Monika Herzig, Sheroes

The founding vision of the group was to bring today's leading female instrumentalists on the world's prominent jazz stages in order to break the vicious cycle of stereotyping and tokenism that causes lingering barriers to diverse participation in the creative art form jazz. Our success and activism has inspired more inclusive strategies and musical formations, however recent data, i.e. Jazzstudie 2022 of the German Jazz Union, documents slow progress towards the goal of equal gender participation for instrumentalists. Similar results are also documented in the Routledge Companion Jazz and Gender (2022) that I produced as co-editor and co-author.

Hence, we're excited to release Sheroes #4, a project sponsored by Chamber Music America and produced by Lenny White, with our core front line of award-winning NY flutist Jamie Baum and trombonist Reut Regev, Andy Williams alumna Rosa Avila on drums, one of Europe's bright stars bassist Gina Schwarz from Vienna and special guests Camille Thurman-Green on saxophone and Leni Stern on guitar. Previous special guests included Lakecia Benjamin, Ingrid Jensen, Ada Rovatti, Mayra Casales, and more. The group has been featured at MCG Jazz, Keystone Corner, Birdland Jazzclub, Unterfahrt Munich, Porgy & Bess Vienna, Stuttgart Theaterhaus Jazztage, Alexandria and Kairo, and many more venues throughout our numerous international tours. (Monika Herzig)

Program and cast

Monika Herzig: piano
Jamie Baum: flute
Reut Regev: trombone
Gina Schwarz: bass
Rosa Avila: drums