“Odes & Invocations: An Evening with Artemis” – by david eugene everard

August 19th, 2025

The cover to Artemis’s 2025 Blue Note album Arboresque

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“Close your eyes, breathe slow

and we will begin.”

(The Pan Within/Mike Scott)

Odes & Invocations: An Evening with Artemis

by david eugene everard

…..Somebody once told me that any successful invocation will always contain the same three elements: an author, an audience, and a venue.

…..With that in mind, the Victoria International JazzFest celebrated its forty-first anniversary with an outstanding roster of established and emerging artists. This year’s line up was no exception with sold out, main stage performances from Madeleine Peyroux, Eliane Elias and Matteo Mancuso. Staying true to their mandate, JazzFest also scheduled appearances by celebrated Pacific Northwest musicians Christine Jensen and Alex Cuba along with a healthy handful of hometown talent.

…..Notwithstanding, the most anticipated act at this year’s festival was Artemis; and their SRO performance at the McPherson Playhouse felt like an ode to mother nature herself (albeit in the form of Arboresque, their latest release on Blue Note Records).

…..The (now) 778 seat multi-function venue started life back in 1914 as the Pantages Theatre and has been known to host everything from vaudeville acts to indoor aquatic events. Nonetheless, the ‘Mac’ has a long established reputation for its ability to provide continuing comfort and support to audiences and artists alike.

…..After a brief interlude to acknowledge this year’s various sponsors and scholarship recipients the house lights dimmed.

…..Kelby MacNayr’s Tiny Rhythm Kings took the stage to a warm round of applause. MacNayr (drums & vocals), ‘Shoeless’ Tony Genge (keyboards) and John Lee (guitar) opened the evening with a short set of old stories, original songs and worthwhile covers that earned them a well deserved encore from an appreciative audience who were familiar with the individual members of the group thanks to their participation in various local jazz and blues combos over the years.

…..Artemis’ roster of award winning artists includes arranger and pianist Renee Rosnes along with Nicole Glover on tenor, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, double bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller. In addition to its members’ own personal achievements, Artemis has been named the Downbeat Reader Poll winners for Best Jazz Group the last two years running.

…..They opened the show with a somewhat familiar piece that eventually turned into our (Canadian) national anthem.

…..While the set list that night was specifically constructed to showcase the new album, it did include a small number of exceptionally well-chosen standards.

…..Their rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing” (originally written for Duke Ellington’s alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges) featured an outstanding arrangement by musical director Rosnes that amply demonstrated the quintet’s immense love and respect for the artists who came before them. Glover’s soft touch on this piece was nothing less than elegant.

…..An almost fourteen minute cover of Thelonious Monk’s legendary homage to Rudy Van Gelder and his New Jersey recording studio provided the perfect vehicle for extended contributions from all five members. Rosnes introduced “Hackensack” by channeling Monk’s off-kilter piano riff with a wink and a smile. The horn section followed with some inspired charm of their own before laying out to allow the rhythm section an opportunity to shine.

…..Rosnes responded to the invitation with a subtle demonstration of her own intuitive touch before tossing it over to Ueda and Miller, who teased the audience with a series of short, smart, comedic musical exchanges (with Miller exploring every nook and cranny on her drum kit as she paid tribute to Art Blakey’s impressive display of time and tempo on the original recording). Jensen and Glover came back on board to restate the theme one last time; and as the song slowly faded into the darkness, the McPherson audience rose to their feet.

…..Jensen’s appreciation for both Lee Morgan’s hard bop period with Blue Note, and fellow Canadian Kenny Wheeler’s much more contemplative body of work for ECM a decade later, was evident throughout the evening. Her contribution to Arboresque, “Sights Unseen,” clearly reflects that admiration by giving her an opportunity to showcase the tremendous range and depth of her talent in front of an eager and supportive audience.

…..There is a scene in Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon where the camera is tilted to the sky and follows the scattered sunlight as it filters its way down through the multi-layered leaves and branches of a Japanese forest. And while no English translation of the term can pay proper justice to the idea of “Nomorebi” the sound of Noriko’s bass strings playfully dancing across the fretboard of her instrument told the tale with eloquence and imagination.

…..Glover invoked a similar image on Arboresque with “Petrichor.” Her supplication to the sight, sound and smell of fresh rain falling on the dry earth below was truly transformative. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath during her passionate solo and soon found myself wandering through Kurosawa’s forest watching the sun-kissed rain as it fell softly from the tall trees above.

Epilogue:

…..Leaving the idea of odes and invocations aside for a moment, this was a polished performance by a group that cares deeply about both their material and their audience. The set list was informative, the musicianship was outstanding and the sound coming from the stage that night was balanced, clean, and precise (this was especially evident with Allison’s brush and cymbal work).

…..In consideration of how well Artemis handled their ode to nature with Arboresque, I look forward to seeing what could be in store for us if they offered an invocation to each of the nine muses themselves.

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david eugene everard lives on a large island in the Pacific Northwest where he gathers inspiration from the ocean that surrounds it. This is his third piece for Jerry Jazz Musician. Other publications include “Detour” (a homage to the Universal horror films of yesteryear) which appeared in the 2019 Halloween issue of The Creeps (Warrant Publishing), and his 2002 Master of Arts thesis project “Wrestling Dell ‘Arte: Professional Wrestling as Theatre” (University of Victoria).

(The author highly recommends “Rudy Van Gelder: Recording Angel,” Joel Lewis’ wonderful tribute to the legendary jazz recording sound engineer, which you can read by clicking here).

Listen to listen to Artemis perform Ingrid Jensen’s composition “Sights Unseen,” with Jensen (trumpet); Nicole Glover (saxophone); Renee Rosnes (piano); Noriko Ueda (bass); and Allison Miller (drums). [Universal Music Group]