New Album - The Gathering - to be released January 2026

NEWS FLASH!! Jennifer’s third solo recording project The Gathering is comprised of eleven original songs, produced and engineered by James Stephens and featuring a magical and talented group of guest musicians: James Stephens (fiddle, electric bass and background vocals), Brian Sanderson (horns and mouth organ), Spencer Evans (piano, clarinet), Brendan Gawn (acoustic bass), Rob McMurray (electric guitar), Ian Douglas (percussion), Christine Graves (background vocals), Scottie Irving (keyboards), Jody Benjamin (rubboard), André Ferraton (drums). This collection of songs will be released in early 2026. Join the mailing list for more info on album release concerts in the Ottawa Valley and Ottawa area.

Why The Gathering?

“I was doing a vocal improvisation course with fourteen singers from all over the world when COVID hit. We were forced to gather online. My community choir couldn’t gather to sing in person so we gathered online. Visits with friends and family were not happening, so we gathered online to entertain each other. The need to gather is human and ancient. We need each other. Several of the songs are about gathering - to celebrate, to protest, to remember, to keep each other company, to honour. The songs that involve gathering are interwined with others about loneliness, longing, and love. Without one, we wouldn’t have the other. The rhythms, lyrics and melodies are the threads I use to weave the stories and situations we may find ourselves in on any given day. My goal I imbue them with a bit of the magic and mystery that can make even a simple event feel extraordinary.”

:Whether transporting us into the paintings of David Hockney or onto the page of a 62-year old who has just learned to read and write, into a corner coffee shop or the lives of Irish immigrant settlers, Jennifer introduces us to an eclectic array of characters similar to those you might come across while thumbing through your morning newspaper. Her melodies and rhythms, tinged with jazz, blues, old time and even hip-hop, are as eclectic as her subjects.

A passion for pictures and love of language give Jennifer a painter’s eye for detail and a poetic knack for capturing what lies beyond the obvious.

In 1997, Jennifer won the Ontario Council of folk Festival’s Songs from the Heart Songwriting Competition. Since then she has captured audiences at festivals, coffee houses and house concerts in Ontario, Alberta and BC. Jennifer has toured with Lynn Miles and Ian Tamblyn, and has shared stages with Dar Williams, Garnet Rogers, Stephen Fearing, Rick Fines, and Eliza Gilkyson.

Her release Sweet! was the follow-up to her acclaimed 1998 debut Watch As You Walk. Both albums have received generous airplay on CBC radio and community radio stations across Canada. Vocal Improvisation & Collaboration

VOCAL IMPROVISATION AND COLLABORATION

Jennifer’s musical life continues to evolve. In 2020, she embarked All The Way In, a year-long commitment to self-growth through vocal improvisation and collaboration. Her studies are based on Vocal River, a set of explorations designed and led by Rhiannon, a master of vocal improvisation who performs as part of WeB3 and Gimme5 alongside the likes of Bobby McFerrin, David Worm, Joey Blake, and Judi Vinar. With the skills she is acquiring, Jennifer hopes to take vocal improvisation and the collaborative aspects of circle singing into her choir work and the performance realm. She finds this work very profound for both her personal growth and in her work with community choirs.

FRIDA’S BROW TRIO

From 2004 to 2009, Jennifer joined Ottawa-area songwriters Chris MacLean and Alise Marlane to become Frida's Brow. Their debut self-titled album Frida's Brow (2006) was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award in the Best Vocal Group category that same year.  Frida’s Brow performed at festivals, house concerts, commercial venues and festivals in Ontario and western Quebec.