Another delightful evening enjoying jazz brought by the WJC. It was great to catch up with my musician friends and to talk about their new babies, and even meet some of them. Yes, jazz musicians are humans, too: a fact easy to forget after listening to their divine performances.

And just as for everyone else, parenting demands sacrifices. It takes time— lots of it—that was once devoted to making, and especially performing, music.

That is the reason why Jasmine hasn’t been very visible for a year or more. So it was exciting to see her back on stage, and the welcome feeling was shared not only by the audience, but Jasmine and her colleagues as well.

That said, new motherhood didn’t stop Jasmine from composing new tunes. Better still, her infant daughter became the inspiration for several new compositions the quintet performed.

It was all originals that Thursday evening— both from her older albums and from brand new ones as yet unrecorded. Each tune had a mood, a core melody and harmony, a topic-starter to discuss. Each improvisation was an opinion expressed in a discussion: same theme, different view.

Or perhaps each was a world unto itself, newly forged with its own unique history and natural laws. A world where musicians live and play. They were all different, her various pieces: sad or happy, sunny or rainy, boisterous or calm. What united them all was the feeling of kindness, hope, and comfortable warmth: indisputably a reflection of the author’s character.

The Quintet featured Jake Baxendale (alto sax/bass clarinet), Daniel Hayles (keyboard), Emma Hattaway (double bass), and Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa (drums). And, of course, Jasmine herself on soprano saxophone.

I hope to see Jasmin around more. Should we start a “babies in jazz” group? Why not! The sooner the next generation is exposed to the wonders of jazz, the better.

By Charlie Queen