Meet the Grantees: Caili O’Doherty

Caili O’Doherty remembers being 11 years old, sitting at her piano, playing around with different chords and sounds, and creating her first ever piece, “Padme.” Flash forward to 2024, O’Doherty is a highly accomplished pianist, composer, and arranger, blazing a trail for other female artists in the jazz world. She has released two albums (each with a respective release tour), traveled on multiple North American and International tours, and was selected by the U.S. Department of State to tour the Republic of Georgia and Canada as part of the 2022/23 American Music Abroad program. In addition to other accolades an accomplishments, O’Doherty was awarded a 2021 CMA Presenter Consortium for Jazz grant as well as a 2022 CMA New Jazz Works grant (both programs funded by the Doris Duke Foundation).

In 2024, O’Doherty and her quartet performed as a showcase ensemble during the CMA National Conference. Alongside a feature in the spring issue of Chamber Music magazine, O’Doherty spoke with CMA staffer Ben Schonhorn to share her experiences at the conference and as a CMA grantee, and how the prospect of motherhood is impacting her music. 

When and how did your quartet assemble? 

The quartet officially assembled in 2018, but we had all been playing together in different configurations since then. Nicole and I grew up together in Portland, Oregon, so we have been playing together on and off since high school. Tamir and I went to Berklee College of Music together, and Cory and I met through the Stanford Jazz Workshop in 2011.

In your quartet’s performance at our conference, you mentioned you were expecting. How has pregnancy and the prospect of motherhood affected your compositional and musical journey? 

I have loved performing while pregnant. It feels like a superpower, while very exhausting at the same time. I can feel my baby kick when I play, and they get a front row seat to great live music all the time! It’s important to me that my child sees me, especially as a woman, pursuing my dreams and doing what I love. While growing up, I didn’t have exposure to women musicians that were also mothers, and it was something I always saw as a conflict—knowing that I wanted to have both a career and a child. I want to be an example to them, proving that it’s possible for women to have a career as a musician and be a mother. I don’t think being a musician is an easy career, especially with a child, but I know it’s possible, and I’m navigating what that looks like daily. Plus, I know that my child will inspire my composition and musical journey for the rest of my life.

You recently posted on social media that you recorded your 2022 New Jazz Works piece, Suite for Gearoidin. What’s the piece about and what was the process of composing and recording this piece?

We recorded Suite for Gearoidin on Easter of this year at Big Orange Sheep Recording Studio in Brooklyn. I was almost eight months pregnant! Writing this 13-part suite was something I had dreamed of for years and I’m so grateful to CMA for the financial support to make this project happen. I wrote the suite for my mom who has been battling cancer for many years. Writing it was very healing for me and I hope it’s healing for those who listen to it. Several movements of the suite are more hymnal—short interludes that only last for a few minutes but weave in and out of larger bodies of work.

As for the composition process, I spent several hours every day for over two months working on it, which was a different writing process than I’m used to. In the past, I usually composed when I was inspired or had a melody or chord progression in my ear. Contrarily, this experience was much more structured and disciplined. Every day, whether I was inspired or not, I sat down at the piano and wrote for a few hours. Sometimes I came up with something I loved, while other days I ended up scraping what I was working on because it didn’t fit with the rest of the suite, or I didn’t love it. I’m very proud of this suite and can’t wait to release it as an album next year.

Your New Jazz Works grant wasn’t your first CMA grant; you were part of a Presenter Consortium for Jazz grant program in 2021. Can you tell us more about that project? 

The grant was received in partnership with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, New Orleans Jazz Museum, and Alabama Women in Jazz Festival. This grant took place virtually at the time, so we recorded my project honoring the music of Lil Hardin Armstrong, now titled Bluer Than Blue, live at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and made it into a three-part virtual concert series that aired online through the three presenting partners.

This project came alive back in 2018 when I arranged 12 Lil Hardin Armstrong compositions for a weeklong residency for Dizzy’s Late Night Session at Jazz at Lincoln Center. I really started digging deep into Lil Hardin’s music when I was getting my master’s degree at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. They have the Louis Armstrong Archives on campus, and during my first year in the program, I took a class on the History of Louis Armstrong with Historian and Archivist, Ricky Riccardi. I became fascinated with Lil Hardin’s story got more and more into her music. Recording this project had been a dream of mine since 2018, and I’m so grateful to CMA for the opportunity to archive this great body of music and put it out into the world in a more concrete way. The Bluer Than Blue album will be released in October 2024.

Tell us about performing at our 2024 National Conference.

The showcase concerts were a great way to discover new-to-me groups, and I love that there’s a wide variety of genres represented. The panels were also great. A few of my favorites were the Jazz Pianist Roundtable with Helen Sung, Matthew Shipp, Amina Figarova, and Jahari Stampley, the Gender and Jazz Justice panel with Terri Lyne Carrington, and the Motherhood in Music panel. The conference left me feeling very inspired, both musically and about my career.

I’d really recommend the conference for someone considering attending. You won’t regret the experience. My advice: Do your homework ahead of time and learn about the artists speaking on the panels and running the booths so you can meet them! Also, attend the networking events so that you can meet other artists and presenters you might want to collaborate with in the future. The showcase concerts were a great opportunity for presenters and other musicians to hear your ensemble perform. Also, have promo CDs and business cards you can hand out throughout the conference.

What advice do you have for groups applying for CMA grants? 

Don’t feel discouraged if you aren’t awarded a CMA grant the first time. I applied for CMA grants many times and I learned so much along the way. Ask for feedback, and oftentimes CMA will schedule a one-on-one call with you to go over your application. Each grant is different, so make sure your project is a good fit for the grant you’re applying for and that you have thought through all the logistics behind making your project come to life.

One final question I’ve asked everyone: If the Caili O’Doherty Quartet were a sandwich, which would it be and why? 

The Caili O’Doherty Quartet would be an Italian sub sandwich with extra oil and vinegar and salt and pepper. There are many different types of meat and pickled veggies in an Italian sub sandwich and that’s a good representation of our band. We each have something unique to offer the music, and that’s what gives it the flavor. Also, I love the idea of yin-and-yang or contrast in music, and that’s what oil and vinegar and salt and pepper signify to me. You know, I haven’t been able to eat an Italian sub sandwich in nine months since I’ve been pregnant, so this is making me hungry!

Stay up to date with Caili O’Doherty’s upcoming gigs and projects through her website at cailimusic.com and social media on Instagram, Facebook, and X @cailimusic. Her upcoming album Bluer Than Blue will be released in October 2024, and Suite for Gearoidin is forthcoming in 2025.