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Ingrid Jensen

Born in Vancouver and raised in Nanaimo, Canada, Ingrid headed east after receiving a number of scholarships to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since graduating in 1989, her life has contained a whirlwind of musical activities. From her early days playing in the subways of New York, to establishing herself as a leader and soloist in a wide array of musical genres, Ingrid has made her mark. Her three CD's for the ENJA label won her nominations from the Canadian Juno Awards, including an award in 1995 for Vernal Fields.

Her performances as a leader and as a featured soloist have taken her around the world from Canada to Japan, Australia, South America, the Caribbean and to almost every country in Europe and Scandinavia.

Jensen can be heard with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, a number of other New York-based bands, as well as with her own groups. She has received rave reviews and a strong reputation among critics and peers. In 2003 she was nominated, for the second time, alongside trumpeter Dave Douglas for a Jazz Journalist Association Award in New York. A recent highlight was being featured on Gil Evans' Porgy and Bess at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, under the direction of Maria Schneider. She was also a guest in the festival's "Tribute to Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard", alongside Terence Blanchard, Eddie Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson and Kenny Garrett. Some of the many musicians she has performed and or recorded with include; Steve Wilson, Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Dr.Lonnie Smith, Marc Copland, Bob Berg, Gary Thomas, Gary Bartz, Jeff Hamilton, Bill Stewart, Terri-Lynn Carrington, Geoffrey Keezer, Billy Hart, George Garzone, Chris Connor, Victor Lewis, Clark Terry, and the DIVA Big Band.

Jensen is currently on faculty at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. From 1990 until 1992 she was professor of Jazz Trumpet at the Bruckner Conservatory of Music and at the Hochshule for Musik in Berlin. Jensen continues to fill her schedule with an astonishing array of artistic creativity as a performer and educator. In addition to performing, she conducts master classes, clinics, and workshops. Her current summer workshops include positions at the Salzburg Jazz Seminar, the Centrum Jazz Camp at Port Townsend, and The Brubeck Institute.

Civil Disobedience: Blue Note In The Progressive Sixties

Read "Blue Note In The Progressive Sixties" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 29, 2026

Bassist and educator David Ambrosio's quintet Civil Disobedience: Blue Note in the Progressive Sixties is both a tribute and a reclamation, a love letter to the music, the musicians and the social movements that shaped a turbulent era. The project was sparked by a student, which led Ambrosio to revisit a body of Blue Note recordings from the 1960s that had been shelved for years. As jazz-rock fusion rose in popularity and Alfred Lion sold the label, many adventurous post-bop ...

Album Review

Ingrid Jensen: Landings

Read "Landings" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
March 13, 2026

On Landings, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen convenes a quartet that thrives on speed and alertness. With organist Gary Versace, guitarist Marvin Sewell, and drummer Jon Wikan, she leads a band capable of sharp turns and open-road lyricism in the same breath. The music feels meticulously shaped yet gloriously unbound; an ensemble language forged in deep listening and shared risk. The album starts with a historic moment as 89-year-old tenor legend George Coleman joins in for his own composition “Amsterdam ...

Album Review

Ingrid Jensen: Landings

by Jack Kenny
February 14, 2026

Ingrid Jensen has emerged as a unique trumpet player with a distinctive sound that defines her and proclaims her nonpareil gifts. The album opens with “Handmaiden's Tale," a virtual duet with Gary Versace that clearly demonstrates the beauty of Jensen's tone. The track weaves together many strands of sheer beauty: warmth, lyricism, resonance and the roundness of the notes. It balances space and pace with a barely suppressed melancholy and soft dynamism. There is a fluidity here--refusal to ...

Album Review

Johannes Wallmann: Not Tired

Read "Not Tired" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
February 12, 2026

As the capstone to a terrific year which saw him first release Holding Space (Shifting Paradigm, 2025), a splendid duo disc with tenor saxophonist Dennis Mitcheltree, pianist Johannes Wallmann impresses once again with Not Tired, a delightful quintet outing which highlights the keyboardist's penchant for strong melodies as well as his superb bandleading skills. Wallmann has a fine set of colleagues here, with Ingrid Jensen's sparkling trumpet and Dayna Stephens' brawny tenor creating a scintillating two-horn tandem. Bassist ...

Radio & Podcasts

Pat Metheny, George Coleman! Vocals from Jose James and Gregory Porter. Deep UK music and jazz-funk

by Andy Crowther
February 6, 2026

New music from around the world, including an 89 years young George Coleman. Lots of guitar this month, from elder statesman and upcoming stars. Free music from vocalist Jose James paying tribute to John Coltrane. A selection of recent vinyl digs, Brazilian vibes from Denmark, and UK jazz-funk legends, Shakatak. Playlist Attilio Zanchi Septet “Charles Blues (Live)" from Mingus Portrait--Live at Nišville (Right Tempo) 00:00 Ingrid Jensen “Amsterdam after Dark feat. George Coleman" from Landings (Newvelle) 03:15 Harold ...

Album Review

Rin Seo: City Suite

Read "City Suite" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 18, 2025

There is no doubting which metropolis Korean-born composer Rin Seo had in mind when writing City Suite, the panoramic opening salvo and centerpiece on the debut recording by her fourteen-member Rin Seo Collective, as the suite's first movement is titled “The Big Apple." Seo moved to New York City, her present home, after coming to America to study jazz performance and composition at Boston's Berklee College of Music. The suite's three movements are thematic, and Seo's portrayal ...

Album Review

Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, featuring Ingrid Jensen: 7 Shades of Melancholia

Read "7 Shades of Melancholia" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
July 2, 2025

Although he was born and raised in Turkey, pianist, composer and educator Mehmet Ali Sanlikol says he was not a student of Turkish musical traditions until after he arrived in the United States more than thirty years ago. By the late '90s, however, Sanlikol, by then a successful working jazz musician, had reconnected with his Turkish roots, studied its grammar and played hundreds of concerts focused on the music of his homeland, blended with elements of American jazz and other ...

Festival

"Oh Canada" Series To Debut At Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival--Concerts Featuring Nine Canadian Jazz Groups Being Filmed For National Broadcast On PBS Stations In U.S. -- Nine-Day Festival Is June 24 - July 2

Source: Dalmath Associates Inc.
June 18, 2016

The 15th Anniversary edition of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival (XRIJF) will feature a new and third international series at this year's nine-day festival, held June 24-July 2. The inaugural “Oh Canada" Series, presented by The Canada Council For The Arts, will feature nine leading jazz artists and groups from Canada including Quinn Bachand's Brishen, Kent Sangster's Obsessions Octet, Jon Ballantyne Trio, Elizabeth Shepherd, Mike Murley Trio, Marianne Trudel Trio + Special Guest Ingrid Jensen, Jeff Johnston & Friends, ...
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Education

Hitting the jazz highway

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
May 13, 2015

Building your jazz skills isn’t just about playing your instrument, singing your songs, developing your style and strengthening your improvisational skills. It’s also about dealing with challenges on the road, disruptive sleep patterns, and getting along with your band mates as you jump on the van and head to the next gig. Four students from the jny: Boston-based Berklee College of Music will absorb a lot of that experience starting Thursday when they join trumpeter Ingrid Jensen on a five-date ...
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Recording

Saxophonist Steve Treseler Releases Center Song Featuring Ingrid Jensen

Source: Fully Altered Media
October 9, 2013

Saxophonist Steve Treseler's new release, Center Song, is a portrait of the Pacific Northwest cultural scene. Joined by B.C.-born, New York-based trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, Center Song reunites the rhythm section of Treseler's 2008 album, Resonance — pianist Dawn Clement, guitarist Chris Spencer, bassists Jon Hamar (on double bass) and Dean Schmidt (electric) and drummer Steve Korn — with guests Dan Kramlich on piano and cellist Meg Risso. Treseler grew up in the midst of Seattle's grunge and alternative rock scene ...
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126

Recording

Nordic Connect - Spirals (2011)

Source: Something Else!
February 15, 2011

By S. Victor Aaron Nordic Connect is a grouping of musicians from Canada (Ingrid Jensen, trumpet; Ingrid's sister Christine Jensen, alto and soprano saxophones), U.S.A. (Ingrid's husband Jon Wikan, drums), and Sweden (Maggie Olin (piano, Fender Rhodes; Mattias Welin, acoustic bass). The name points up to the Scandinavian ancestry of all its members, and the shared heritage provides common ground that is used as the basis for a consistent but never repetitious brand of jazz. Though led at least nominally ...
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113

Recording

Listening Tip Corrected: Ingrid Jensen, Benny Green

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 19, 2010

A dyslexia attack a week ago caused the Rifftides proprietor to alert readers to a radio broadcast last Sunday that, in fact, will take place this coming Sunday, September 19. The only way to make amends is to correct the mistake and post the item again. The entire Rifftides staff is on vacation this week, more or less, but this may give the impression that we're on the job. On his Jazz Northwest program this weekend, Jim Wilke will be ...
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Recording

Listening Tip: Ingrid Jensen, Benny Green

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
September 11, 2010

On his Jazz Northwest program this weekend, Jim Wilke will be playing the Ingrid Jensen-Benny Green concert that he recorded at the Port Townsend Festival in July. The trumpeter and the pianist appeared with drummer Jon Wikan, Dawn Clement on Fender Rhodes piano and bassist David Wong. According to Wilke's alert to the broadcast, the band “brought the near capacity crowd to its feet at the end of the concert." Photo by Jim Levitt I wasn't at Port Townsend this ...
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230

Recording

"Spirals" from Ingrid Jensen and Nordic Connect

Source: Michael Ricci
June 21, 2010

The second fan-funded release from Ingrid Jensen and Nordic Connect, “Spirals" is now available as a CD or digital download! To celebrate this release, Ingrid and ArtistShare would like to invite you to preview the project and a song from the album by clicking here. In addition to the CD or digital download, fans will receive access to lead sheets of tunes from the album, performance footage, photo galleries of Nordic Connect's recent tour, and video of a clinic led ...
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148

Recording

"Spirals" Now Available from Ingrid Jensen and Nordic Connect!

Source: Michael Ricci
June 9, 2010

ArtistShare and Ingrid Jensen are pleased to announce the release of Nordic Connect's latest fan-funded project “Spirals". To celebrate this release, Ingrid and ArtistShare would like to invite you to preview a tune from the album, as well as an exclusive video performance and tour photos from the fan-funded “Spirals" project. To access this preview click here. “Spirals" is available for purchase as a mail-order CD or digital download here. Ingrid and ArtistShare would also like to thank all of ...
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Recording

Introducing the Spirals Project: Ingrid Jensen's Latest Artistshare Fan-Funded Project

Source: Michael Ricci
March 29, 2010

Through the Nordic Connect project, band members Ingrid Jensen, Christine Jensen, Maggi Olin, Jon Wikan and Mattias Welin will be exploring and documenting their evolution as a band as well as the roots of their common ancestry. Through the documentation of their tour experience and live performances, fans will gain deeper insight into the band's Nordic heritage as they tour the lands of their ancestors. Participants will have the opportunity to receive a prominent credit listing on Nordic Connect's “Spiral" ...
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132

Interview

Trumpeter Ingrid Jensen Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
September 24, 2007

For years, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen wanted to bring together her friend, pianist Maggi Olin, and her sister, saxophonist Christine Jensen, for an album celebrating their shared Nordic ancestry. That album is Flurry (ArtistShare, 2007), by their band Nordic Connect.

It's another deep and moving recording from the Juno-Award-winning Jensen. All About Jazz contributor Jason Crane talked with Jensen about the Viking feeling, the long road to her present success, and whether or not Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer and Bobby Shew ...
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