Jenn Russell and her Music!!

​Jenn Russell doesn’t just walk the line between conventional and unconventional, she jumps across it on a pogo stick, bouncing in each realm as life’s demands dictate and then hopping to the other side to rebalance and refuel.
 
Jenn’s day job is as New Brunswick Chief Medical Officer. It’s a big job. Her role as NB’s main physician is to improve, promote and protect the health of the people in New Brunswick. On the other side of the line is her passion for music. As she prepares to release her second CD of original jazz and swing music, she is ready to share her passion for music and performing with fans and fellow musicians.
 
“Music has been a creative outlet for most of my life,” says Jenn. “I’ve played in school bands, jazz bands in university and a number of cover bands in Fredericton. I’ve always loved connecting with people through music, whether it’s the people I’m playing with or the people who have come out to see us perform.”
 
Beyond being a creative outlet, music has also become an opportunity for Jenn to give back to her community.   She has produced several  fundraisers at the Playhouse for the Stan Cassidy Rehabilitation Centre, Helping Hands for Haiti, Village of Hope and Hospice Fredericton. She was recognized for her contribution to her community with the Diane London award in 2014 at Riverjam. This latest CD release is a fundraiser for Liberty Lane, a Fredericton based women’s shelter and support program for women and children affected by abuse.
 
The music on Jenn’s new CD is based in jazz but it’s also filled with twists from other genres – an eclectic mix including everything from 40s big band swing, Latin, to bluegrass. Even within the CD she continues to jump boundaries.
 
“I definitely like to mix things up,” says Jenn. “I’m lucky enough to work with such great musicians that I can really stretch creatively.
 
Musicians featured on the CD include Juno award-winner Phil Dwyer, who plays a solo on the track ‘From the Bottom of My Heart’ and also provided horn charts for several tunes; Allan Jeffries who performs with David Myles plays the banjo on the track ‘Let Sleepin’ Dogs Lie’, and Juan Morales adds Latin-style percussion on ‘Café Latte’. Also featured on the CD include several talented local Fredericton musicians: Troy McLaggan, Andrew DeMerchant, Kelly Waterhouse, Jeannine Gallant, Jason Flores, Marie-Claude Landry and Jonathan Dutcher.
 
Like her previous CD (released in early 2014), this one is filled with creative word play and ‘double entendres’. “I come from a long line of poets,” says Jenn. “Celebrations and big family events always included poems from my mother or grandmother. They valued language and the importance of a well-crafted phrase. I try to do the same with my song writing.”
 
Jenn’s CD release is set for February 1st at the Delta in Fredericton and will include a live performance featuring her talented band providing her that “big band sound. There will be a dance floor, a bar on site and light hors d’oeuvres will be served. This event proudly supports Liberty Lane, which offers second-stage housing to women and children seeking to escape domestic abuse.