August 7, 2020
ARTEMIS—the jazz supergroup comprised of pianist and musical director Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko Ueda, drummer Allison Miller, and vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant—has released a stunning new version of Stevie Wonder’s “If It’s Magic,” which was arranged by Rosnes and features a spellbinding vocal performance by Salvant. The singer’s original artwork can also be seen in the song’s visualizer. It’s the second single to be revealed from the band’s forthcoming debut album ARTEMIS, which will be released September 11 on Blue Note Records and is available for pre-order now on vinyl, CD, or download.
In DownBeat magazine’s new cover feature on ARTEMIS, Salvant tells journalist Suzanne Lorge that “both of my songs on this album deal with love, but they’re different from your typical torch songs. … They aren’t about romantic notions of love from a woman’s perspective: They’re broader and more complex than that.”
ARTEMIS is a superb nine-song set that features material composed and/or arranged by each of the band’s six instrumentalists. “The group identity emerged organically,” Rosnes says, and ARTEMIS discovered a thrilling collective vision early in its lifespan. “We are seven leaders, each with our own vision and personal point of view, but we play with a unified conception.”
The opening track “Goddess Of The Hunt” is a thrilling instrumental composition written by Miller that channels the band’s namesake Greek goddess. “Artemis is an explorer, a torch bringer, a protector of young children, and a goddess of the hunt,” explains Jensen, who conceived of the band’s name. “I feel that her character is indicative of the energies and wide array of musical tapestries that ARTEMIS the band brings to the stage as we take our music to the moon, the stars, and beyond.”
