Cellist Jody Redhage Ferber is a passionate proponent of creative live music that blurs genres and connects the sensitivity of chamber music and the spontaneous, in-the-moment magic of jazz improvisation. Over the past 18 years of working as a professional cellist, composer, vocalist, recording artist, educator and concert presenter, she has collaborated with musicians including Esperanza Spalding, Fred Hersch, Terri Lyne Carrington, Snarky Puppy, Sufjan Stevens, Beyonce and Jay-Z. Jody lives in New York with her husband, arranger/trombonist Alan Ferber, and their two sons, Theo (aged ten) and Elliott (aged five).
UKJazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling motherhood and career?
Jody Redhage Ferber: I’m not sure it was good advice, but my cello teacher when I was in grad school was a mother. She said, “You can do it all, but you can’t do it all at the same time.” I never wanted to accept this as a reality, and always have pushed back on this with my heart….but it IS the reality. I always WANT to keep doing it all (performing, bandleading, writing music, being a devoted mother), but things just go on the chopping block: the thing that is not essential at the time just vanishes from being done, whether I want it to or not. For me that has been writing music. It fell off the chopping block for almost 10 years and I’m finally returning to it now that my sons are 10 & 5.
UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?
JRF: I took my first son Theo on tour with me off and on for his first 2 years of life. I would have liked to have heard how it is actually easier to take a baby along on the road, while they are not yet walking, or at least not yet running. Once he got past 18 months, and especially when Theo approached age 2, he was so energetic and on-the-go that I couldn’t handle all the stuff and him while traveling (carseat, stroller, luggage, diaper bag, cello, suitcase, music, other gear, etc). The flights themselves were overwhelming with him being cooped up for long stretches. I felt that I had to revamp my life around staying more at home once he was 2.
UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other mothers in jazz:
JRF: Figure out the one or two things you MUST do every day to stay balanced-is it practice? Yoga? Cardio exercise? Eating certain foods? Prioritize that to happen daily or close to daily—in ANY way you can—hire a sitter, ask your partner for more help, delegate chores to others, anything to get in those ESSENTIAL things that keep you ticking on a sustainable, daily basis. We have to be very self aware about those essentials in order to get through the years of the routine of childcare and family scheduling, while also staying in performing shape and being prepared for concerts/recordings.
UKJN: Baby/child gear tips for travel/touring/gigging:
JRF: Skip hop picnic blanket that folds up…..essential for outdoor picnics, homebase play area in a park, etc.
UKJN: Best general travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice:
JRF: LOTS of snacks on the plane. We greatly limit screen time at home, but throw that limitation out the window on planes. They can watch movies the whole flight, absolutely! And eat loads of those gummy fruit snacks, which also aren’t on the home menu!
UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?
JRF: How tough I’ve become! I mentally “dig in” to do well with performing and recording even though my fatigue level is often high. I have found strategies to cope: tiny naps, coffee, and I’m much more efficient with my time management. My priorities have shifted. If it’s between practicing cello and going for a run, the practicing cello wins at this stage in my life. I can do it all–but not all at the same time in this current phase of my life with small children.
UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a mother in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?
JRF: I don’t take my kids on tour anymore, unless it’s the unusual occurrence when Alan, my husband, and I are both performing on the same gig. Otherwise they stay home with him, a sitter, or a family member.
Jody runs EcoTones Concerts, in part inspired by wanting to connect her sons with nature, and the fact that making acoustic music is a natural thing that humans have been doing for a long, long time. Inspired by the ecology term ‘EcoTone’ where two biomes meet and create a border zone particularly rife with life, EcoTones Concerts present music in an engaging and fun way outside the confines of a formal concert hall.
Mothers in Jazz was started by vocalist Nicky Schrire. The initiative aims to create an online resource for working jazz musicians with children, those contemplating parenthood, and jazz industry figures who work with and hire musicians who are parents. The insight of the musicians interviewed for this series provides valuable emotional, philosophical and logistical information and support that is easily accessible to all. “Mothers In Jazz” shines a light on the very specific role of being both a mother and a performing jazz musician.
