My review of Ingrid and Christine Jensen's Infinitude, today at All About Jazz.

While they've often recorded together over the years--from the collective Nordic Connect quintet and trumpeter Ingrid Jensen's early albums including Now as Then (Justin Time, 2003), to many of saxophonist Christine's recordings, from her two much-lauded Jazz Orchestra albums (most recently Habitat (Justin Time, 2014)) to earlier, small group dates including Look Left (Effendi, 2006)--the two Jensen sisters (separated by four years) have never recorded an album collaboratively, with both names sharing the marquee equally...until now. While sharing has never been a problem for the Jensens, Infinitude represents a truly egalitarian collective, where both sisters and their three band mates contribute equally, based on their specific and respective strengths.

Three years prior to the release of Infinitude, the Jensen sisters delivered a powerhouse performance (albeit solely under Christine's name) at the 2013 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, employing Infinitude's lineup with the exception of pianist Gary Versace replaced, on the record, by guitarist Ben Monder...no stranger to either sister musically, but especially to Ingrid, having shared both stage and studio with the trumpeter as a member of composer/arranger Maria Schneider's Jazz Orchestra from 2000's Allegrasse (Enja) through to 2007's Grammy Award-winning Sky Blue (ArtistShare). Any group that switches even a single member is apt to significantly alter its complexion, and there's no doubt that Monder's staggering virtuosity and dense sonics make for a much different experience than with Versace, possessed of similar technical mastery but who brings a lighter, more buoyant approach to the group. But as different as the two groups are, the empathic, longstanding rhythm support of bassist Fraser Hollins and drummer Jon Wikan--who date back together at least as far as Christine's A Shorter Distance (Effendi, 2002)--brings both consistency and a completely flexible approach to whatever music is placed in front of them.

It is, in fact, the combined years of experience, playing together in various permutations and combinations (and with other leaders like Schneider), that render the communication amongst Infinitude's five players so fluid, so seemingly effortless and yet so intrinsically deep. The two Jensens have, over the years, followed different paths that nevertheless seem to intersect on a regular basis: Ingrid, more focused as a player whose lesser compositional prolificity hasn't impacted her ability to contribute strong material to albums including her own At Sea (ArtistShare, 2006) and Nordic Connect's Flurry (ArtistShare, 2007); Christine, no less skilled an improviser but a musician who has, nevertheless, concentrated more intently on composition and arrangement in recent years, most notably with her own Jazz Orchestra and the recent group Transatlantic, whose Conversations (Linedown, 2015) featured music for an 11-piece ensemble led by and with compositions from Christine Jensen and fellow Nordic Connector, Swedish pianist Maggi Olin.

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