I've been researching the composer Irene Higginbotham for the past few years. Fumée recorded a collection of her compositions last summer and I'm hoping to release digitally and on CD the album by late summer. 

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I found Irene's work when I was searching for new music for Fumée. We play a regular gig every Monday at Rogers Park Social. If you're ever in Chicago, it's the best bar in the city, you should stop by. I try to bring in a new tune every week and to keep myself honest, I started posting about the song on our social media accounts. I would look up a photo of the composer and share the title of the song along with the photo each week. After a while, I started to notice a trend: almost all of the composer were white men. I began actively looking for songs by women and people of color. The first tune of Irene's that I brought in was a beautiful ballad I had heard jazz singer Elaine Dame perform, "This Will Make You Laugh". The lyrics are haunting and beautiful and the music is really gorgeous. Because I loved the tune so much, I looked for more music by her. Being a long time Billie Holiday fan, I had put Good Morning Heartache in the book long ago. I found "No Good Man" and dug up some sheet music off the internet.