Jane Bunnett
A Grammy Award-winning soprano saxophonist/flutist known primarily for her fluid Afro-Cuban jazz style, Toronto native Jane Bunnett emerged in the late 1980s with In Dew Time. She went on to collaborate with some of Cuba's top jazz musicians, including on her second album, 1991's Spirits of Havana, before making her Blue Note label debut with 1996's Jane Bunnett and the Cuban Piano Masters. She took a brief sabbatical from Afro-Cuban music for 2002's Spirituals & Dedications before returning with Cuban Odyssey in 2003, an album that earned her both Juno and Grammy awards. In 2011, she partnered with frequent collaborator Hilario Durán for Cuban Rhapsody before a multi-recording partnership with Cuban jazz sextet Maqueque resulted in a Billboard Jazz Albums chart appearance for 2019's On Firm Ground/Tierra Firme, their third collaboration.
Born in Toronto in 1956, Mary Jane Bunnett originally studied classical piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music, but tendonitis cut short that career path. After seeing the Charles Mingus group perform in San Francisco, she was inspired to play advanced jazz. The influence of Steve Lacy, with whom she studied in Paris, is evident in her work on the soprano saxophone, while her flute playing is rooted in classical study in Canada.
Bunnett's first of several albums with pianist Don Pullen, her 1988 Dark Light label debut, In Dew Time, also featured saxophonist Dewey Redman and her husband, trumpeter Larry Cramer, her most-frequent collaborator. She followed it up with a duet album with Pullen titled New York Duets in 1989. A year later, Live at Sweet Basil featured the quintet lineup of Bunnett, Cramer, Pullen, bassist Kieran Overs, and drummer Billy Hart. Her adventurous 1991 effort, Spirits of Havana, found her playing with the likes of vocalist Merceditas Valdés and pianists Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Hilario Durán, among many other participants. Cramer, Pullen, Overs, and Hart returned for 1994's The Water Is Wide, which added singers Jeanne Lee and Sheila Jordan to the mix. In 1995 and 1995, respectively, she issued Rendez-Vous Brazil/Cuba and the Cramer-produced Jane Bunnett and Cuban Piano Masters, the latter her debut for Blue Note.
The Naxos release Havana Flute Summit appeared in 1997 before she returned with her Blue Note follow-up, Chamalongo. Arriving in 1998, it was credited to Jane Bunnett & the Spirits of Havana, as was 2000's Ritmo & Soul. She issued Alma de Santiago in 2001 before offering a mix of original compositions, traditional hymns, and works by the likes of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Stanley Cowell, and Mingus on Spirituals & Dedications, which included a tribute to Pullen. Bunnett took home Juno and Grammy awards (for Best Global and Best Latin Jazz Album, respectively) for the following year's Cuban Odyssey. It featured another extensive guest list, including Valdés, Durán, and drummer Francisco Mela.
Bunnett then collaborated with the Penderecki String Quartet for 2004's Red Dragonfly (aka Tombo), and two years later, Radio Guantánamo: Guantánamo Blues Project, Vol. 1 featured the percussion ensembles Grupo Changui de Santiago and Grupo Changui de Guantanamo as well as Redman, Cramer, and others. It won the Juno Award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year. Bunnett enlisted the Afro-Cuban/Haitian a cappella choir Grupo Vocal Desandann for 2008's Embracing Voices, which earned her a second Juno in the same category.
In 2011, Bunnett paired with Durán on the Alma Records release Cuban Rhapsody. The woodwindist next joined forces with Linus Entertainment and Cuban (all-female) jazz group Maqueque for a trio of albums: 2014's Jane Bunnett & Maqueque, 2016's Oddara, and the 2019 long-player On Firm Ground/Tierra Firme. The latter reached the Top Ten of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart, peaking at number eight.
© Marcy Donelson & Scott Yanow /TiVo
Similar artists
-
Cuban Odyssey
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Water Is Wide
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 8 Apr 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spirituals & Dedications
Jazz - Released by Justin Time Records Inc. on 26 Mar 2002
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Radio Guantánamo: Guantánamo Blues Project (Volume 1)
World - Released by EMI Music Canada on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spirits of Havana / Chamalongo - 25th Anniversary Deluxe
World - Released by Linus Entertainment on 24 Jun 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Spirits Of Havana
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 19 Dec 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jane Bunnet and the Cuban Piano Masters
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 8 Apr 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Havana Flute Summit
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Cuban Odyssey
World - Released by EMI Music Canada on 1 Jan 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cuban Rhapsody
Latin America - Released by Alma Records on 1 Jan 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Embracing Voices
Pop - Released by EMI Music Canada on 8 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alma de Santiago
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 23 Oct 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ritmo + Soul
Jane Bunnett, The Spirits Of Havana
Jazz - Released by EMI Music Canada on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rendez-Vous Brazil / Cuba
Jazz - Released by Justin Time Records Inc. on 12 Aug 1995
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Red Dragonfly (AKA Tombo)
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 8 Apr 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mundo: The World Of Jane Bunnett
Jazz - Released by EMI Music Canada on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mundo: The World of Jane Bunnett
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 21 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Embracing Voices
Jazz - Released by Linus Entertainment on 8 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mundo: The World Of Jane Bunnett
Jazz - Released by EMI Music Canada on 1 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -