“On a personal level, this simple play on words — 32 bars, in 32 bars — gives me both a great goal-setting framework and a quiet assurance that, after 32 songs, I will have scooped out enough of the melodic, harmonic and lyrical cacophony to settle my fevered mind.”
“I have a great band, I feel very supported, but with that support I can also take some musical chances, it’s kind of like jumping off the edge of a cliff and knowing that someone will catch you, something will break your fall.”
“Lexicon is defined as the vocabulary of a person, language or branch of knowledge. I took this definition and applied it to my love life quite literally. Each song title on the EP is a word the definition of which encapsulates an experience I had in my dating life.”
“The album is dedicated to this idea of finding presence, and listening to one’s honest self, a process that exists most powerfully between all the motion and all the thoughts.”
” I was really working on the things that I wasn’t good at, but now I am going into another period of lots of practice over summer, when I’m not teaching and I’m going to be focusing on things that think I am good at and trying to make them better.”
“In reimagining this music we are able to uncover hidden depths and mine for musical gold. But importantly, and I think most importantly, the music is very, very fun.”
“The flute isn’t the most common instrument in improvised music, so as much as I have always had a strong love and interest in jazz and improvisation, it took me a while to figure out how I could fit in. You are always drawn to what you love, so one way or the other — if you stick at it and follow your instincts, it will find you!”
“It’s the Jazzmeia way, there’s no other way to describe it.”
“What I hope to bring out in jazz music as a songwriter, is still that element of storytelling and form — a good song with a hook, or a good song with a memorable melody, as opposed to a composed piece with lyrics.”
“We have to work on developing a sustainable and supportive model for a strong future. If we lose the gigs we lose the scene.”
