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Monika Herzig

In 1987, the pedagogical institute in Weingarten, Germany awarded a scholarship for a one-year exchange program at the University of Alabama to one of their students, jazz pianist Monika Herzig. Together with her partner and guitarist Peter Kienle, she arrived in the States on a one-way ticket, with one suitcase of belongings and one guitar in August 1988.

Since then she has completed her Doctorate in Music Education with minor fields in Jazz Studies at Indiana University, where she is now a faculty member in Arts Administration. Her book David Baker – A Legacy in Music was released November 2011 on IU Press, and Experiencing Chick Corea: A Listener’s Companion on Rowman and Littlefield, 2017.

As a touring jazz artist, she has performed at many prestigious jazz clubs and festivals, such as the Indy Jazz Fest, Cleveland’s Nighttown, Birdland, the Manchester Craftsmen Guild, to name just a few. Groups under her leadership have toured Germany, opened for acts such as Tower of Power, Sting, the Dixie Dregs, Yes, and more.

She has released more than a dozen CDs under her leadership on her own ACME Records as well as Owl Studios and Whaling City Sounds. Her awards include a 1994 Down Beat Magazine Award for Best Original Song, a Jazz Journalist Association Hero 2015 award, as well as grants from the NEA, the Indiana Arts Commission, MEIEA, among others. Her newest project “SHEroes” features the world’s leading female jazz instrumentalists including Leni Stern, Jamie Baum, Ingrid Jensen, Jennifer Vincent, Ada Rovatti, Mayra Casales, Reut Regev, and more with a second release date of March 2018. Thomas Garner from Garageradio.com writes, I was totally awed by the fine musicianship throughout”.


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17
Interview

Monika Herzig: Both Sides of Joni with Janiece Jaffe

Read "Monika Herzig: Both Sides of Joni with Janiece Jaffe" reviewed by Jane Kozhevnikova


It is always challenging to create an album based on songs by someone as great as Joni Mitchell. Monika Herzig, pianist and composer, went for this challenge inspired by vocalist Janiece Jaffe. Although they recorded the project together, Jaffe passed away unexpectedly after heart surgery in November 2022. Shocked and devastated by the passing of her friend of 31 years, Herzig committed to finish the project and share it with the world. The album Both Sides of Joni ...

6
Radio & Podcasts

Monika Herzig

Read "Monika Herzig" reviewed by Lawrence Peryer


Today, the Spotlight shines On Monika Herzig, whose career as a jazz pianist and composer spans three decades and dozens of releases. Monika joins us to talk about the release of her reimagined set of Joni Mitchell's music, which she arranged and features vocals interpreted by her late friend, award-winning vocalist Janiece Jaffe.To quote from the liner notes: “This album is, first and foremost, about relationships: between Janiece and Monika; between the stretch of time that gave rise ...

8
Radio & Podcasts

Women in Jazz… and Only Women

Read "Women in Jazz… and Only Women" reviewed by Russell Perry


In 2020, for the first time, woman musicians won half of the instrumental categories in the Jazz Journalists Association's annual awards program. To celebrate Women's History Month, we are going to turn over the next several programs to women artists, whose numbers are steadily growing within the jazz ranks, making the music stronger. This hour of Jazz at 100 Today! will explore the music of All-Women groups--Terri Lyne Carrington & The Mosaic Project, Monika Herzig's Sheroes, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, ...

13
Album Review

Monika Herzig: Sheroes

Read "Sheroes" reviewed by Jim Worsley


Composer and pianist Monika Herzig embarks on carefully scored passages against a bevy of broad sonic palettes on her 2018 release Sheroes. Herzig has long championed female empowerment in jazz, as well as other forms of music. For Sheroes she assembled an international cast featuring many of the finest musicians in the world. A total of nine musicians, including Herzig, brought their wealth of talent and band leading skills into the studio. The results are rewarding and sophisticated ...

5
Interview

Monika Herzig: A Portrait of a Hero

Read "Monika Herzig: A Portrait of a Hero" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


German-born and US-based pianist, author and composer Monika Herzig released her most accomplished work to date the sublime Sheroes in March of 2018. This cohesive album is a celebration of women in music and particularly jazz, on it Herzig's group of women instrumentalists stimulatingly interpret several originals and two covers. Herzig has a doctorate in music education and is a Senior Lecturer at Indiana University in Bloomington. She also has authored two books and has several recordings both as a ...

4
Album Review

Monika Herzig: Sheroes

Read "Sheroes" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Pianist and composer Monika Herzig pays tribute to women in jazz, on her captivating Sheroes. The artistically superlative, all-female band explores various cadences, harmonies and moods on this exquisite album, all the while deftly maintaining thematic unity. Eight of the tracks are originals by ensemble members, and two are Herzig-arranged covers. These are the traditional “House of the Rising Sun" and singer-songwriter Valerie Simpson's (of Ashford/Simpson fame) classic “Ain't No Mountain High Enough." The latter opens ...

257
Album Review

Monika Herzig: Come With Me

Read "Come With Me" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Pianist Monika Herzig presents her second Owl Studios album in combination with award-winning documentary filmmaker Susanne Schwibs. Come With Me is a unique CD/DVD project that includes a 30-minute story of her work including an interview, concert footage and special features of live performances. The music though, is the main course of this dish served warm, tender and delicious with every tasting. Offering a majority of originals, Herzig was astute enough to also include fresh arrangements of covers by Bob ...

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28

Education

Survey On Jazz Jam Sessions - Research Study By David Baker And Monika Herzig

Survey On Jazz Jam Sessions - Research Study By David Baker And Monika Herzig

Source: Monika Herzig

Dear Jazz student/performer/educator: You are invited to participate in a research study about the role of the Jazz Jam Sessions as a learning tool for jazz musicians. If you are a possible subject because you perform or teach jazz on any level please take this survey. Completing the survey should take no longer than 10 minutes. This is phase 2 of a preliminary study conducted in 2008 and your response is much appreciated even if you participated in the preliminary ...

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Book / Magazine

"David Baker: A Legacy in Music" By Monika Herzig, with a Foreword by Quincy Jones

"David Baker: A Legacy in Music" By Monika Herzig, with a Foreword by Quincy Jones

Source: Michael Ricci

From Studio to Stage with One of the World's Best-Loved Living Legends in Music BLOOMINGTON, Ind. A Living Legend, musician, educator, and composer David Baker has made a distinctive mark on the world of music in his nearly 60-year career—as performer (chiefly on trombone and cello), educator, composer, and conductor. In this richly illustrated volume accompanied by a full-length CD, with a foreword by Quincy Jones, Monika Herzig explores Baker's artistic legacy, from his days as a jazz musician in ...

77

Recording

Pianist Monika Herzig Invites You on a Journey with New CD/DVD Release “Come with Me”

Pianist Monika Herzig Invites You on a Journey with New CD/DVD Release “Come with Me”

Source: Cheryl Hughey Promotions

Indianapolis, IN—Pianist Monika Herzig will present her second Owl Studios release entitled “Come with Me" in March 2011. The CD/DVD combo reflects a unique partnership between musicians, the Owl Studios label and award-winning documentary filmmaker Susanne Schwibs. The journey comes to life with a 30-minute documentary that includes a variety of visuals, concert footage, and interviews, as well as special features of live performances. In addition the package includes a full-length CD with originals as well as unique arrangements of ...

111

Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Jazz Education Network Conference, Jeff Hall, Monika Herzig, Legacy Jazz Quintet, and More

Jazz This Week: Jazz Education Network Conference, Jeff Hall, Monika Herzig, Legacy Jazz Quintet, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

The big jazz and creative music event this week in St. Louis is the first-ever Jazz Education Network conference at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, a three-day extravaganza with hundreds of attendees from around the country that will be highlighted by a series of public concerts Thursday through Saturday evenings at the Touhill Performing Arts CenterThursday's concert includes the Brubeck Institute Quintet; the Caswell Sisters; the JEN All-Stars, hosted by bassist John Clayton; and the Army Blues “Pershing's ...

115

Performance / Tour

Pianist Monika Herzig Schedules Two St. Louis Performances in May

Pianist Monika Herzig Schedules Two St. Louis Performances in May

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

The German-born jazz pianist Monika Herzig, who teaches music a couple of states over at the University of Indiana, is coming to the St. Louis area for two performances in May.Herzig, who played here most recently at last year's St. Louis Art Fair, will back singer Jeff Hall for a gig at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 20 at Lone Wolf Coffee Company, 15480 Clayton Road in Ballwin. Hall is a protege of the well-known Kansas City jazz vocalist ...

181

Recording

Pianist Monika Herzig Discovers Peace on Earth is More Than Just a Dream

Pianist Monika Herzig Discovers Peace on Earth is More Than Just a Dream

Source: Cheryl Hughey Promotions

World traveler and pianist Monika Herzig releases worldwide distribution of Peace on Earth November 3, 2009 under the Owl Studios label.

The journey to musical success wasn’t easy for Monika Herzig. Armed with just a suitcase, guitar and a cup full of dreams, Monika and her guitarist Peter Kienle, immigrated to the US from Germany on a one-year student exchange program in August 1988. Virtually penniless, the full-time adventurers figured if they could just make it to America (the ...

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Event

NY Showcases for new CD by Monika Herzig "A Tribute to Women Composers"

NY Showcases for new CD by Monika Herzig "A Tribute to Women Composers"

Source: All About Jazz

IN YOUR OWN SWEET VOICE - A TRIBUTE TO WOMEN COMPOSERS New York Showcases for new CD by the Monika Herzig Acoustic Project WHAT: Showcase Concerts for new Jazz CD Release, $10 Admission WHEN: Friday, January 13, 10pm &12am AND Friday, January 20, 8pm WHERE: CREOLE Restaurant and Music Supper Club, 2167 Third Ave, New York, NY 10035, on the northeast corner of 118th Street in the heart of East Harlem, El Barrio, for ...

Distinctive originals and well-chosen standards reveal Herzig's warmhearted, reflective side and her cleverly playful nature. Nancy Ann Lee Jazz Times contributor and co-editor of MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide "A lovely example of a thoroughly schooled, thoroughly modern jazz pianist." Cherilee Wadsworth Walker, Eastern Illinois University The lady can get down and play! John W. Patterson, AAJ Fusion/ Progressive Editor

Primary Instrument

Piano

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Clinic/Workshop Information

Jazz Piano Improvisation Music Business

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Both Sides of Joni

ACME Records
2023

buy

Eternal Dance

Savant Records
2020

buy

Sheroes

Whaling City Sound
2018

buy

Come With Me

Owl Studios
2011

buy

Eternal Dance

From: Eternal Dance
By Monika Herzig

Bubbles

From: Sheroes
By Monika Herzig

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