Scheinman describes as “a party to which animals of all sizes, colors, and adaptations are invited.”
In addition to leading her own bands and working extensively with such improvising musicians such as Jason Moran, Brian Blade, Ron Miles, Allison Miller, Vinicius Cantuaria and many more, Scheinman has also toured and recorded with songwriting legends Lucinda Williams, Bruce Cockburn, Robbie Fulks, Rodney Crowell, Lou Reed, Ani DiFranco and Joni Mitchell. She is featured on the original cast recording of Anais Mitchell’s hit musical Hadestown and has written several feature length movie scores, including the forthcoming Avenue Of The Giants.
Sponsors
Our programming couldn’t happen without the steadfast support of dozens of RJA members & sponsors, not to mention the community spirit of Arcata’s own dynamic arts agency, Playhouse Arts. Special thanks to Bug Press, the most steadfast of jazz allies, for its abiding generosity.
Additional support for this show comes from Cafe Brio, Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate, Bob and Amy Doran, John Helie & Monica Simms, Josh Meisel & Mary Virnoche, and North Coast Co-Op.