She misses Amsterdam but there’s nothing like her birthplace Barcelona, where alto saxophonist Irene Reig plans her next move, typically working from her bop roots towards multi-layered contemporary jazz recordings. 

Her background doesn’t need guessing, since one of her groups is called The Bop Collective. Reig: “I”d played clarinet and sax in school bands but it wasn’t until saxophonist Pablo Arias showed me what Charlie Parker was about that I really got into it. I am also influenced by Johnny Hodges, Sonny Stitt, Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane.”

One night in 2024, Amsterdam crowds (including yours truly) saw her jamming the bop in the Red Light District at the tiny and overcrowded Bar Zilt, warding off shoulder-brushing customers, contemplating the effects of constant draught, sweating like a construction worker, blowing hot on tunes by Bird, Dizzy, Tadd Dameron.

O yeah, bop is her bread and butter.

But it doesn’t stop there. On the contrary, the interesting thing is, Reig, who has been part of the Amsterdam scene since she attended conservatory approximately ten years ago, uses that language to studiously raise her game. Reig released a successful album of compelling, poetic repertoire – Alto For Two – with fellow altoist Kika Sprangers in 2024.

Furthermore, Reig, who also worked with Pennsylvania greats Dick Oatts and John Swana, has gradually developed The Bop Collective, which released three albums, into a modern post-bop unit, subliminally integrating outside influences, ablaze with her spicy and fervent alto style. Reig: “I started the band in Barcelona but when I moved to Amsterdam, I re-build it into a new group for the sake of my masters exam. We went from there and never looked back.”

“My motivation was, I always like writing and arranging. I’ve always loved Count Basie and Duke Ellington. As a teenager, I played a lot in youth big bands and so I’ve learned how big bands work from inside, like the voicing, structure, how everything blends, and such. So, I use that knowledge to write for our octet. It is a reflection of my background of bebop, hard bop and post bop and mixes that language with the things I have always liked, like Brazilian music, soul, funk, and the counterpoint and melodic strains of classical giants like Bach.”

While Reig will continue exploring new vistas with The Bop Collective and Kika Sprangers in the future, her current focus is on her new album with her quartet featuring pianist Xavi Torres. “It is called Anima, which means ‘soul’ and will be released in November. We already lined up a few gigs, one in Münster, Germany, for instance. But the presentation, of course, will be in Barcelona.”

Barcelona is where Reig grew up in a family that spun records of Latin music, Debussy, Ella Fitzgerald. Where she studied classical piano and got her degree, where she got into jazz. All this resulted in Reig becoming one of Catalonia’s prime – as they say – female jazz musicians in Europe.

Female. The terminology is an issue. You never hear someone referring to a prime male musician. Reig: “We have to stop defining women in jazz as exotic, like, oh, that girl is playing drums, wow.”

When asked if men can learn something from women in jazz, Reig initially stares into space, weighing her words. Then, her eyes, clear as spring water now, reveal a twinkle, and she continues with a subject that likely kept her mind busy for a long while. “There are many things that we can learn from each other in society. In jazz, I think what men should do is give more space to women. Not only literally on stage, but in the business. I’m not complaining, things are on the upside, but still if bookers, journalists, conservatory managers, all these people on the business side of things, increase representation, this will change society. There are still not many girls that play saxophone and it’s difficult to light that spark of ambition in your head. It would be more easy to break through if more women are allowed the space to develop their art.”

She’s a fine example herself, at age 32. Why, actually, did she leave the vivid Dutch scene, historically known as a gateway to the European heartland? Reig: “When I returned to Barcelona in 2019, it was a mixture of things. I have a lot of work here, a lot of gigs. I was already traveling back about twice a month. I live close to my family and a lot of friends over here. I do miss Amsterdam a lot, I miss hanging out and playing with my friends, but of course I’m playing there now and then. It was a good choice, the balance is okay.”