Women Who Play Jazz

Rotating group performs monthly at Savage Wonder
Scroll down the page of gig posters at the Jazzwomen! website and you'll notice Kim Peralta appears in each one. As the ensemble's founder and drummer, she's guaranteed a gig.
"I formed the group so I could play with high-caliber musicians, which helps improve my playing," she says. "I book the dates and provide enough rhythmic reinforcement that they show up."
Peralta has established a third Thursday residency at Savage Wonder in Beacon (the next one is Feb. 19) and will perform at Estilo Y Vino in May. The members are booked up for Women's History Month, so they're skipping the March date at Savage Wonder and will return on April 16.
Peralta assembled a roster of 14 musicians, some of whom have played with Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie and Wynton Marsalis. Saxophonist Kate Anderson toured with The Temptations and The Four Tops and bass player Jennifer Vincent has performed with k.d. lang and Patti LaBelle.
In addition to playing jazz piano, Heather Bennett is the organist and music director at a New Jersey church. Ellie Lee describes herself as a "bold, fiery artist" who "composes in a variety of styles, including jazz, classical, pop and gospel."
Peralta began recruiting pianists, saxophonists and bass players in 2023. Sax whiz Jenny Hill adds flute to her arsenal, and Rachel Therrien, who has worked with Arturo O'Farrill, is the sole trumpeter.
Peralta selects the lineups for each gig like a baseball manager. The basic combo is a piano trio (with bass and drums), though adding a saxophone expands the sonic palette; Therrien once rounded out a quintet.
The players are so accomplished that Peralta needs only to compile a set list and, if necessary, provide lead sheets.
As the exclamation point indicates, Jazzwomen! wants to make a statement. In addition to originals, the group performs compositions by Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby.

"Melba Liston played trombone with the best of them, and Mary Lou Williams wrote 500 songs," says Peralta, who referenced as inspiration the National Public Radio show, "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz," which the English-born musician and educator hosted from 1978 to 2011. Now known as "Piano Jazz" (McPartland died in 2013), it is NPR's longest-running cultural program.
The gig posters online also include likenesses of Mike Aiese, who does not match the profile. But Peralta notes that there is a general shortage of bass players, so he sat in at Savage Wonder last month and will do so again next week.
At the January show, sax player Maria Lazzaro emitted a furious flurry of notes during "In a Mellow Tone," before displaying her tonal command with bluesy slurs that lifted the classic "On Green Dolphin Street." Pianist Janice Friedman played trills like a heavy metal guitarist. Performing together for the first time, the two musicians engaged in a gentle cutting contest.
Often at jazz concerts, the bass player gets a break or two, but Aiese took flight on all but one tune. Peralta kept it simple on her compact kit.
Even though Aiese walked, vamped and played solid solos, Peralto says she is always on the lookout to replace him, which he understands. "It's magical to perform with all women," she says. "It's hard to describe, but it's special."
Savage Wonder is located at 139 Main St. in Beacon. The Feb. 19 performance, which begins at 8 p.m., is free, but tickets are required. See dub.sh/jazzwomen-2-19.