In a 2019 article, Forbes Magazine decreed that the two characteristics women
need most to thrive in the business world are “grit and grace.” Bass trombonist
Jennifer Wharton has exemplified those qualities in the music she’s made with her
brass-forward band Bonegasm since its 2019 debut. How else to explain Wharton’s
venture into improvising and bandleading after years in the classical world,
big band sections and Broadway orchestra pits? Or her dedication to giving the
oft-neglected trombone – and more to the point, her own bass trombone – its
place in the spotlight? And not least, that she’s done so with a tricky balance of
elegant arrangements, bold musicianship, and audacious wit?
On her third outing with Bonegasm, Grit & Grace (due out October 20, 2023 via
Sunnyside), Wharton demonstrates both attributes brilliantly on a vibrant
and thrilling collection of new music, played with rousing vigor by the stellar ensemble:
Wharton on bass trombone, along with trombonists John Fedchock, Nate
Mayland and Alan Ferber, pianist Michael Eckroth, bassist Evan Gregor, drummer
Don Peretz and, on half the tracks, percussionist Samuel Torres.y.”
“That Forbes article really resonated with me,” Wharton says. “Here I am, a woman
playing a ‘man’s instrument’ in jazz, which I started relatively late. I was looking
for a way to make music mean more to me, so when I discovered I could have
something of my own it changed my whole outlook on music. I just decided to put
on my big girl pants and do this.”