SIMA welcomes acclaimed poet, vocalist, and bandleader aja monet for her highly anticipated Sydney debut for the Sydney International Women's Jazz Festival 2026. A Surrealist Blues Poet in the business of goosebumps and heart-gut truths, monet has forged a singular voice at the intersection of poetry, music, and activism. From her beginnings in New York’s Lower East Side poetry clubs to international stages including the Guggenheim, Newport Jazz Festival, and the Barbican, her spoken word artistry channels a legacy of resistance, love, and collective care that has earned her accolades from the NAACP Image Awards to a Grammy nomination. With her dynamic quartet of Brian Hargrove (piano), Micah Collier (bass) and Zach Morrow (drums), monet will present works from her powerful sophomore album the color of rain. A compositional tour-de-force, works shift between musical perceptions of jazz, soul, hip hop, and blues, unfolding as a marvellous unleashing of the mind. With live instrumentation at its core, the album – featuring contributions from Meshell Ndegeocello, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Brandee Younger, Mereba, Ganavya, Mick Jenkins and Vic Mensa – moves between urgency and stillness, weaving surrealist imagery with incisive reflections on contemporary life—inviting audiences into a space of introspection, courage, and emotional resonance. In performance, monet’s vocal delivery is a rare art. Her tone, rhythm, and cadence interact with music melodically and vice versa. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to witness one of the most vital and visionary artists of her generation. Monstress are a five-piece all-female and non-binary creative collective based on Gadigal land in Sydney. Their sound spans nu-jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary original music, fusing each member’s lived experience through hard-hitting, sharp-witted lyrical storytelling and improvisation-driven composition. Since 2022, Monstress have appeared on major festival line-ups including the Sydney International Women’s Jazz Festival, Orange Winter Jazz Festival, and the Woodford Folk Festival 25/26 program. We acknowledge that this event is held on the stolen lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.