MARCH 2008 Issue.pmd - RAG Magazine

RAG: Tell me about your music. Your style is very pure, andthe vocals are crystal clear; yet it all seems very unique. Howdid all of that come together?I did classical and pop, and yes disco, music growing up, but I’vebeen concentrating on jazz since I moved to Paris. The Americanjazz influence in Paris is huge, and it is kind of natural to continuethat. I’ve sung in a lot of vocal groups and have tried to remove allboundaries to what I can sing. As for my own style, it’s intricatelytied to my experiences in different US cities growing up, like Munichand Paris, the people I’ve met and things I’ve learned along theway. So it runs the gamut of emotions and genres. It can be playfulor powerful, structured or improvised. But more and more, it seemsto be a direct reflection of my own mood and experience at themoment. It’s a totally unique style I like to call “real time vocals.”drum. The reviews were great to read; they made me want to domore.RAG: How many originals were on that album? Do you writealone or do you have a writing partner?There are six originals out of eleven tunes. I’ve often writtenlyrics for other musicians, but so far, have always written musicalone. It’s something about keeping it as personal as possible;there’s also a part of me that feels really free and comfortablecreating alone. Once the basic tune is laid out, I sometimes askNico Morelli, the pianist I work with, for help with arranging –that is, finding the right context, structure, and instrumentation.But I do a lot of the arrangements myself too.RAG: Explain what you mean by “realtime”? It seems like an interesting takeon musical styles, especially jazz.It’s actually pretty hilarious using acomputer term to describe my style, givenmy intense love-hate relationship withcomputers! (laughs) It basically meansthat my singing is totally personal andfollows my moods. Also, the shows canbe really spontaneous, depending on theaudience or something that happensonstage – like one time there was ahorsefly that mysteriously attacked meduring a concert in a closed theater, so Ilaunched into an improvised solo basedon its buzzing!RAG: How do Parisian crowds differfrom, say, New York or Chicago?It’s funny, my solo jazz act debuted inFrance, so I was used to audiences notnecessarily knowing all the standards orunderstanding all the lyrics. So when I didmy first US tour in 2005, I was shocked,but thrilled that people hung on every word!It added a whole new dimension to how Icould communicate. For example, in DesMoines, I did a spontaneous version of“Georgia,” calling it “Iowa.” That show gota standing ovation!RAG: Your first album Twinkleopened to some great reviews, mostnotably your write-up in Jazz World.Tell me a bit about that.Twinkle was released on Pitch PuppyProductions in 2004. It was a presentationof my musical journey up until that point.There’s a wide selection of tunes, from thestandards, “I Could Write a Book,” and“They Can’t Take That Away,” to a tonguein-cheekoriginal called, “CocktailOptimism,” and a heartfelt ballad, “Words,”a cover of Pat Metheny’s “James,” and aJapanese traditional song called,“Watashi.” The instrumentation differsfrom one tune to the next, from piano, bass,drums/percussion to guitar and steelwww.RAGmagazine.com | 39