MWIJF Presents: Teri Roiger Quartet (USA/Aus) Celebrated the music of Abbey Lincoln & Peggy Lee’s Open Thread (Can/Aus)

Teri Roiger Quartet
“Teri has an intuitive laid back sense of time reminiscent of Abbey Lincoln and Betty Carter but with her own uniqueness.” JACK DEJOHNETTE

An American jazz musician vocalist, pianist, songwriter, educator, and producer, Teri lives in New York City and also spends time in New York’s Hudson Valley. She began playing piano at age 5, and played church organ throughout her teens. When she discovered jazz in her early 20s – and shortly after made her first demo with the legendary stride pianist Butch Thompson – her musical path was set.

Throughout the years, her music has taken many exciting twists and turns. She has performed as a DUO with her husband, bassist John Menegon, throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe, and they have been featured artists at the San Miguel Jazz Festival (Mexico), Panama Jazz Festival (Panama), and Bolzano Jazz Festival (Italy), where they presented concerts and masterclasses. The depth of her experiences and love of jazz is apparent when she brings all their talents to live performances, the recording studio, and through her moving lyrics and compositions.
Teri’s recordings have all met with critical acclaim, as have her live performances at festivals and top New York jazz spots (Birdland, Kitano, Dizzy’s, Mezzrow, Jazz Standard, Swing46).

Her recording DEAR ABBEY: THE MUSIC OF ABBEY LINCOLN met with great critical acclaim, as did STILL LIFE where her composition “Still Life” won 3rd prize in the jazz category of the acclaimed songwriting competition ISC. Teri & John’s first collaboration, MISTERIOSO, included jazz legends Jack DeJohnette and Kenny Burrell, and Teri was given permission to publish her own lyrics to Monk’s iconic composition “Misterioso.”

“Teri is made for those who still understand the meaning of the term the real thing.” Stanley Crouch (Author & Cultural Critic)

Teri Roiger – voice
John Menegon – bass
Hugh Stuckey – guitar
Ronny Ferella – drums

Peggy Lee’s Open Thread
In the 1990’s, Canadian cellist, Peggy Lee, and drummer, Dylan van der Schyff, were already being described as “two of the brightest lights on the new music/improv/jazz scene.” Since then, they have garnered countless accolades for their performances and recordings together with many of North America and Europe’s finest improvisers. Classically trained in Toronto, Lee has been heralded as “one of the world’s finest improvising cellists.” She is also a beguilingly original and prolific composer. van der Schyff is a leading avant-garde percussionist, but what really sets him apart is his delicate and conversational approach.

At the start of 2023, Peggy invited established Melbourne saxophonist, Julien Wilson, and prodigious young guitarist, Theo Carbo to form a new ensemble Open Thread . Most of the compositions were written by Peggy specifically for this group, but all the musicians contribute to a collective sound which is fresh and exciting, and hauntingly cinematic, while always maintaining an adventurous and playful edge. Their music integrates anthemic melodies, diverse rhythmic structures, and soundscapes that feed the musical imagination. Open Thread will release their debut album in 2024 on the Earshift label.

“The cellist’s signature sound is an intoxicating blend of avant-garde, modern jazz, chamber, folk, and pop. No one influence ever dominates, and all are commingled so that where one influence ends and the next begins is never certain. It’s all bound together and framed by those heady melodic passages.” – Bandcamp Daily

Peggy Lee – cello

Theo Carbo – guitar

Julien Wilson – saxophones
Dylan van der Schyff – drums