Biggi Vinkeloe meets Amy K Bormet

Biggi Vinkeloe plays saxophone, flute, composition, workshops, projects, co-owner of Open Horizon Records meets Amy K. Bormet, who plays piano, voice, composition, workshops, manages the Washington Women in Jazz Festival (WWJ) and other concerts, and is the co-owner of Strange Woman Records, and co-founder of the Turnaround Magazine.

A few months before I met Amy, I heard about her. Marie Tarrach Bävholm, producer for Jazz and Blues at the Cultural Department of The Region of West Sweden, and Västra Götaland invited me to be part of the first Women Jazz Festival in Sweden. Marie was so enthusiastic about a young pianist and vocalist, Amy K. Bormet, who had founded her own festival in Washington D.C. out of frustration that there were few opportunities for women to perform.

Of course, I was impressed about the entrepreneurship and tenacity of this young lady, who was 33 years younger than me. Amy came to Sweden with her fabulous group, Ephemera, to share the bill with Raw Sound Sweden, an ensemble created especially for this festival. I spent a lot of time with the American musicians, talking, jamming, walking by the seaside, and hanging out. The same groups performed in Washington, D.C. as part of WWJ. This was the beginning of our collaboration.

Amy lived in Los Angeles, California, with her husband in a small house not far from Korea Town. Dr. Matt Dievendorf is a guitarist, composer, producer, and instructor. For 20 years, I have lived in Oakland, part-time, so we arranged to meet in person.

A few times, Amy invited me to perform with her in Venice Beach at a church where she was the house musician for services. We had a lot of talks, and I enjoyed spending time at the colorful Venice Beach. We did workshops at the church and developed a deep musical relationship with great ease at improvising beautiful tunes together. With drummer Tina Raymond, we recorded our first album The Harold Trio (Edgetone Records, 2016) in the Bay Area.

We performed and jammed with Amy and Matt’s friends, took long walks towards downtown L.A., frequented thrift stores, and ate El Salvadorian food and dessert. We would stop at a park, or the library. When Vinny Golia invited me to do a workshop at the fabulous CalArts, I invited Amy to come with me. We conducted a workshop on improvisation, but had a passionate and interesting talk with students about women in the music business and on stage, also.

In 2019, our second album Open Secrets was released on Strange Woman Records owned by Amy and Matt. The official release party happened at the next WWJ festival in Washington. On my third trip to Washington, D.C., I met Linda Harris at one of my workshops. Both Amy and Linda became members of Women in Jazz South Florida. Since that meeting, Linda has built a successful career as a singer!

Amy and I collaborated with percussionist Ana Barreiro for a concert in Sacramento, at the invitation of guitarist, visual artist, and singer Amy Melissa Reed for her MaSeries. We are in touch, constantly. Amy and Matt released Cedar Smoke

Biggi Vinkeloe meets Amy K Bormet (con’t)

(Strange Woman Records, 2023), featuring drummer Peeter Uuskyla and Amy Melissa Reed. This album was our last collaboration. There will be more, maybe in Sweden, next time!

Links www.europejazz.net/news/women-jazz-festival www.downtownmusic.net/raw-sound-sweden-with-guests-03-15-2015#image55 www.strangewomanrecords.com/wwjf-main www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfI2udur12j6aNYHT8q42r7pgWirxbP_z www.edgetonerecords.com/biggivinkeloe.html

Since 2008, MUSICWOMAN Radio with host Diva Joan Cartwright (Diva JC) features women who compose and perform their own music and men who support them. Music, the sound of the shperes, begins in the womb! ~ Diva JC Call in on (515) 602-9603, hit #1 to talk to the host www.blogtalkradio.com/musicwoman