Created and led by Herzig, the all-female all “first-call” talent group Monika Herzig’s Sheroes features a cast of international virtuosi; including Leni Stern (guitar, Germany/USA), Jamie Baum (flutes, USA), Reut Regev (trombone, Israel/USA), Gina Schwarz (bass, Austria), Rosa Avila (drums, Mexico) and Camille Thurman (saxophone/ vocals, USA) rounding out the lineup extending the group’s serious pedigree on its fourth album “All In Good Time” to be released July 22, 2024 on Zoho Records.
CD release celebrations will include a US Tour August 25 – September 1, a European Tour October 11 – 19, and the Jazzmandu Festival in Nepal October 22-30, and an appearance at The Piano Man in New Delhi November 1 and 2.
Awarded the prestigious Jazz Journalist Association’s “JAZZ HERO” award for the city of Bloomington in 2015, Monika also won the Down Beat Magazine Award, Best Original Song (1994) and has received grants from the NEA, the Indiana Arts Commission and MEIEA, among others. After 20+ years as faculty member at Indiana University, she is currently Professor of Artistic Research at the Jam Music Lab Private University, Vienna. She has authored and edited three critically praised books, Dr. David Baker – A Legacy in Music, foreword by Quincy Jones (IU Press 2011), Experiencing Chick Corea – A Listener’s Companion (Rowman & Littlefield 2017), and Jazz and Gender (Routledge, 2022), both nominated for the best book awards by the Jazz Journalist Association.
As an ensemble of empowerment, SHEROES is a musical force, operating with deftness, invention, enthusiasm and ambition. Herzig does much of the writing and arranging, with two contributions by band members as well as covers, including Beyonde’s “Run the World”, “House of the Rising Sun”and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” prompting Valerie Simpson, its composer, to write “I honestly really, really liked it,” and jazz producer/musician and women in Jazz advocate Terri Lyne Carrington to write “a brilliant project…soulful and thoughtful, it captures the spirit of this group because there’s no stopping great artists from making great music as demonstrated by this stellar recording.”
Praising her bandmates, Herzig says, “These are all incredibly accomplished musicians, often sacrificing other opportunities, family time and resources to perform in this group. They are my idols in terms of tenacity and accomplishment and should be more widely heard and appreciated.” SHEROES not only heralds an era of greater and deeper consideration for women in jazz but as Jazz Journalist Association President, Howard Mandel affirms in his liner notes, “That’s exactly what Monika and company does: Present a model of empowerment with results that are good for everyone. Wherever you are on the gender continuum, you’ll like it. SHEROES make music!”
Jazz critic Bob Blumenthal agrees: “Female musicians are now prominent practitioners on all instruments….Herzig herself is a visionary artist and educator, a true jazz warrior with an already fascinating career.”