Bio
VOCALIST-PIANIST-COMPOSER
Jazz singer - kirtan singer
A veteran of the New York jazz scene, Marje Wagner was a featured vocalist at The Blue Note Jazz Club and at Birdland. Over her 30-year career, she worked as a lead singer in varied ensembles and as a solo singer-pianist.
After years of interpreting the Great American Songbook, Marje was inspired by Alice Coltrane to compose and arrange her own melodies to Sanskrit Chants -- this in service of her practice of chanting these healing prayers. The result is her new album -- CHANT TO GANESHA AND OTHER JAZZ PRAYERS where Marje sings, chants and improvises with an international fusion band of jazz and Hindustani musicians. Called "sumptuous and voluptuous and haunting" by Yoga master Cathy Calderon, the music reaches across genres to heal and stimulate listeners.
In France, Marje sang and played piano at the Memphis Melody Jazz Club and l'Agnelis Club in Paris, Le Smart Club in Nice, and led a Paris-based jazz band at the Bozouls Jazz Festival. An elegant and sophisticated entertainer, Marje speaks fluent French and Spanish. In 1996, Marje released YOU'D BE SO NICE TO COME HOME TO on Second Street Productions, featuring her arrangements of standards with Allen Farnham on piano, Drew Gress on bass, Gianpaolo Biaggi on drums and Jeff Lederer on alto sax and flute
Her ensemble credits include Carnegie Hall where she sang with Kirk Nurock's Natural Sound Ensemble, and Town Hall and Symphony Space with the Barry Harris Jazz Choir.
At the JAZZ AND ROSES festival co-hosted by WBGO Jazz Radio, Marje led a stellar jazz band at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. As a featured vocalist, Marje performed regularly with New York's top musicians at the University Club, under the direction of house pianist Tom Nelson, and with the Swing Street Big Band, under the direction of trumpeter Barry Bryson.
A new development emerged when Marje led a multi-cultural KIRTAN (call and response singing) to honor Dr. Martin Luther King in the sanctuary of Brooklyn's Old First Reformed Church, and subsequently led KIRTAN at Integral Yoga Institute and at Shambhala Yoga and Dance. Marje's regular meditation practice using Sanskrit chants led to a desire to create new melodies for these healing prayers. When vibist Stefan Bauer offered to workshop these melodies with her, thus was born the current album.
Recorded in May 2019, CHANT TO GANESHA brings together a world-class group of jazz and Hindustani players. Together they create a healing and stimulating world of sounds. The band features Naren Budhakar on tabla, Stefan Bauer on vibes, Carl Clements on bansuri flute and tenor sax, and Dave Mensch on upright bass. They are excited to perform the music at Brooklyn's Soapbox Gallery on July 26, 2023, and at other jazz venues and yoga studios in the future.