Bassist Jen Hodge is in the Groove!

It’s tempting to describe Jen Hodge—female bassist, bandleader, composer, arranger and singer—as a rare phenomenon. But that’s not how she saw herself, growing up surrounded by prominent women doing similar. The Canadian from Vancouver Island set her sights early on a professional bass-playing career and in her mid-thirties—several records and high-profile festivals later—that’s what she’s got. Though it’s not quite the career she expected. It seems almost unbelievable, hearing her beautifully sparse arrangements, but she first took up music in the hopes of one day rocking stadium crowds. “I’ve been a music nut since I was kid, and I always loved music of all kinds,” Jen said. “My mom’s a Brit, so there was a lot of classical and folk in the house. I really wanted to play rock, so I picked up a guitar aged 11 and right away it was with a career in mind—I was very serious about that from the get-go.” Eager to get as much practice as she could, she applied to join her high school band. The music teacher didn’t want guitarists but was seeking a bassist, so Jen swapped six strings for four. The electric bass was her passport to any musical outfit in school, including the jazz band—until she turned 16. “The teacher told me, ‘You’re in the senior band now so you have to play a real bass,’” Jen said. “It was so big and unwieldy, but he said,
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Dave Doyle is a swing dancer, dance teacher, and journalist based in Gloucestershire, England. Write him at [email protected]. Find him on Twitter @DaveDoyleComms.

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