Vena Rachel Therrien

• 1 Folks Jam 00:52
• 2 V for Vena 04:32
• 3 Parity 04:28
• 4 Pigalle 04:39
• 5 75 Pages of Happiness 04:13
• 6 Assata 05:36
• 7 Bilka's Story 05:20
• 8 Emilio 02:44
• 9 Women 00:57
• 10 Synchronicity 01:59
• 11 This Isn't Love 05:03
• 12 Just Playing 03:57
• 13 Bleu tortue 03:22
• 14 Migration 04:46
• 15 Folks Tune 02:03
• Total Runtime 54:31

Info for Vena

Critically acclaimed trumpeter Rachel Therrien is thrilled to announce the March 27th release of her fifth album as a leader VENA. On her debut release for French label Bonsai Music, Therrien makes a major statement over the course of fifteen original compositions. For this momentous occasion, Therrien has assembled a quartet of first-rate European musicians including Franco-Australian pianist Daniel Gassin, Spanish bassist Dario Guibert, and German drummer Mareike Wiening. Cuban saxophonist Irving Acao joins on two tracks. Therrien will be celebrating the release of VENA at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City on March 24th, at Diese Onze in Montreal on March 27th and at Studio de l’Ermitage in Paris on May 4th.

Rachel Therrien’s sound reverberates far beyond her current home of New York City. Born in Quebec, the trumpeter is the epitome of the international musician. She has spent a considerable amount of time in Latin America; her extensive time living and studying in Havana, Cuba heavily influences her Latin-tinged sound. An in-demand side player, Therrien is often enlisted to join top shelf acts on tour and thus, can often be found playing in Europe. On her fifth album, Therrien wished to record with her European Quartet – a group that came together as a result of her many trips there.

The title VENA is significant to Therrien in more than one way. “V For Vena”, the title of the first single, was inspired particularly by the flight of migrating birds. A call back to her home region in Quebec where Canadian Geese are plentiful, the flight patterns of the birds in the form of a V allow for them to travel great distances together. This is a powerful symbol to Therrien, who sees the birds’ migration pattern as a symbol for her own career taking flight and of the new direction she is forming with her European counterparts. The V in “Vena” can also be interpreted as he roman numeral for five (thus, her fifth album) and on the spiritual side, V is the 22nd letter of the alphabet, which stands for synchronicity (as if to say “the stars are well aligned”).

VENA is Therrien’s most personal album yet. She composed all fifteen songs- each of which are loaded with deep personal meaning. Of note, the fifth track “75 Pages Of Happiness” was recorded for Therrien’s father on his 75th birthday; “Migration” was inspired by her transient, travel-heavy lifestyle; “Bilka’s Story”, which features saxophonist Acao, was inspired by her adventure-filled tours of Ukraine; and “Parity” was inspired by her longing for gender equality.

Therrien first burst on to the scene in 2011 with her debut On Track. She released another album Home Inspiration in 2014, and in 2015 won the TD Grand Prize Jazz Award. The following year, she received the Stingray Jazz Rising Star Award and released Pensamiento, her Latin-jazz endeavor recorded in Bogata, Colombia. Her 2017 release Why Don’t You Try continued to contribute to Therrien’s rising star as it received accolades from Downbeat Magazine (Editors Pick), Bandcamp Daily, NextBop and more. In addition to with her own groups, Therrien tours throughout the world with the DIVA Jazz Orchestra.

Rachel Therrien, trumpet
Daniel Gassin, piano
Dario Guibert, bass
Mareike Wiening, drums
Irving Acao, saxophone

Rachel Therrien
Between New York City and Montreal, French-Canadian trumpeter, composer and producer Rachel Therrien boasts an enviable CV. She is considered one of the most promising jazz musicians, playing a wide variety of musical styles and rhythms.

Winner of the 2015 TD Grand Prize Jazz Award at the renowned Montreal International Jazz Festival, the 2016 Stingray Jazz Rising Star Award and nominated as Best Jazz Producer at the IMA’s 2018 Award, she has shared stages with many world-class musicians in clubs, festivals and on television throughout the Americas and the Caribbean.

Rachel has published five records: VENA (2020), Why Don’t You Try (2017), Pensamiento: Colombia (2016), Home Inspiration (2014) and On Track (2011) released Labels Bonsaï Music (FR), Multiple Chord Music (CA) & Truth Revolution Records (USA). She received stellar reviews from Le Devoir, La Presse, All About Jazz, New York Hot House, Downbeat Editor’s Pick, Latin Jazz Corner, just to name a few. For the last few years she has toured as bandleader all over Canada, USA, Europe, Ukraine, Mexico and more, taking on the most prestigious jazz festivals and clubs.

Rachel Therrien released her 5th album recorded in Paris with her new European Quartet in March 2020 during the coronavirus breakdown. The new album VENA was released under French Label Bonsaï Music in the spring of 2020. She also presently tours with her Montreal Quintet which will celebrate their 10th anniversary in 2020; with her New York based Latin Jazz Quartet and very occasionally, she performs Pensamiento : Proyecto Colombia, 2016.

Rachel Therrien also played as a sideman with some of the greatest artists of the time: DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Claudio Roditi, Paquito D’Rivera, Lee Konitz, Ken Peplowski, the Latin Grammy winner Mariachi Flor de Toloache, Yacouba Sissoko, Geraldo Piloto, Michel Legrand, Pedrito Martinez, Julie Lamontagne, Benito Gonzales, David Buchbinder, Vic Vogel, Bryan Lynch, Carole Welsman, Nomadic Massive, Wesli Band, Tabou Combo, Skah Shah, Klimax, Orquesta Anacaona. She also worked for Canadian TV Show “Belle et Bum” which lead her to share the stage with great artists such as Marie-Josée Lord, Alex Nevsky, Mara Tremblay, Daniel Boucher, Stéphanie Bédard, Lisa Leblanc, Joseph Edgar, and New York based famous folk singer Joseph Arthur.

Rachel holds a bachelor degree in jazz performance from the University of Montreal, a degree in arts management and a music certificate from Instituto Supérior de Arte (Havana, Cuba), and was selected to participate in the Banff Center Jazz and Creative Music workshop held by Dave Douglas and Vijay Iyer in 2012. She has worked with a large number of mentors and teachers such as Ron DiLauro, Elpidio Chappotin, Laurie Frink, John McNeil, Jonathan Finlayson, Clarence Penn, Ralph Alessi and many more.

As well as being recognized as an artist that can’t be ignored, Rachel is also a key player on the Montreal Jazz scene, helping it to grow and expand its frontiers by being an example for emerging musicians and actively working for the jazz community. In 2013, she founded the Montreal Jazz Composers Series, bringing more than 200 musician-composers from Canada and the US to showcase their original music and play together for the first time in front of crowd of mainly young non-musicians during Montreal Int’l Jazz Festival. She believes that “Jazz is a philosophy of conversation between musicians from different backgrounds through improvisation, and that we, as musicians, it is our mission to keep jazz alive and to make sure that our generation of non-musicians live the experience and appreciate that unspoken language.”

Booklet for Vena