United Women's Orchestra

Since its founding in 1992, The UNITED WOMEN’S ORCHESTRA established itself as one of the few European bigbands playing new music, and as one of the few all-women bigbands in Europe with an original repertoire. Led by me and Christina Fuchs (Cologne, Germany ) the band presented an exclusively original repertoire, composed by the two bandleaders.

However, after 17 years and 3 CDs it was time to move on, and the UWO was disbanded in 2009. We went out with a suitable flourish during the final concerts in the Loft in Cologne (16 Jan 2009) and the Jazzschmiede in Düsseldorf (17 Jan 2009)- and there was an additional goodbye-concert in Frankfurt/Main on 2 Oct 2009 as part of the 25th jubilee celebrations of the FrauenMusikBüro.

…”The music of the United Women’s Orchestra is an important contribution to the strengthening of the the identity of European jazz.”… (Michael Naura NDR 1998)

“One of the true joys of my job is the thrill of discovering something new and meaningful – a circumstance that has become increasingly rare in these days of connect-the-dots predictability. When I first heard about The United Women’s Orchestra, names like George Russell, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Ornette Coleman, Julius Hemphill and Eric Dolphy were invoked in describing the music and the musicians who play it. This sets them apart from the mainstream thrust of the present Jazz scene even more than the fact that everyone involved happens to be female, a circumstance more interesting than important. More meaningful is the fact that all of the members are European (by birth or choice), and Europe has been a haven for the most adventurous of American Jazz musicians, dating all the way back to Sidney Bechet, providing a deeper appreciation and understanding than the more narrow-visioned and conservative audiences on my side of the Atlantic.” George Lane, GMN (Global Music Network)

More press: Page 2

CDs: Page 3

Seite: 1 2 3

Hazel Leach
info@hazelleach.com
Hazel Leach - Credits