“Palmer soars where angels fear to sing". – Mark Miller - The Toronto Globe and Mail
5 years fronting Cdn Celtic /free bop 4-tet, Chelsea Bridge established Tena Palmer at the forefront of jazz vocal improvisation in N. America. An article to that effect is featured in Downbeat critic, Scott Yanow’s latest tome, The Jazz Singers, backbeat press, 2009.
After living abroad from ’96 – ’03 (Iceland: 6+ yrs., Holland, Prague) the award-winning singer and composer now resides in Toronto. Her voice and writing is featured on more than nine critically acclaimed cds, 6 of them Canadian.
Called, "the most creative vocalist in Canadian free improvisation", by Stuart Broomer, Toronto Life Magazine, Tena tours and records many styles: experimental, Brazilian, jazz, roots, minimalist electronica, Celtic, spoken word and musique concrète. All of which influence her original projects. Her work has been commissioned for European and N. American theatre, film TV and live performance ensembles ranging from 3 to 19 players.
Aside from creative work with diverse artists the world over Palmer is a frequent collaborator with leading Toronto musicians. Current bands include
BEVY: originals/jazz mix with Murley, Schwager, Vivian, and Warren,
DUO: improvised music with double bassist, Rob Clutton,
REINTARNATION: new adventures in country music with Don Rooke, Tania Gill & Victor Bateman & In the Maritimes, original adventurous outings w/
EC-Q: Joel LeBlanc, Tom Easley, Marc Adam
Current projects:
- 3rd solo cd: (Rec. Dec. ’09) Tena reunites with core band mates, Hilmar Jensson git, electronica and Matthias Hemstock, percussion, electronica for release early 2010. ( research and travel funding for this project provided by Canada Council for the Arts)
- Plenary meetings with arts organizers to present Canadian/Icelandic/DK mash-up fest: improvisation w/string ensembles, electronics, & other experimentalists. Spring, 2010
- East Coast Jan/Feb tour: w/EC-Q, guest soloist & composer w/Upstream Orchestra, workshops, &
- pre-production of original theatre piece
- Training new puppy: Bucky Baudoux!