Writer Angelika Beener - A Coltrane-Obsessed & Lover of Lattes, a Mom on a Mission - Chats with Ashaine White @ WJM - EP.2 - S1

In this episode, Ashaine White talks to writer Angelika Beener.

A fascinating and inspiring conversation exploring working in today’s Jazz industry and how to develop a career as a writer: ‘Do the work, rise to the occasion as much as you can and then shoot your shot! You’d be surprised who might give you a chance, especially if you are black and especially if you are woman. This is a good time for us to kick in the door’

Angelika Beener is a proud New York City native whose love of writing began in fourth grade when she won a storytelling contest. Her imaginative tales about attack vegetables and other wacky scenarios always amused her schoolteachers, and although her college professor urged her to change her major to English after reading her quirky essays about her hometown, she studied marketing instead. In fact, it would be some years before Angelika would take his advice, as she was busy nurturing her first love — music — by interning at record labels between classes.

Happily, her true passions of music and writing collided, and over the next fifteen years since those college days, Angelika has worked for ASCAP, The Hit Factory, Blue Note Records, and Newark Public Radio-WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM, and she consults for independent artists and non-profit organizations. Her work for WBGO was recognized by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which presented her with the “My Source Community Impact Award” as part of their Public Awareness Initiative to Celebrate and Affirm the Essential Role of Public Broadcasting in American Society. The following year, Angelika created and co-produced the acclaimed four-part podcast series called “We Insist! Jazz Speaks Out”, which garnered award recognition by The New York Association of Black Journalists.

Angelika continues to enjoy a dynamic career in the music business spanning the last twenty-two years and has contributed her work to esteemed media outlets and organizations including Downbeat, TIDAL, The Huffington Post, NPR Music, Jazz at Lincoln Centre, and National Public Radio. A journalist who writes about music and culture at the intersections of race, gender, and generation, Angelika has participated in several notable event panels and guest speaking engagements.

Additionally, you can find her name attached to various notable jazz projects including Droppin’ Science: Greatest Samples From the Blue Note Lab; iconic bassist Ron Carter’s Dear Miles; and Marcus Strickand’s People Of the Sun. A fierce advocate for gender and racial equity, particularly in the arts, Angelika served as a dedicated member of the Board of Directors for the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls. Angelika adds film producer to her list of credits as part of the team for the award-winning documentary Digging For Weldon Irvine, the unsung father of jazz fusion, who mentored the likes of Q-Tip and Yasin Bey (Mos Def).  

You can follow Angelika Beener’s work here: Kulturedchild.com-and on and 

 

Our Host: Ashaine White is a Freelance Vocalist, Musician and Music Journalist from London. As a recent awardee of the Girls I Rate and PRS sustaining creativity fund, Ashaine is involved in a diverse range of global Music projects and is clearly proving that she is ‘the one to watch’ in 2021.

As the host for the ‘In Conversations with…’ series for Women in Jazz Media, Ashaine will delve into the lives and stories of inspiring women in Jazz media, exploring current industry topics and challenges and motivating us all to explore, support and encourage a healthy, diverse and equal Jazz world.

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