Jazz and Classical Interviews
Front Page Jazz and Classical Interview Archive
Barbara Dennerlein - Blues Album
“There are two
things that came together, one is I love Blues and my roots are Blues.
For a long time I wanted to do something with the Blues, because I have
a lot of contact with the audience when I play concerts. Over the years
many people have asked me on which of your CDs are the most Blues
compositions? I realized that one day I should do some kind of a Blues
compilation (album). This has been in my mind for many years and I have
thirty-three years of Bebab Records, which is my own label. I thought it
would be nice to do it now. I have been in the business for long enough
now to do a compilation from my label,” she says, laughing lightly..
Because it is a
compilation album, it is important to note that the songs were all
recorded at different times throughout the years and then remastered
recently.. Barbara Dennerlein says, “First I had to pick the songs I wanted on the
album. There were many Blues compositions (that I recorded) over the
years. The difficult part was to pick the ones that I want on the
compilation.. There are so
many that I like. |
Ada Rovatti & Randy Brecker
|
Gretchen Parlato & Flor
Ten years ago, she told this writer, “The goal
of art is to reflect who you are and to reflect your life. It has been a
process for me to get to that place and to realize that it is okay to
not try to sound like anyone else or to try to be like anyone else. It
is just being completely honest and open and vulnerable. I want to be
versatile, but I also want to sound like me.”
Did she still feel the same and does her new
album Flor (her quartet has the same name), reflect that same
sentiment?
She enlightened us, “I am pleased with my thirty-five year old self for
saying that (she laughs lightly). I would agree, that was my path then
and it was my self-realization then. It is definitely a continued path
now. Our art is a reflection of our life, so my life now and for the
past seven years of motherhood is very different than when I was
thirty-five, single, independent, and |
Diane Marino at Her Best!
Marino talks about her decision to delve into
Lynne’s catalogue, “I wasn’t too familiar with her, but I heard the name
years ago. While I was doing a gig up in New York my drummer was Vince
Ector and he was Gloria’s drummer for the last fifteen years of her
life. He knew all of the material very well.
We were doing a tune called “I Am Glad There Is You,” which I
recorded on another album many years (earlier) and I didn’t realize it
was one of her signature songs. When we played it on the gig Vince told
me that. Then he said her big song was “I Wish You Love,” and that I
know and I sing it too. It got the wheels
turning and I investigated her catalogue of music. I thought these are
really cool tunes. I had not heard a lot of them. She also recorded a
lot of standards, but the songs that we picked out for this CD I had
never heard before.” As for why this particular selection of songs
she says, “It is a combination of the song and how she sang them. It is
great stuff. How do you put your finger on how it struck you
|
Interview with Singer Margret Avery
Margret Avery grew
up in Ohio where when she was growing up she sang in school productions. “The first things
that I sang when I was very young were Hungarian Christmas carols. Later
I had a girl group that I put together. There were four of us singing
(again) in school productions and we did some classic Motown things. It
was a lot of fun. We didn’t go anywhere with it, it was just something
that we enjoyed.
I started to develop some stage fright and when I made my plans to come
to New York to go to college I put it (singing) on the backburner. I
decided to make a different career choice, but I had a roommate who
would hear
|
Allyson Morris - Jazz Album
The album opens with an old David Frishberg song, “Peel Me a Grape,” for
which a sultry, mysterious, almost James Bond like companion video was
filmed. The creation of the video has a hint of mystery to it with two
Peters and an Allyson, during a pandemic.
Allyson Morris recalls, “I ran into an old friend (Peter Clifford) who
is in the film industry. I played the album for him and he loved “Peel
Me a Grape.” He said you need
a video
Allyson. Nobody in the film industry was working in Toronto, because of
COVID. That conversation was in June of 2020.
Peter
Faragher started writing out the storyboard with my friend Peter
Clifford who has an old 1968 Delta 88 car, and we did that video on a
Sunday afternoon when it wasn’t busy, down University Avenue (Toronto)
and we |
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