Jonathan Poretz Sings His Way Into America's Hearts

Some artists might consider a musical theater role portraying a legend like Frank Sinatra to be potentially a career killer because of the comparisons to Ol’ Blue Eyes and then the prospect of not being able to get out from under that shadow and assert your own individuality as a singer. That however is not the situation with Jonathan Poretz, a jazz vocalist hailing from the San Francisco area who has spent almost two years depicting Sinatra in the production of Dick Feeney and Sandy Hackett’s Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean (the Rat Pack). As my fingers were busy, pounding out this article on my keyboard, Poretz was just returning from the Tribute’s four-night stint in Springfield Massachusetts. San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston and Memphis are other favorite hosts for the production.

In January of this year, Poretz released his debut album A Lot Of Livin’ To Do and continues to demonstrate both on and off the stage the self-assuredness that all good performers have. While Poretz’s vocals have a swagger similar to Bobby Darin and are full of energy his offstage demeanor is more relaxed as he exudes a quiet confidence that seems to say, ‘I am living in the moment.’

The affable singer took time recently to discuss his CD comprised of vintage mostly romantic tunes and touring as a cast member in the Feeney/Hackett production.

Concerning his characterization by one reviewer as being jaunty Poretz says, “I am trying to be me as much as I can and that being said of the people that I listen to, clearly Sinatra was a master of the lyric and a master of rhythm. I am a huge fan of Mel Tormé and I appreciate Bobby Darin because of his swagger. Those guys are probably the foundation (of his style) and you can throw in a little Tony Bennett.”

Most of all however, Poretz brings his own life experiences, emotions and affinity for swinging standards to the songs he sings. Some of the vibrant energy that infuses the songs comes from his earlier days in music when he was part of a pop rock band in New York City, although he laughingly admits, “It is nothing that I would ever want released.” He also draws upon his experience in theater even prior to his days in the Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean (the Rat Pack).

“What resonated more for me (back in the day) was jazz and the standards. I love standards and most of them came out of Broadway shows. People forget when they listen to lyrics that they were written for a purpose and they tell a story and advance the story. I am keen to that,” he says before adding, “I am one with the rhythm and I am one with the music. I think what comes out of that is me as opposed to trying to be something.”

“People have said that I have a very natural old style of swing. (There are some) young people coming up today who try to sing swing jazz but it is not organic,” says Poretz. He makes the point that what makes it easier for him to sing this style of music is he has taken time to understand the music, the people who wrote it and the singers who performed the tunes.

Despite his brief foray into the world of pop rock Poretz has deep roots in the world of jazz that originate within his teenage years when he began singing with bands in his hometown of New York City. “I was very fortunate because the guys in those bands were pretty heavy hitters. I was surrounded by some fine players and I had to listen intimately to the music. It is different from being in the audience. When you are there in the mix, you get to absorb a lot of music. When I think about it a lot of my jazz foundation came from being in that mix, so when I began singing jazz it was very natural to me. I think if anything my natural sense of rhythm has given me a good sensibility,” says Poretz recalling his days performing with such luminaries as Charlie Shavers, Chuck Wayne and Joe Puma.

Those same sensibilities no doubt came into play when it came time for Poretz to choose the musicians that would play on A Lot Of Livin’ To Do. Drummer Harold Jones was a no brainer because Poretz frequently sings with the Harold Jones Boss Men big band. Jones also is a highly respected artist who performed with Count Basie, Sara Vaughan and in recent years with Tony Bennett. Jones’ beats can be heard on four of the tracks, “A Lot Of Livin’ To Do”, “My Time Of Day/I’ve Never Been In Love Before”, “On The Street Where You Live” and “Just One Of Those Things”.

“Harold sees himself as a session man who is supporting the singer, which is interesting because if you hear some of the old Basie stuff that he did he can take a solo like no one else. (he says emphatically) He is a great drummer! (he repeats the statement for effect) He is this metronome and his timing is impeccable. Harold just lays it down simply. All you need with him is a high-hat and you are going. He has the kind of drive that once that train moves it goes and just goes. It doesn’t matter what tempo you set, Harold will make it swing and I have noticed that many, many times singing with his big band. He brings simplicity to the sound,” says Poretz.

Unfortunately due to tour commitments with Tony Bennett Jones was not available to record the entire album, however it gave Poretz an opportunity to team up with another drummer friend Vince Lateano who often joins him for gigs. Concerning Lateano who Poretz refers to as a “wonderful accompaniment for a singer,” he says, “He sets me up beautifully (while singing). Vince has been my (performance) mentor in many ways. All of the little things that I have learned over the years have been a result of Vince.”

Noel Jewkes is another of the fine musicians appearing on this album and it seems as though there are few instruments that he has not mastered. Jewkes is equally excellent on the tenor sax, clarinet, flute and valve trombone. Jeff Neighbor and Pierre Josephs both appear as bassists, while pianist Lee Bloom also co-arranged the charts with Poretz.

“I first heard Lee at a club in San Francisco and was impressed by his lyrical sense. I introduced myself to him as a kid coming up and we hit it off immediately. Many of these arrangements evolved over time from performing them at gigs. I wanted to have some arrangements that were unique and not run of the mill (but at the same time) not complicated. I had a lot of the ideas conceptually and I was able to flesh them out working with Lee. When you add Noel Jewkes’ take on things sketches of the arrangements literally came together in the studio. We would do one take and on the second take most often we nailed it,” Poretz says.

During the past two years as a result of touring with Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean (the Rat Pack) Poretz has expanded his vocal range. “I really had to go to Frank (Sinatra) school and listen more intently than I usually did to nail his phrasing. I think as a result my singing is better partly from listening to him sing so much. I am a tenor but Frank was a baritone so by doing his keys, night after night, I have expanded my range considerably and it is a great bonus,” says Poretz.

If you live in the Bay area, you may want to try to catch Jonathan Poretz at LJ’s Martini Club, Jazz@Shanhai 1930 or The Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. He can also be heard singing with the Starduster Orchestra big band
(http://www.stardusterorchestra.homestead.com/) and as the featured vocalist with the Joe Agro Sextet.

* Photo By Amy Tolbert Protected by Copyright

Most jazz ensembles or bands have one or two primary composers but not so with the Tierney Sutton Band as I discovered during my recent conversation with the lead vocalist Tierney Sutton. All five musicians and Sutton present ideas to the group and work collaboratively on original compositions and new arrangements for songs previously recorded by others.

“Everybody has veto power over something that we play or an idea that we have. All the (musicians) in the band are very creative and knowledgeable people. They are always striving to find something different than they have found before,” says Sutton.

“These guys play on a lot of great records with a lot of great players. Our drummer (Ray Brinker) played on Genius Loves Company the last album recorded by Ray Charles, (while) Kevin Axt has played with Natalie Cole and Chuck Mangione. All of these guys have played on a million rock, country, television and film projects. For them to come to the table and say, ‘I want to be part of something that is different than anything that I have played or heard,’ means that there is a lot of stretching that goes on,” says Sutton.

As is the case with all the members of the band, Brinker has a broad musical vocabulary that includes working with such diverse people as Joe Cocker, David Lee Roth, Anita O’Day, Randy Brecker and Bonnie Raitt. He has also contributed to countless television and movie scores including the movie The Alamo. Axt’s resume also includes artists such as Melissa Manchester, Dave Koz and David Benoit. Trey Henry the other bass player in the band has worked with the likes of Maynard Ferguson, Henry Mancini, Herbie Hancock and Ray Brown.

When it came to creating her most recent CD On The Other Side, released on February 7^th, Sutton says all of the band members determined that they were going to push the envelope. “When we went into Capitol to record it we were all scared. I know I was frightened because I wasn’t sure that I was ready to sing some of the stuff that we had decided we were going to do. I always have complete confidence that they can do anything but I am often not sure that I can keep up with the corner into which they have pushed me. When we got into the studio we all felt that we were onto a different page in the creative process,” she says before adding, “What makes me happy is being involved in that kind of process with people that I respect, regardless of the results and whether I succeed or fail.”

With more than one hundred collaborative new arrangements under their collective belts the members of the band, do not lack for confidence however this time the stakes were higher. “There are always a few (arrangements) that take longer to bake but this time around it was the execution that was risky because it was the first time that we created arrangements that we didn’t even know how many bars there were. (In prior arrangements) the t’s were always crossed and the i’s were dotted. Some of this stuff is really freeform and might go in a very different direction,” she says before listing examples, “You Are My Sunshine”, and the first “Get Happy” (two versions recorded for this CD) are perfect examples of that (freeform). There is a freedom to some of the arrangements (to the point) where we did not know how long the sessions would be. The forms are different ways of playing the songs every time that we do them.”

Elaborating further on the chart style the band adopted for this CD Sutton says, “In typical improvisation you take some kind of form (and it might be) a chord progression of a certain number of bars. You know when the A Minor 7 is going to the D 7 and to the G Major. You know when that is going to happen. What we have done is create a communication process between us where the chords are going by but there is not a standard amount of bars between them. One or the other of us, sometimes two of us at a time will determine when the song progresses. The decision will be made in the moment and not predetermined.

As the Tierney Sutton Band continues to interpret and create new arrangements for standards, they do so with a confidence and enthusiasm that almost throws caution to the wind. When asked if they ever consider it to be a risk to perform a standard very closely associated with another performer Sutton does not hesitate in responding, “Our philosophy about that is if we are worried about it then it better be a really new and different treatment like the way we did “The Lady Is A Tramp,” (I’m With The Band—2005). We should take the song somewhere so far from where the original version is that the (listener) won’t be able to retain in their head the original one anymore. It’s not that we want to erase (the original composition), we just don’t want to be compared to it. I have said onstage that when we do “Route 66” (Something Cool—2002), in my mind no good comes from comparing me to Nat King Cole. That’s not the idea here. We want as little of that to go on as possible.”

Several elements have contributed to the fresh sound that the Tierney Sutton Band brings to old standards, the length of time the members have been together, their diverse musical backgrounds and the fact they are excellent musicians fronted by Sutton’s powerful vocals.

Although Sutton is reluctant to use words that have long since lost their meaning through society’s stereotyping she does so in this case in answering my question concerning what has contributed to the band’s success. “I think we have been a huge success simply because we have been able to keep this together for so long. That to me is success. Our growth professionally as a band has been really organic and I think that is very healthy,” says the Grammy nominated singer (2005 I’m With The Band, Best Jazz Vocal Album).

Sutton continues, “Now we are at a point where we make a living doing this music. We do this band as a priority meaning if any of us have other responsibilities we consult with each other and ask, ‘What is going on in July and is that a reasonable time for me to be away to take this other thing for two weeks?’ The growth of that and getting it to this point has been very slow like growing a plant.”

Aside from the challenges of being a jazz musician or vocalist trying to establish your career Sutton does see some advantages to taking a longer slower road to reach this point in her career. When she first signed with Telarc, her son was only two years old and she was committed to being at home more during those formative years. With the label’s support, she kept her tours down to between a week and ten days. She says, “From a parent’s point of view I am really grateful. From an artist’s point of view I am also very grateful because I was able to develop the stage part of it slowly, the talking to the audience part of it and the music part of it.

“The success part of it is that we have stayed together and have made a bunch of records that show what we are about to a certain degree,” she says.

Sutton says, “When I think of success I think of being a part of a process that is healthy, works and of us leaving a record of what we have done. We have done that even if we were to break up tomorrow and couldn’t do this anymore for some reason.” That they have and they have done it with style and excellence.

http://www.tierneysutton.com/

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The Smooth R&B Vocals of a Calgary Diva

When I first met jazz vocalist Johanna Sillanpaa we were seated in the Good Earth Café near downtown Calgary. In between sips of her coffee and nibbling on her light breakfast, the Swedish singer with the porcelain skin and delicate features talked about her 2006 release of the CD Good Life.

When I wrote Good Life (the CD), it took a long time for me to finish that CD. Some of it was my own neurotic and some of it my own perfectionist (tendencies). I wasn’t ready to let it go yet and finally said, ‘That’s enough release it now and move on.’ That’s the thing as a writer you are only going to get better as you grow. The worst thing you can do is to stay on something for so long that by the time you release it, it becomes dated. My goal is to write as much music as I can and to keep recording.

The CD Good Life is at times introspective with the artist’s moodier darker side surfacing in “One More Day”. “It is sometimes easier to think about hard stuff and get inspiration from that. I find that sometimes it is easier to tap into whether it is love relationships or friendships,” she says.

It is a bit ironic that the title track “Good Life” a song that was the last one to be added to the CD is at the other end of the emotional scale from “One More Day”. “I always have a tendency to lean towards the darker brooding stuff so I said to Sheldon Zandboer one day that I just needed a lighter song. I needed a song that makes you feel good and is more upbeat. We were playing and that one was born out of improvisation,” she says.

“When these songs were born it was definitely the mood of the music that brought on the lyric and the melody. Some of the songs started with, ‘Let’s just get together and jam. Let’s start with a blank page, no words, no chords, nothing.’ You just start playing something and then an idea is born. You find a verse then you move on to a chorus and you build it like that. That is a very loose form of writing. I really like that because you are able to be as creative as you want to be and you can go anywhere,” says Sillanpaa.

Improvisation plays a big role in the music of Johanna Sillanpaa. “Ideas are born out of improvisation all of the time and we do not remember them,” she laments. As a reminder she says, “I don’t know how many times I phone home to my answering machine and find twenty messages that are just me (and she breaks into some vocalese). I do a lot of corporate events and that are intended to be straight up jazz but the musicians always take it a little bit, outside what is written. We always come up with these crazy arrangements on the spot. I would like at some point to do a record of not so standard standards.”

The flip side of Sillanpaa’s writing personality delves into deeper themes and involves a much more structured approach to writing. Songs such as “On The Other Side” surfaced when a friend was grieving over the loss of her father. The songwriter pondered what is on the other side of death and do we get an opportunity to be reunited with out loved ones.

“I want to thank you, my baby/For your constant faith in me/Through all of life’s journeys/ You were always inspiring me/ You hold the key to this heart of mine,” Sillanpaa gently coos the words to “Thank You” a spectacular song. Sheldon Sandboer’s whispering piano chops accompany her, while Rob Vulic’s drums can be heard quietly in the background.

For as much as Good Life produced tracks are R&B shaded jazz tunes, the Sillan & Young quartet that she co-founded with guitar virtuoso Aaron Young is more organic and stripped down. She says, “The Good Life music is very mellow and I feel that I have room as a singer to be flexible.” The quartet on the other hand has more of an alternative jazz sound that leans toward folk. The ensemble also features extraordinary pianist Sheldon Zandboer whose every chop you want to drool over. Bassist Kodi Hutchinson and drummer Tyler Hornby complete the quartet. The group is in the midst of its second major recording.

Sillanpaa says, “I have really found a home with this particular quartet. We try to work together as much as we can. They are there for the music and you can feel it. What brings the best out of me is I know that the musicians onstage with me love the music as much as me.” The singer feels she has found that with the quartet.

As jazz takes, root in this western Canadian city Sillan & Young have become buzzwords in the music community. When an artist’s career is still in its infancy, the musician/singer usually invites all their friends and distant cousins to their concerts to keep from performing before empty chairs. Sillanpaa has now reached the point where her concerts are regularly sold out. Laughing she says, “Usually you know at least half of the (people in the) room and they are your friends. You see them (the people she does not know) singing along to your lyrics and that’s kind of tripping.”

In some ways it seems very distant from the time she was competing in talent competitions and star searches in Sweden as a ten year old or later as a professional performer aboard European cruise ships between the ages of fourteen and seventeen. “I did everything from Janis Joplin to Aretha Franklin. I was very fortunate to start at such a young age,” she says.

By the age of 16, Johanna had been presented with two different recording deals in Sweden as well as in France.

When Sillanpaa was eighteen her family moved to Edmonton, a city located in northern Canada. Eventually she enrolled in the music program at Grant MacEwan College. Much to her chagrin at that time, it appeared her only opportunities to sing were going to come through country music, as the jazz scene in the city of Edmonton was non-existent. She is also quick to point out that the musical landscape in Alberta has changed significantly over the past decade. The red-hot Alberta economy has led to a simultaneous population explosion and the arts community has been one of the beneficiaries.

Sillanpaa’s first big break came with the jazz and funk octet Yomozo. “We started off doing covers and eventually did a CD. We wanted to have high energy and something very different. It was an amazing project that opened up a lot of doors for (jazz) in Calgary. There was a point where we were working five house gigs per week,” says the singer.

After three years, the members of Yomozo went their separate ways and the singer/songwriter considered moving to eastern Canada known for its big jazz venues and festivals in Montreal and Toronto. She decided to stay in Calgary however and it was there that she hooked up with Aaron Young who had just returned from an almost continuous five years stint touring Europe.

As Sillanpaa and the quartet Sillan & Young continue to color outside the lines, the young artist is currying favor with critics in France, Germany and the UK. She has also performed with jazz and R&B acts throughout the United States.

Among her, many aspirations she says, “At some point I would like to go back to Scandinavia with my music because I also know I have a very non Swedish influence in my style now. I would really like to take my music back and to see if it goes over well there.”

** photo by Joe Montague-copyright protected

http://www.johannamusic.com/

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The Alternative Jazz Vibes Of Cibelle

At times sounding reminiscent of Bebel Gilberto and in other moments striking a chord of fanciful and free Brazilian singer Cibelle has attracted a strong following in many European countries including Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, England and more recently Russia. On February 2^nd the talented singer/songwriter will be appearing in New York City at Carnegie Hall.

“I like to be able to walk inside sound and touch this or that element,” says Brazilian singer Cibelle from her home in London England. “I have this song, then this world starts growing inside of my head and I start painting that song out. I embrace that poem with sounds that let’s say helps this poem reach where it has to go,” she says. Her multi layered songs are as much a product of the many facets of her personality as they are of continuous mixing of the tracks until she arrives at a magical formula.

As you talk to Cibelle it doesn’t take long to recognize her playful and at time almost childlike approach to both life and music. Those fanciful notions and frolicsome nature come to the forefront in “London, London” her music video shot a few years ago with Devendra Banhart. The video also provides insight into Cibelle’s passion for juxtaposing images and ideas. Banhart is dressed in period clothing including a cravat and top hat while Cibelle appears in a Victorian age dress, petticoat and carrying a parasol. The two of them ride in a carriage through the streets of London and at one point roll their eyes heavenward as they sing, “looking for flying saucers in the sky.” At another juncture the two can be seen dancing on the roof of a skyscraper. The music for “London, London” was originally penned by Caetano Veloso a folk hero in Brazil and someone who ironically enough was exiled to London in the early seventies.

Contrasting elements once again are front and center with the rhythmic "Noite de Carnaval" (About A Girl EP) which has a deep bass line, even deeper percussion beats and the ethereal vocals of Cibelle.

The cover of Tom Waits’ “Green Grass” (The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves) provides the listener with romantic escapism. The unaffected vocals provide an innocence that contrasts subtly with the flirtatious lyrics. Green Grass has the fingerprints of Parisian sound engineer Yann Arnaud.

To say that Cibelle’s approach to songwriting is unorthodox would be stating the obvious. She would have been hard pressed to push the envelope any further than she did with the creation of The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves. It is not all that unusual anymore to see more than one producer’s name appear in a CD’s liner notes however it is extraordinary to discover that more than one producer worked on the same track as was the case for the CD The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves. Cibelle pushed the envelope on the project. “I thought I needed to go back to Sao Paulo (Brazil) and do some stuff with Apollo Nove. I was recording some music in London with Mike Lindsay (already). I thought if I could merge Apollo and Mike into one person I would. They compliment each other so well. They have the same strange quirkiness and madness,” she says.

“I took the five tracks that I had started with Mike back to Apollo in Brazil. I said you have about two weeks on your own to think about doing something. I had told Mike that was going to happen,” she says.

The eighteen month project was infused with some songs that originated within jam sessions during her brief stay in Brazil. When it came time to cross the ocean again and return to Lindsay in London she had twenty tracks tucked under her arm. “I said (to Mike) you have two weeks to chop, rework and sample one track to the next. Just let it all hand out and do your thing. Think about you in love and how it would feel,” she says.

It was not until she arrived in Paris to work with Arnaud that the project was finally completed.

The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves represents a further progression in the music of Cibelle. Her music has significantly matured since the release of her Six Degrees Records’ self titled album in 2003. “I can clearly see the sounds changing throughout the years. I remember when I did my first album I was very into aquatic sounds and feelings submerged with long, long delays. At the moment I am very much in love with strings and the harp. I love contrasting things. On this album I was very interested in the contrast between very earthy and glitzy sounds like shaker and little objects and twinkling childish sounds on the high keys as well,” she says. Cibelle confesses a fondness for the sound of a deep upright bass.

It wasn’t long after the release of her debut album that Cibelle moved to England and she draws upon the energy of London and its people. Her daily experiences and encounters infuse her new music. “London contains the eccentric British. They fascinate me and I love them. They make me feel normal. There are many, many windows like Alice in Wonderland and all these little doors that you can open. You fall into these amazing weird universes and tasty stuff as well. The combination of all of that is quite exciting.”

“I just love eavesdropping. If you go to a coffee shop with me and somebody else starts having a very interesting conversation while we are talking I may just drift off and go, “oh, ya..ooohhh,” she says mimicking fascination with an imaginary conversation.

Cibelle tells me that a lot of her songwriting starts to gel in those same coffee or tea shops and other quaint environments. “People tell tales and all kinds of things or nasty plans. Lots of things happen in coffee shops especially near where I live. The subjects that I have been hearing in there are amazing, they just haven’t made it to the papers yet,” she confides in a tone almost suggesting that we have just scooped the tabloids. I guess you could safely say that Cibelle’s high octane caffeine adventures produce high octane music.

Cibelle lives in one of the artsy warehouse districts of London and finds she draws upon the energy of the artists and fashion students and it infuses her music.

Cibelle gives credit for a lot of her European popularity to a grassroots movement. Some people having heard her in concert will email friends in other countries telling them about her upcoming concerts or people have listened to some of her tracks on her myspace website and directed others to her music.

Regardless of the venue or cultural setting Cibelle does not compromise her music feeling it would only shortchange the fans that have come to hear the music to which they are accustomed. She says “If you are always bending here and there you will lose your identity. We do the set that we do. I don’t change unless I have less time.”

Despite being embraced by the European music scene there is another kind of embrace that has left Cibelle feeling a little at odds with her own heritage. Coming from a warm Latin culture she was used to hugging and kissing everyone but when she arrived in London’s more conservative social climate she was met with restraint such as she had not experienced before. Not everyone was prepared to be greeted with a hug. “It’s okay sometimes (to learn) to just be quiet. Saying hello by shaking hands is just fine, nobody is going to prosecute you for that,” she says.

The pretty Brazilian talks in airy half finished sentences and drifts off into conversations that seemingly take unannounced journeys down pathways that are simultaneously filled with wonderment, simplicity and sophistication. She is both eclectic and a contrast of styles in composition and performance. It would seem that the world is looking for that type of transparency for they have been flocking to the twenty-something singer’s music.

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The Funky, Elegant and Sophisticated Music of Lauren Wood

Most people associate Lauren Wood with her song “Fallen” from the soundtrack of the movie Pretty Woman. The soundtrack sold eighteen million copies. In many ways, the hit song, which rocked European charts as well as those in North America, overshadows the many other successes that this superbly talented singer/songwriter/producer has enjoyed.

Wood’s most recent album Love, Death & Customer Service is her eighth album and second self-produced record released under her own label Bad Art Records. Wood has almost thirty movie and television songwriting credits. The songstress with the romantically etched alto vocals has appeared as both a soloist and background vocalist for a number of top performers such as the Doobie Brothers, Kim Carnes, Patsy Moore and Albert Hammond. She has authored songs that have been recorded and performed by numerous high profile artists including, Cher, Leo Sayer, Nicolette Larson, Billy Preston, Warren Hill, Johnny Mathis and Dusty Springfield. These accomplishments only begin to scratch the surface of Lauren Wood’s career.

Wood’s music as evidenced with Love, Death & Customer Service is elegant and picturesque. She is not a follower but an innovator. She has remained alive and excited about both her music and her life.

“My parents were always really supportive of my music. My mother always taught me that the glass is half full not half empty. I come into life with that,” says Wood and then continues, “My family is also very funny. There was nothing that I could do that was too silly and didn’t make my mother laugh. They (her parents) were both really supportive of all of my whacky ideas.”

Wood recalls something her parents said to her when she was a small child, “You are so brilliant cookie face. You can do anything. Just do it.”

I was raised with a really good and fun loving attitude. All you had to do was put your mind to it and do it. I was taught that there were not limitations and I was taught to have a good sense of humor.”

The desire to have fun and thoroughly enjoy life is imprinted on Wood’s personality. “I think once I decide to do a record I just have to have fun with it. I can’t just put a record out (based upon) what is going on in the industry,” she says.

Wood is not content to fit into a mold. “I have never had music that was happening at the time. (I ask) what type of music would be fun for me to make now?”

Although Wood’s is promoting her most recent studio adventure to smooth jazz and adult contemporary radio stations her music, is a great example of genre blending and creating tones that have no particular genre to call their own. “My music is always a little hybrid. That is the kind of music that I like and cut my teeth on,” she says.

“The kind of music that I love can’t be classified, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Randy Newman. Sting keeps moving into different things. Music that isn’t exactly anything and the minute the person sings you go, Oh that sound, that vocal, that lyric, that melody,” says Wood. She also confesses to being a big Beatles fan. When she was a girl, she had a crush on Paul McCartney.

“I just go with my creative instincts and it leads me to different places on different albums. I am never going in one direction. It is as though each album is its own symphony. It is whatever I am feeling at the time, whatever is fun. I have never been able to direct myself to do anything that is commercial. Whenever I tried (to do that) I just completely lost my bearings,” Wood admits.

There is no indication that Wood lost her way with Love, Death & Customer Service in fact the music suggests the contrary. The recording may be her best solo outing yet. She possesses a gift for creating wispy romantic songs that bare her soul.

“I think (it comes from) my love of melody,” says Wood speaking about her flair for the romantic, “I think I am a very softhearted person and a very compassionate person. It comes from my heart. My deepest expression is very soft edged. I find that a lot of today’s music is not very soft edged. It is all about me, I am better than you. There is a lot of good music out there if you dig for it. There is a lot of bad music out there too. There is a glut of very bad, hard edged, cold music that I don’t relate to.”

Where does Woods’ inspiration for her music come from?

“Usually I will be in my studio at the keyboard and noodling around on it. I will be playing an old song and I will play the wrong chord and go, oohhh that’s kind of weird, that’s pretty. Now where would I go with that weird chord,” she says.

At other times, “I will be noodling around and will feel this energy bubbling up inside of me. I will just start noodling around on the keyboard and will come up with a series of pretty chords. I will ask, what is the prettiest melody that I can put to that,” says Wood. She will often drive around in her car with the series of chords playing in the background and start to form lyrics in her head.

“Something may be bubbling underneath and it will just happen to come out in a lyric. I will go, that’s what I have been thinking about. There it is. For me it is usually music bubbling underneath first,” she says. The songwriter says that often her lyrics will originate with something she is going through in her own life at the time.

When it came time to record Love, Death & Customer Service Lauren Wood the producer surrounded herself with old friends she trusted. Wood says, “The reason that I use these players and the reason I don’t sequence a lot is because I want what they bring to it. I know this group of musicians is going to bring me beautiful gifts that I could never think of. I will always have the last say and I may say how about more like this. These are really, really, special musicians who bring me wonderful ideas. It is a collaborative effort.”

Wood does however exert her influence as a producer and knows what she wants to hear. “Sometimes I have something that I desperately need to have in a song and I will say this song needs to have this,” she says.

Wood takes time to speak warmly about the musicians who appeared on Love, Death & Customer Service. “A lot of them are my best buddies or cohorts that I have worked with for years. This includes (my cousin) Novi on viola and her boyfriend Larry Tuttle on stand up bass. Novi comes with things that are exquisitely beautiful. She and I can look at each other and we know where we are going. We have been playing together for so long that there is no one that is more in tune with me than Novi and I with her. It is almost as if we are twins with mental telepathy. I had Larry play mostly acoustic bass.”

Wood continues, “I always use my favorite guitarist in the world and good friend Larry Treadwell. He is unbelievable. What comes out of Larry Treadwell’s guitar is so unexpected. You never know what kind of gifts he is going to bring to the session. It is always so much fun recording with Larry Treadwell.”

The beats for Love, Death & Customer Service were a community effort. Wood plays some percussion, Peter Bunetta sparkled behind the kick drum and on the toms and Arnold Lucas also plays percussion. Bunetta produced Wood’s Cat Trick CD. He also was one of the producers for the song “Fallen”.

“Billy Payne on keyboards was a really important element on this record. He played all the keyboards that I can’t play. I have a good feel but I play simple and straight ahead. If there are funkier things that I need or a New Orleans kind of feel, he is brilliant. He was a huge contributor to this album,” says Woods.

Wood recruited three friends for vocals. Vicki Randle sang counterpoint on “Come Live With Me”, while Stephen Bishop who she refers to as one of her dearest friends appears on the song “You Are Mine”. Chris Montan now an executive with Disney provided vocals for “Contradictions” a single, Wood released to radio in January.

“It is really important to me that the record is elegant. That is exactly what I was trying to go for. I wanted it to have a lilt to it. I wanted it to sound really wide and for you to hear all the delicate intricacies and all of the things that I worked so hard and for so long putting into this record,” says Wood. She accomplished just that as Love, Death & Customer Service is one of the prettier albums to come our way in a long time.

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Ellen Johnson Paints a Masterpiece with These Days

“I don’t paint so I guess in my music I try to paint (using) words and sounds. People have made mention that with this CD (These Days) they hear all these subtleties and nuances. I do that on purpose because I am not just trying to sing a song I am trying to add colors to it with my voice,” says Ellen Johnson from her home on the west coast.

The well spoken Johnson continues to talk about her passion for music, “If you walk out in nature and look at beautiful scenery, it’s not always the same and there are different emotions, pictures and colors that evoke in different moments. I think that is what jazz does.”

From her home near a marina and wildlife sanctuary the photos of which can be found on her CD cover, Johnson certainly has a daily inspiration that infuses her music.

“It (These Days) starts out with very bright and deep colors, and then it goes into pastels. All of these songs came out of my experiences. I hadn’t put out a CD in seven or eight years. I’ve had a lot of experiences since then and they haven’t all been good (she says laughing). I have also had a lot of wonderful experiences. I think that is what the colors (represent) for me, from the harshness of the colors to the softness of the colors,” Johnson says.

One of those major losses was Mac her English Sheepdog/Setter cross who had been with her for seventeen years. “He was my best friend and he died a couple of years ago. He went through a lot of things with me in my life. I know some people don’t understand that animals sometimes get you through hard times. They love you unconditionally and are there for you. They add something to you and give you a connection to another part of life. I loved him so much and I still miss him terribly,” she says.

Life experiences have added to the depth and sometimes the shadows in Johnson’s music. “In my life the music has always been the one thing that has pulled me through situations. (Sometimes it is) just singing and being able to release some of that (emotion). It helps you to sing in a deeper way. There are songs that I sing (and she laughs) that now I have a real understanding of what those words are all about! I have a much closer relationship to the music,” she says.

Johnson observes, “I think there are things that we go through that we can in another medium. It can be something that is very healing and also gives back. I think your writing becomes deeper and richer. Your performance becomes deeper and richer.”

Although Johnson’s taste for music is eclectic and she proclaims a fondness for classical, pop, folk and musical theater, jazz seems to be where she has found her home at the moment. The common thread for Johnson is the music must be well written, have depth and come from the heart.

“I really like interesting lyrics that say something thoughtful and have depth to them. (I like lyrics that) make you think for a minute hmmm. That’s what poetry is, images that evoke emotions,” she says. It was these elements that early in her career drew her to Joni Mitchell’s music and later in life has created an affinity for the works of 20^th century poet Maya Angelou.

Whether it is in poetry or in music Johnson is drawn to art that provokes an emotional response. “I think there is music that comes from you being bare and exposing yourself,” the singer says. She goes on to say that she suspects one of the reasons she finds herself in jazz is it tends to be less commercial than some other genres and more often comes from a deep seated emotional base.

“The reason I am attracted to jazz at this point in my life is I like the idea of being in the moment and communicating to people spontaneously. I love improvisation because of that. It allows me to express something in the moment. I also love it (jazz) because it has the perfect balance of discipline and freedom meaning that you have to know what you are doing. Once you know what you are doing you have the freedom to take it somewhere else or to see it from another point of view and for some reason that really appeals to me,” says Johnson.

She continues, “There is no hook (in jazz). You can go in different directions. The melodies are sophisticated and when I say sophisticated I mean they can go in more places than say pop music or folk music.”

Johnson finds the attraction to jazz “is never ending and I can always find a new way of looking at a song.”

Once again Johnson’s desire to discover music that touches her and that she can in turn use to touch the lives of others contributed to the song selection for These Days. “On my CD I don’t do just standard and I don’t want to only do standards I love them but I want to find songs that can express more of who I am and can bring these different colors and sounds,” she says.

Johnson has combined the old and the new to great effect with this most recent release. She provides soulful Portuguese vocalize on “Esperanca Perdida”, adds satirical lyrics to Charles Mingus’ “Noddin’ Ya Head Blues” (a look at white collar crime) and takes a playful approach to “No Moon At All”.

Darek Oles bass work comps the singer nicely and delivers the evocative quality to the music that Johnson continually strives for. “I really like musicians who bring out emotions because it is like they are speaking to me through their instrument,” she says.

Although Larry Koonse appears on guitar, Roy McCurdy on drums and Ana Gazzola provides percussion it is the chemistry of Oles and Johnson that makes These Days work so well. “I like the intimacy and the interaction between just the two instruments. I like the relationship between the voice and the bass because in reality they are both single line instruments although we do know the bass can play some chords,” she says.

Johnson finds both the contrast and dynamic between her high soprano voice and the bass to be exhilarating. “It has been a challenge for me to work within my lower range. The higher (range) is a piece of cake for me. In fact on my past CDs I have really gone to the extremes of my high end. I just felt I wanted to explore the other end (of my range) a little bit more. I wanted this (These Days) to be beautiful and simple,” she says.

“Darek is such a lyrical bass player and as I said in my liner notes I felt as if he was singing with me. He has this beautiful sense of a lyric line. He has gorgeous warmth in his bass sound. Darek is very creative and spontaneous which is what I needed,” she says.

Johnson feels that Oles’ ability to think outside the boxfrom what a bass player might traditionally play contributed to the success of These Days. She says, “I didn’t want somebody who would just do walking bass lines behind me. I wanted somebody who could add personality and who would express himself whether it was a lyrical nature, rhythmic nature or whatever it was. He wasn’t somebody I had to encourage to do that, he just has it. It was a lot of fun. We just kind of clicked together. It was a magical experience for both of us.”

The songs on These Days have many textures and like a child blowing bubbles through a ring you find each new one is unique, fascinating and beautiful.

Although Johnson is renowned for her work as a teacher and composer she has a reminder for us, “Everybody is so concerned about technique but let’s not forget that it is the heart and soul of the music that we want to get to. The people who are really astounding sing from their souls.”

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Monika Heidemann Pushing the Envelope in Jazz

Monika Heidemann joins Julie Hardy and Brenda Earle as part of the new wave of really good contemporary Jazz singer/composers coming out of New York City. One couldn't hope for a more resounding endorsement than she received from highly respected Dominique Eade, "Monika always had her ear pointed in a different direction; she wasn't going for the beaten path and she stayed true to the sound she was after. She's smart, hip and has a great sense of humor, all of which show up in her stylish, heartfelt and intriguing music." Like her good friend Julie Hardy, Heidemann sought out Eade's expertise as a vocal coach.

With her debut album Bright Heidemann has indeed embarked on a different path than most Jazz artists venture down. She describes the CD as, "a palette of everything that I like. When I listen to the album I think a lot of the songs are quite different. It is personal and has a mysterious quality to it. It is melancholic, dreamy and ethereal (all at the same time)." She says that some of the songs bear a stronger element to them that originates within "my upbringing in the rock (music) of the eighties."

Before embarking on a solo career Heidemann had performed in a variety of genres with different ensembles. In some settings she was a side person playing her saxophone. It is Heidemann's diverse background singing in an a cappella ensemble, performing for a rock band, singing in a reggae group and directing a choral group in Vermont that have contributed to the many colors of Bright.

The opening track "Organs" is a composite of a cappella vocals introducing what is best described as surrealistic soft rock meets Jazz instrumentals. The lyrics to "Organ" are not only off the beaten path you won't even find them near the path! Here's a bit of a preview, "I've got some friends/who are living inside me/Organs and flesh, Bones bones!/ I saw the serpent/We have more hair than she we are/better off, I think/

In the year 2000 the singer/composer added another element to her musical repertoire. She left the American music scene for Brazil. "I wanted to get away but keep it musical," she says and then continues, "I wanted to experience another culture and live in a place that I didn't know anything about. I rented an apartment in Salvador, learned the music and learned the language." She says most often her teachers for both were the street musicians she encountered.

In speaking about the wide array of music that she is drawn to Heidemann says, "I think in this day and age most musicians are like that. We explore because we have access to so much. The world is getting smaller. It is not uncommon for every musician to know about almost everything that is going on in the world of music (in terms of) style and what it all sounds like." When it comes to her own compositions she says, "It is not something that I really think about. (For instance I don't) say, 'Oh I will do a rock section here or I will do a Brazilian section there. It is more of an internal thing. I think I have soaked up a lot of different styles and different sounds."

"I really like the idea of having the musicians tell the story of the song rather than just the singer tell the story. I like to have that completeness to it. It's not that I don't like what other singers do; it has just been my approach. I like that sound," Heidemann comments concerning the way she has approached her music in the past.

One of the more prominent musicians who appears on this album is the talented vibraphonist Matt Moran. "I believe that only Matt Moran could really be playing my music in the way that I was envisioning it at the time. I saw him for the first time a few years ago when I first moved to New York City. (He was performing) with The Claudia Quintet. He has a great sound and is creative. Nobody plays the vibraphone like him. The dreaminess and tone quality of the vibraphone I think compliments my music a lot."

The other instrument that comes to the forefront on the CD Bright is the bass. "I really love the bass. It is one of my favorite instruments in Jazz. I think it (adds) to the darkness on some of the songs. I think a lot of the songs on Bright are pretty dark," says Heidemann.

Heidemann demonstrates her prowess in Jazz with "The Race" as the tune opens with a liberal dose of scat before descending into a more subtle Jazz tune supported by Moran's vibraphone.

Heidemann confesses to being partial to creating more of a complete band feeling with her music and although only drums, guitar, bass and vibraphone appear on the recording she has been successful in accomplishing a much fuller sound. This is particularly evident during the instrumental portions of the title track "Bright" that reach for a more orchestral sound.

Heidemann's music is infused with ethereal instrumentals and her lyrics with whimsical imagery. The poetry of "Keep On" should be a must read on the syllabus of any English major. The instrumentals are weaved seamlessly with the lyrics and provide beautiful textures that you can peel back endlessly.

Heidemann admits she has been taking a new approach to her compositions recently, "I always have these lyrics in my head and I am continually writing them down. I am actually starting from that standpoint more than I ever have been." She says this was the approach she took with her title track. "I am finding that when I write the lyrics there is a very natural rhythm to them. If you take any kind of lyric whether it is poetry or music there is always some kind of rhythm that naturally flows through it. It is about being sensitive to that. You play with that rhythmically in your head and then find a nice phrasing for it," she says.

Continuing to discuss the composing of "Bright" she says, "With Bright it was the melody and the harmony coming out at the same time. I worked with the bass line first along with the melody," she says. Heidemann says her usual approach is to begin working, "with the melody and working the bass line out in my head afterwards."

"Lately when I sit down to write something there will be a mood to those lyrics when I sit down to write or I will put myself in that mood to bring out whatever the mood to the lyrics are," says Heidemann.

Keep your ears open for Monika Heidemann because you are going to be hearing a lot of good music from her in the days ahead.

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