Jazz @ Le Petit Parisien

Sunday evening sees the quaint French bistro Le Petit Parisien transformed into the most happening jazz hub in South East London.  Booked by the same organisation that books Jazz Live @ The Crypt - Camberwell's answer to Chelsea's 606 Club - it's no surprise that the jazz is always of the highest standard.  


The night is labelled ‘On The Up’ – perhaps a reference to the continuing regeneration plans of Camberwell and the surrounding areas.  Regular musicians include vibraphonist Jim Hart, drummer Pete Cater and flautist supreme Gareth Lockrane.  


That the gig can happen weekly, and for no entrance fee, is testament to the organisation and hard work of Simon Fernsby – regular guitarist here, and MD of the On The Up house band. 

It’s well worth a visit.

September line-up:

5          Tommaso Starace Quartet

12        Marama Café Band

19        Bob Martin with the On The Up House band

26        Tony Kofi with the On The Up House band

Sunday evenings 7:30pm  |  Free entry  |  16 Grove Lane, Camberwell SE5 8SY

   

London Jazz Awards 2010

It was an enormous privilege to be attending the London Jazz Awards last evening, at Pizza Express Jazz Club.  A whole host of people were there - of course the calibre of musician on the shortlist meant that there was a melange of talent present. The evening began with wine and pizza (and continued with wine and wine).  About half of the club had been emptied of its tables, leaving room for mingling and chatting - making for an unusual and great atmosphere.

It wasn't only the London Jazz Awards that were presented last night, but also the London New Poetry award.  The shortlisters were announced, and then the winner - Carrie Etter for her work The Tethers - read something from her winning entry.  It was truly wonderful.  I don't know much about poetry (even though some parallels can be drawn with singing jazz) but the words were so deliciously woven that I found myself - to my surprise - moved and captivated. http://carrieetter.blogspot.com/

There was a great feeling of community between two societies that don't often mix, but have shared experiences and interests.  Even so, the jazz community was certainly more vocal!  The shortlist was announced, to degrees of applause for each candidate.  It was the job of London Fringe director Greg Tallent (what a wonderful name!) to announce the nominees.  Unfortunately for him, his list was incomplete, and he wasn't familiar with all the names.  With true camaraderie, corrections and missing candidates were offered and applauded suitably.

Helen Mayhew stepped up to the stage to present the jazz awards.  The instrumental award went to John Turville, particularly in reference to his album Midas.  The vocal award was split between two singers - apparently the judges had such a hard time separating these two, that it was decided there should be two vocal awards this year.  They were Cleveland Watkis, and Norma Winstone.  As a singer myself, I am thrilled that two singers were recognised in such an award ceremony, despite the fact that there was already a separate category for vocalists.  

It's often very difficult to decide on who is a better singer, or who is your favourite, because even though the instrument is the same, the way two people sing can be worlds apart from each other - in effect, two totally different instruments.  It's only a shame that not everyone could be awarded last night, because each jazz musician who was nominated brings something particular, individual and special to this diverse UK jazz scene.

A jam session ensued, during which John took to the stage along with Norma and Cleveland, finishing Blue Monk with an epic last note that they clearly didn't want to end!  Other nominees including Nia Lynn, Fini Bearman, Derek Nash, Gary Husband, Patrick Bettison performed, as did panel members Barry Green, Asaf Sirkis and Mark Hodgson.  An enormous treat.  A notable performance was an improvised duet between Gary Husband (drums) and Jazzcotech dancer Perry Louis (feet).  Unfortunately the carpetted stage meant that it didn't quite have the impact it should have.

I want to make a personal mention of one of the nominees - Emma Smith.  Emma was my 'student' at NYJO (when I was the principal vocalist and vocal coach, Emma came to my workshops each week and began singing with the band at various gigs.)  I am so proud to know that she was nominated this year, as she is by far the youngest of all the candidates both in years, and experience on the London jazz scene.  I remember when she first came to NYJO... I was 24 (meaning that apparently I had only one year left of being a 'youth'), and although I wasn't planning on leaving the band, I knew the time was near when I would have to start considering my replacement.  As soon as she opened her mouth to sing I knew I could leave the band without worrying about who would be able to take on the job.

July round-up

July started with a sleepy train ride home from Sheffield after our last gig of the Jazz Services tour (read all about my exploits over the last 3 days of the tour on my previous blog by clicking here.)

Then back to the reality of teaching... 
No time to go home - I rushed straight to a school for a recorder concert, squeaks aplenty.  Eventually at 18:30 I finished my day's work and could sit down on my sofa - which I'd been wanting to do for 2 months! - and do nothing - again, something I'd been waiting to do for a long time.


July 4th saw the start of a beautiful relationship.  I appeared as a guest singer with the Hot Orange big band and we had such a great gig that they asked me back to appear with them whenever I can - a terrific pleasure.  I have some big band arrangements in the pipeline, so I'm hoping to try them out with this band.  
(On the same note, I'm working again with Mark Armstrong's big band on September 25th in High Wycombe - well worth a trip - and I'll be showcasing my very own big band at Ruislip Manor in December.)  The next Hot Orange gig is in Whitechapel on Sunday 22nd August.


So you must have noticed this article by now:? (I know the caption says 'and trio' but you just have to imagine the other two musicians!)


On July 10th, my quartet appeared at Marlborough Jazz Festival.  We had a short set just after lunch, which was part of UK Jazz Radio's "Women in Jazz" feature.  The other women were Verona Chard and Linley Weir (they played their sets after mine.)


Hopefully we'll be back next year.


I couldn't get a lift to Marlborough because my entire band had to set off to different places afterwards, so I decided to take the train.  The nearest station is Swindon - a mere 13 miles, so I merrily set off with my bike in tow, imagining an enjoyable 1 hour cycle ride at the other end.  Unfortunately, google maps hadn't chosen the best route for me, so - despite the road being pretty much a straight line from Swindon to Marlborough - I had an epic hill which made my bike feel twice as heavy as normal, then the downhill appeared to be a dirt track for approximately 4 miles.  Now, 4 miles usually takes me about 20 minutes - and that's with London traffic lights.  After 35 minutes I was still bumping and jumping along this track which could only have been made by a tractor in wetter conditions, then baked over the last few good-weather weeks.  Argh!  It was already soundcheck time and I was in the middle of nowhere with a great big yellow trail stretching into the distance in front of me.  No choice but to keep going.  Eventually I found a diversion through some woodland and somehow made it onto the road - and miraculously I was on the outskirts of Marlborough.  Brake pads in questionable condition.


So after the gig, I continued my journey to Andover, where I was staying the night with friends.  Only another 22 miles!  So basically, I had cycled 35 miles in one day and done a gig in the middle.  That breaths new life into the song Workin Hard!


As well as all this, I spent a lovely day in my home town of Hitchin at the Rhythms of the World festival, and had a very enjoyable gig at the Archduke.  Jazz at the Archduke is well-worth supporting.  It's the best quality jazz you'll get for free anywhere in London, and I'd go as far as to say the entire country.  A stylish setting, excellent food, and free music with some of London's best musicians.  I'm next appearing there with my duo for the early set on a Saturday evening - check my website listings for exact dates.

Top ten backing vocals

I have been spending lots of time this month working as a backing singer for 3 different groups: hip hop/soul group Hudson Airies, rock group VALL and pop punk band The Instants. (Click on the links to visit their myspace pages. Have a look at my gigs page to see when we're performing live.)

Backing singing is harder than it sounds! Although there aren't many words to remember, you've got to get your entries right, and if - heaven forbid - you do actually forget the words, there's no option to make them up, because someone else is singing them too! No scatting allowed.

So my top ten list for August is a compilation of backing singing performances that have caught my attention for various reasons. Sometimes the recording artist records their own, and sometimes it is an artist in their own right.

Top Ten Backing Vocals

1. Take That

Instead of just singing a harmony to the tune on a chorus, Take That use their backing vocals as additional parts. An extra set of lyrics is sometimes added - take, for example in the song Sure...

Lead Vocal: "It's not a game so don't play hard to get"

Backing vocal: "I'm tired of running after you"

This is quite an obvious example, but this kind of exchange of words and melodies happens regularly, making the backing vocals integral to the song. Believe it or not, if someone is having trouble writing backing vocal lines I always encourage them to listen to Take That!

2. Prince (for Prince)

Unbelievably talented musician Prince apparently plays most of the instruments on most of his recordings. His ridiculous vocal range means that he can do most backing vocals himself. When I was growing up and watching Top of the Pops regularly, Prince appeared to change his name to 'The Artist Formerly Known As Prince,' or TAFKAP. Apparently this is just a title the media created because he had in fact changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol:

In a modern world of smilies, I think I'll change my name to ;0)) . Call me TAFKASEH.

3. Prince (for Madonna)

Prince collaborated with Madonna on the album Like a Prayer. He co-wrote the track Love Song and sings backing vocals on it. On the same album, Prince also worked on one more track - Act of Contrition - which is Like a Prayer played backwards. An excellent idea for my next album! How about Drahn Ik Row or Eploe Pemos? (I know it's not exactly the same effect but it's the best I could do in the time given!)

4. Michael Jackson

An incredibly talented singer, Michael Jackson would record many of his own backing vocals. He also had a plethora of talented siblings to choose from. One of his backing singers in the 1990s was Sheryl Crow. Another interesting (or useless) fact: Michael Jackson was an Exeter City supporter.

5. Vivien Green – for Jill Scott on Later with Jools Holland Hip Hop Soul

As a teenager, when I first was becoming interested in music and singers, I discovered this DVD at a friend's house (No, I wasn't snooping around - we were watching it). It features brilliant live versions of songs such as Alicia Keys Falling, Mary J Blige Family Affair and Jill Scott Getting in the Way. Vivien Green appears as a backing singer for Jill Scott, and later on in the playlist as a performer in her own right with the breathtaking Fanatic.

It's an amazing collection of music - if you can ignore the need of Mr Holland to play a boogie-woogie solo over everyone's hip hop tune(?) - and there's a gem of an interview with Alicia Keys who treats the viewer to a spontaneous and unerringly passionate Never Can Say Goodbye.

6. Sarah Ellen Hughes

Ah, here I am again in my own top ten! This is because I'm extremely proud of my backing vocals on both of the original tunes of my album: Some People and Workin Hard (if you didn't get it earlier these are the backwards words in No. 2.)

While listening to the first mix with my drummer Darren, he dubbed the backings in the middle 8 of Some People the 'X-Factor moment,' and he can't resist singing them while sitting behind his drums on a gig. I should get him a mic. Thoughts, Darren?

7. Seal

One of the most beautiful arrangements of harmonies I've ever heard is on Kiss From A Rose from Seal's second album. In 1996 the song won 3 Grammy Awards - for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Surprisingly though, it only got to number 60 in the charts on its first release, but after being used under the credits for the film 'Batman Forever' it went straight to number 1.

8. Kurt Elling

On the album 'A Time For Love,' Kurt Elling records a wonderful multitrack version of Irving Berlin's The Best Things Happen When You Dance. It has inspired me to start a new group called 'Sector 7,' featuring jazz quartet and 3 vocalists, which will include new London jazz sensationKwabena Adjepong and London Jazz Vocalist Award nominee Emma Smith. I'm very excited and believe it will be the next big thing! So watch this space.

9. Rayne Fitton

Long before I had thoughts of becoming a professional singer, I would listen to my cousin, Rayne Fitton, singing and playing guitar with the various groups that she was in while still a UK resident. The most memorable of these groups for me was Johnson, signed to Sony for one beautiful album. The thing that made me listen most to Rayne was the fact that she never sang the tune when singing along to a song on tv or the radio... she would make up harmonies as she went. How did she do it?! I would marvel at this skill.

I do it a lot myself now - in practise for my backing vocals, or finding ideas for new arrangements of tunes - but whenever I find myself absently singing along to something in harmony I think of Rayne.

10. Jocelyn Brown

When preparing to sing at a wedding about 2 years ago, I was asked to learn the brilliant party tune Somebody Else's Guy. I went into HMV and bought 'Jocelyn Brown - The Hits.' The guy at the counter was amazed that Jocelyn Brown could have a Hits CD, given that she really has only this one notable song to her credit. However, as a backing singer and session vocalist, Jocelyn Brown has recorded some of the most memorable dance tunes of all time. Think Keep On Jumping, Love's Gonna Get You, the feel-good Always There and a stand-out version of Aint No Mountain High Enough, released in 1998. With a stack of top 20 UK hits and a long list of US number 1s, Jocelyn Brown is proof enough that the career of a backing singer can be as respected and lucrative as being the front woman.

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