The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Making R^T SheBOP! CD T w o a n d a half years a g o Mother of Pearl, Vancouver's all w o m e n jazz quintet, didn't think they w o u l d be m a k i n g jazz history. For seven years Mother of Pearl h a d b e e n busy p e r f o r m i n g In c o n c e r t s , at f e s t i v a l s a n d In s c h o o l s . Every m e m b e r of t h e g r o u p has other musical projects as w e l l . Pianist B r e n d a Balrd w r i t e s f o r f i l m a n d t e l e v i s i o n as w e l l as c a r r y i n g a very b u s y t e a c h i n g load. Karen Graves, w h o brings her prodigious talents on s a x o p h o n e s a n d flute, Is a s o u g h t after s e s s i o n player a n d m e m b e r of several other ensembles, while percussionist and drummer Lauri Lyster Is o f t e n seen a n d heard with the Vancouver Symphony and O p e r a . B a s s i s t W e n d y S o l l o w a y is a m u s i c Then SheBOP! dominate Mother t o o k h o l d a n d has c o m e t o of t h e m e m b e r s of therapist by day, w h i l e v o c a l i s t voice w h e n Colleen Savage teaches s h e is n o t Mother s i n g i n g w i t h a m y r i a d of local bands. R. Y! w o r k i n g i n t h e M u s i c S e c t i o n o f t h e federal arts f u n d i n g body. W h a t c o u l d they d o to improve their chances? " D i g up some Mother of Pearl Launches of Pearl was a project that a l l o w e d the five women to play original music a n d jazz C a n a d i a n repertoire written by w o m e n " was t h e reply. It s e e m e d like a g o o d p l a n but it lay d o r m a n t f o r a f e w years w h i l e other priorities took up their time. covers, o n e a c t i v i t y a m o n g m a n y f o r this talented fivesome. In the fall of 2001 they o n c e a g a i n hooked u p w i t h Gary, n o w b a c k In V a n c o u v e r a n d w o r k i n g as a n a r t i s t s ' m a n a g e r . Together they crafted an application to Canada t h e lives of Pearl. SheBOP!By Canadian A Century of Jazz Women s t a r t e d , Compositions like m a n y b i g t h i n g s , w i t h a s m a l l Idea. Frustrated by their failure to get a c o u p l e of C a n a d a C o u n c i l grants. Mother of Pearl m e t w i t h G a r y Crlstall, n o w their manager, t h e n C o u n c i l for funds to help produce a s h o w of j a z z b y C a n a d i a n w o m e n . They g o t the grant! N o w they h a d to find the music. How h a r d c o u l d it b e ? 10 March | April