Ellen Rowe - Jazz Pianist

“Momentum – Portraits of Women In Motion” is an album project that was released in 2019. Each piece is a tribute to and musical portrait of women heroes of composer/pianist Ellen Rowe’s in the areas of music, sports, social justice, environmental advocacy and politics. The pieces are orchestrated for varying sizes of chamber jazz ensemble, ranging from quintet to octet.
In addition to creating the CD, the ensemble of nationally recognized female jazz artists tours, with the goal of performing the music with younger women jazz students, giving them the opportunity to play with the band and get mentored by the professional musicians.
The ensemble also hosts discussion groups devoted to issues of gender and sexuality to foster dialogue and empower young women. Some of the women included in the portraits include Mary Lou Williams and Geri Allen, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova, unsung black female heroines of the civil rights movement, singer/songwriters Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon and Carole King, Michelle Obama, Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall and long distance runners Joan Benoit Samuelson, Kathrine Switzer and Meghan Canfield Laws. Musicians on the project include leader and pianist Ellen Rowe, trumpeters Ingrid Jensen, Tanya Darby and Nadje Noordhuis, saxophonists Virginia Mayhew, Lisa Parrott, Kaleigh Wilder and Tia Fuller, trombonists Melissa Gardiner and Sara Jacovino, bassist Marion Hayden and drummers Allison Miller, Tina Raymond and Shirazette Tinnin.