Christine Jensen on the ‘Infinitude’ of jazz

CBC News | British Columbia | 25 June 2017

Two-time Juno award winning saxophonist is this week’s special guest on Hot Air

Montreal-based jazz saxophonist and composer, Christine Jensen will be revisiting her West Coast roots when she plays at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival this week.

Born in Sechelt, B.C. and raised in Nanaimo, she remembers dancing around the living room with a view of the Gulf Islands while listening to the likes of Oscar Peterson.

“We spun records over dinner to keep everybody happy,” Jensen told host Margaret Gallagher, host of CBC’s Hot Air.

Coastal life meant plenty of opportunity to hike and sail and gave Jensen a sense of freedom, which she said shaped much of her personal music writing style.

Her latest album, Infinitude, is a collaboration with her sister, Ingrid Jensen, New York’s internationally acclaimed trumpeter.

Infinitude also features guitar heavyweight Ben Monder, who notably worked with David Bowie on his final album, Black Star.

“When you watch him play it’s nearly like an octopus on the guitar,” said Jensen.

Jensen’s intimate compositions have earned the artist two Juno awards.

In 2013, her album Treelines won best contemporary jazz album, an award she took home the following year for the follow up album, Habitat.

Jensen has taken her music on tour through India, Peru, Denmark, Turkey and beyond.

When she’s not writing or performing, Jensen conducts the Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal. She also teaches composition at Sherbrooke University and her alma mater, McGill University.

The sisterly duo will be performing with Monder as part of the Vancouver and Victoria jazz festivals on June 26th and 27th.