The prolific Chicago-based bass player and improvisor discusses her many projects—including Twin Talk, Wayfaring, and Edith Judith—and her role in inspiring the next generation of musicians.

Today, the Spotlight shines On bassist and vocalist Katie Ernst. In addition to many other things, Katie is one half of the duo Wayfaring, with last week’s guest James Falzone.

Katie is also co-leader of the Chicago-based jazz trio Twin Talk, and the indie rock band Edith Judith, and has garnered much acclaim for her Dorothy Parker poetry song cycle Little Words, which premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Katie is a working musician, performing as part of many jazz and improvised music ensembles in the Chicago area. She is also a committed educator, working with young musicians in her work as a teaching artist for the Jazz Institute of Chicago’s Jazz Masters Residency Program in Chicago Public Schools, and by serving on the faculty at Birch Creek Music Academy summer program.

I was very fortunate to see Katie perform as part of Wayfaring earlier this year and even more fortunate to have this conversation. Enjoy.

(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Twin Talk’s 2019 album Weaver and Wayfaring’s recent Intermezzo)

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Dig Deeper

• Visit Katie Ernst at katieernst.com
• Listen to music from Katie Ernst’s projects: Wayfaring, Twin Talk, and Edith Judith
• Follow Katie Ernst on Instagram, Facebook, and Bandcamp
• Jazz bassist and vocalist Katie Ernst rises like the tide
• Traveling with a Double Bass
• Twin Talk (website)
• Dustin Laurenzi | Saxophonist/Multi-Instrumentalist
• FLY (jazz trio)
• Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead - Katie Ernst
• Jason Moran & The Bandwagon (Performance/Demonstration)
• Edith Judith – Bones And Structure
• Why everyone loves to hate Kenny G, according to the jazz musician himself
• A Pink Floyd CD is returned to a Maryland library — 35 years overdue
• Dizzy Gillespie - “In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town”
• Billie Holiday - “(In My) Solitude”
• Eastman School of Music
• Mike Reed | Drummer/Composer
• Birch Creek Music Performance Center
• Nick Mazzarella | Saxophonist
• Tim Stine | Guitarist/Composer
• Katie Ernst joins Iron & Wine on tour

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