“SOME ARTISTS ARE reluctant to admit to their influences, being convinced of their own sui generis brilliance or else ashamed to admit that they are not entirely unique.
Jenny Scheinman is not one of them. In fact, on her new and quite wonderful double album, All Species Parade, the California-based violinist kicks things off by name-checking one of her favourite jazz composers, Ornette Coleman, on the delightfully eccentric jazz shuffle “Ornette Goes Home”. In turn, “Every Bear That Ever There Was” takes its title from a 1932 novelty hit, “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic", but also paraphrases Henry Mancini’s jaunty “Pink Panther Theme”.
Animal lovers flock together, it seems.
In the press material for All Species Parade, Scheinman also takes pains to point out that “Jaroujiji”, “The Sea Also Rises”, and the title track should be considered parts of a larger whole, “a Duke Ellington–inspired suite that clocks in at 20 minutes”.