Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series. On this episode, we sit down with New Zealand-born, Sydney-based jazz singer, songwriter, and pianist Bonnie J. Jensen to talk about her new 2025 album Rise and a wide-ranging international music career.

Rise is a one-hour journey of accessible, contemporary jazz, bridging the worlds of soul, Latin, pop, and straight-ahead jazz, while drawing inspiration from the songbooks of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, James Taylor, Sting, Michael Franks, and more. The album is steeped in tradition yet unafraid to take creative detours, showcasing Bonnie’s refined musical voice and global perspective.

Bonnie’s artistry reflects a life lived internationally. Over her career, she has performed extensively throughout Europe, the United States (including New York), and Asia, with repeated tours of Japan, earning praise from critics, jazz devotees, and even non-jazz audiences along the way.

We dig into the making of Rise, her evolution as an artist, and what it means to create modern jazz that connects across borders and genres.

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https://bonniejjensen.com/music/discography/

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Joe Dimino Podcaster/Artist

Joe Dimino has been writing & creating in a variety of capacities since his college days at the University of Missouri-Kansas City somewhere around 1993. If you are keeping score, that would be about 29 years+. It all began at UMKCs University News as a Sports Writer & turned into a myriad of expressive avenues. Inventing poems, art, video & audio has always been in the proverbial cards.