There’s a particular kind of listening required when you approach a compilation, especially one with the word “Presents” in the title. You can’t walk in expecting a seamless narrative arc the way you would with a solo artist’s album—the thread is thematic, not personal. But Motema Music Collective, the New York–based independent label founded by Renate Wassenberger, has always understood that compilations, when done right, can be more honest about where a music actually lives than any single artist’s statement ever could.
This collection arrived in 2020, the year everything stopped and started again. That timing wasn’t accidental. The album pulls together twelve musicians across vocal and instrumental performances, each track a kind of argument: This is what’s happening right now. This is who’s playing. Listen.
The Voices First
The vocalists here carry the immediate weight. Cyrille Aimée, who’s spent two decades moving between straight-ahead swing and more experimental territory, opens with a version of “Autumn Leaves” that’s been stripped of its parlor-song polish—it breathes like conversation. Somi, the Ugandan-American singer who trained in classical music and emerged from the downtown New York jazz scene, brings something entirely different: a kind of architectural intelligence to melody, the sense that she’s building the song from the inside out rather than decorating it.
Lizz Wright doesn’t appear here, but her absence alongside the presence of others makes you aware of the generations at work. These are musicians who’ve lived through jazz education becoming mainstream, through streaming and YouTube and the flattening of geography that comes with digital music. They sound both rooted and unmoored.
The Instrumentalists
Then there are the players. The album features work from musicians you might know from the New York loft scene of the last decade—composers and improvisers who’ve moved past the question of whether jazz is a museum piece or a living language. One track features a string arrangement that feels almost chamber-like in its restraint; another leans into electronic textures that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a contemporary classical or experimental music release.
What strikes you, if you’re listening carefully, is the absence of hierarchy. A vocalist isn’t featured over instrumentalists or vice versa. The album doesn’t organize itself around “the singer backed by a band.” Instead, it’s more like standing in a room where multiple conversations are happening at once, each one complete unto itself.
The Recording and Context
Recorded across multiple sessions in 2019 and 2020, the album captures something of that pre-pandemic moment when live recording was still assumed to be the normal state of things. The engineering is clean but not sterile—you can hear the room, the air between the musicians. On a good playback system, you notice the presence of piano in a way that suggests the microphone was placed with intention, not default.
Wassenberger’s role here is crucial, and often invisible. She’s built Motema as a label that operates outside the major-label ecosystem, which means the compilation exists in conversation with a different set of priorities. This isn’t a compilation designed to establish a “sound” or prove a market thesis. It’s closer to a statement of values: that women in jazz deserve sustained attention not as a curiosity or a corrective, but as the fundamental reality of what jazz is in 2020.
The album doesn’t feel didactic about this. It simply presents the work and lets the music make the argument. Which, of course, is the most effective argument of all.
🎵 Key Takeaways
- Motema's compilations reveal honest truths about jazz better than solo artist statements.
- Cyrille Aimée strips 'Autumn Leaves' bare, transforming it into intimate conversation.
- Somi builds melody from inside out with architectural precision and intelligence.
- These musicians sound both rooted and unmoored by digital geography.
- The 2020 timing wasn't accidental—documenting who's actually playing right now.
What is Motema Music Collective and who founded it?
Motema is a New York-based independent label founded by Renate Wassenberger that operates outside the major-label ecosystem with different priorities than mainstream releases. The label has built a reputation for thoughtfully curated compilations that prioritize artistic values over commercial market positioning.
Who are the vocalists featured on Women in Jazz?
The compilation features Cyrille Aimée, who balances swing and experimental approaches, and Somi, an Ugandan-American singer trained in classical music who emerged from the downtown New York jazz scene and applies architectural precision to melody. Both represent musicians shaped by jazz becoming mainstream and by the democratizing effect of digital music.
What was the approach to recording this compilation?
Sessions were recorded across 2019 and 2020, capturing that pre-pandemic moment when live recording was the assumed standard. The engineering preserves room presence and intentional microphone placement—on quality playback systems, you can hear the spatial relationships between instruments rather than a sterile studio capture.
How does this compilation differ structurally from typical jazz albums?
Rather than organizing around a featured vocalist backed by a band, the album presents multiple complete conversations simultaneously with no hierarchical ordering between voices and instruments. This structure treats each track as an equal argument about what's happening in contemporary jazz rather than a supporting framework for soloists.
Why did this album arrive in 2020 specifically?
The timing wasn't accidental—the compilation was released during the year everything stopped and restarted, functioning as a statement of presence: *this is who's playing right now*. It captures musicians who've lived through jazz institutionalization and come out the other side still innovating.
Further Reading