Monica Shriver

The Monica Shriver Quartet was originally formed in Phoenix, AZ in 2012, and over the next eight years, regularly performed jazz standards and original compositions at area venues including Winfield’s, Sacred Grounds, and The Nash, as well as in communal spaces including churches, museums, community theaters and schools throughout Arizona.  Beginning in 2015 and continuing for five years, Shriver annually brought guitarist and composer Stan Smith to Phoenix (from Columbus, OH) as a guest performer for the quartet's shows at The Nash. The ensemble performed a combination of original music and free group improvisations. In 2016, Monica started incorporating her visual art into the concert experience and the MSQ’s concerts became often presented in tandem with her abstract visual art, resulting in a unique and powerful experience of sound and sight. The music of the MSQ draws on experimental and improvisatory forms and settings, and takes much inspiration from groundbreaking artists such as Ornette Coleman, Pharoah Sanders, John Coltrane, Don Cherry, and others, who are at times  associated with modern approaches to jazz performance and composition. 

In June of 2020, Monica moved to Nashville and found success with the current members of the ensemble, with which she completed recording sessions in April and December of 2022.  The ensemble’s first single, “I Wanna Go Nowhere With You” composed by Monica Shriver, was released in November 2022 and includes one of her abstract art paintings as the cover art. Most recently, the ensemble has been booked as a featured act in the "Nashville Women in Jazz” inaugural concert series at Urban Cowboy.