Jazz Voice (rehearsal) featuring:
Clare Teal, Jane Monheit, Omar, Annabel Williams,
Krystle Warren, Vive, Eska & Noel Mckoy
@ the Barbican Centre
15 November 2013
Click an image to enlarge.
Jane Monheit biography
Monheit has been a leading light in both the jazz and cabaret worlds
since emerging as a finalist in the Thelonious Monk Institute’s
1998 vocal competition. In addition to her own recordings, she has
worked alongside the likes of Terence Blanchard, Tom Harrell, and
Ivan Lins. She says that the distinctive, continually surprising
sound of The Heart Of The Matter is the result of an especially
satisfying collaboration with Grammy-winning producer Gil Goldstein,
who has previously worked with such giants as Wayne Shorter, Gil
Evans, and Pat Metheny. The pair first joined forces for part of
Monheit’s 2009 album “The Lovers,” “The
Dreamers, and Me.”
“When Gil is around, amazing music happens,” says
the singer. “He brings a very specific thing…there’s
a special vibe that infuses every single thing he does. The last
time we worked together, I had a newborn, I wasn’t sleeping…I
barely knew who I was, and Gil made such magic happen that I couldn’t
wait to work with him again. And as soon as we started, it was perfect…the
very first take was “Depende De Nos”, which we ended
up using. We actually made this album even faster than my very first.”
Monheit’s passion for Brazilian music colours a big swath
of “The Heart Of The Matter”- most obviously, in the
two selections written by the great Ivan Lins. “This music
has always been a huge part of my life,” she says. “It’s
important to me that I sing in Portuguese whenever possible, out
of respect for the composer and lyricist.” But Brazilian
rhythms also reached into one of the album’s English-language
pieces- a striking version of Joe Raposo’s Sesame Street anthem
“Sing.”
“I have wanted to do a Brazilian version of that song
for my entire adult life,” Monheit says, noting that
she first needed to get past the idea that it would be seen as a
novelty. “I’m a mother now, and that has given me
the power to not care anymore…I’ll sing any song I want,
the way I want, as long as it comes from the heart. And a lot of
experience goes into that feeling, both good and bad.”
The confidence manifests most visibly with the inclusion of Monheit’s
own “Night Night Stars”, the first song she has released
for which she has written both music and lyrics. “I don’t
find time to write very often,” she says. “This
was based on something my son said on a drive at night when he was
two years old. I wasn’t sure about using it, but Gil believed
in me, and that meant a lot.”
From the song choices to the performances, “The Heart Of
The Matter” is a work deeply informed by Jane Monheit’s
life- as a woman, wife, and mother in the second decade of a remarkable
career- and it reaches emotional levels she attributes to an “extreme
comfort zone” in the recording studio. “It was a
small group, we’re all friends, and everyone really wanted
to be there,” she says. “I’m very close
with my band, so to hear Gil’s beautiful work with my family
beneath it inspired me to be completely unselfconscious… I
think I’ve finally reached my level of onstage, live interpretation
in the studio, which has always been a challenge for me.”
Omar biography
Omar Christopher Lye-Fook MBE (born 14 October 1968, London), known
professionally as Omar, is a British soul singer, songwriter and
musician. Omar grew up in Canterbury, Kent. He learned his craft
classically, playing the trumpet, piano and percussion. He also
spent two years at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester,
and the Guildhall School of Music in London. His most well known
song was his debut single “There's Nothing Like This.”
It reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart on re-release in 1991.
Omar is described by some as ‘the father of British neo soul’.
Annabel Williams biography
Annabel Williams is a vocalist and vocal coach based in West London.
She regularly hosted her own sell out blues night at Ronnie Scotts
and is a regular on the London live music scene. Her skills encompass
lead and backing vocals both live and in the studio. Over her 15
year professional career, she has worked with a who's who of some
of the biggest names in music including, more recently, Alison Moyet,
Cee Lo Green and Rumer.
Noel McKoy biography
Noel Mckoy is a singer from the school of soulful story telling
and social commentating, who writes from the heart and delivers
from the soul. Noel Mckoy’s raw rasping texture from the pen
to the acoustic style of production gives the dynamic sound that
will take you on a voyage of human emotion.
It is no surprise that Noel Mckoy’s artistic development
is inspired from the legendary greats such as, Stevie Wonder, Chaka
Khan, Isley Brothers, Rick James, Miles Davis and The Beatles but
it would be closer to home, which would encourage him to sing.
It was his mother and aunt who set him off in the right direction
of singing and performing at the young age of 12 and then going
on to record his first track at the age of 14. By 18 he was mastering
the art of song writing and playing guitar but it would be at a
later age of 24 that he would be part of a band named ‘Mckoy’
which, consisted of sister Junett and two brothers Cornell and Robin.
The early 90s gave birth to the sound of Acid Jazz and Noel Mckoy
was fronting the legendary band James Taylor Quartet (JTQ) and also
collaborating and writing songs for Sir Cliff Richard and also penning
and singing the1994 BBC1 Commonwealth games theme “The Brave.”
Noel Mckoy is without a doubt one of Britain’s most critically
acclaimed Soul Singers who’s performed and toured the world
with several UK & International acts including the likes of
Stevie Wonder, Ronald Isley, Gladys Knight, George Clinton, Mica
Paris, and Omar to name a few.
Vive biography
Vive is a 6-part a cappella group who are reimagining the close-harmony
jazz/ spiritual/ a cappella sound by bringing rich, diverse harmonies
with a fresh, contemporary sound, taking inspiration from the legendary
Take 6 and the Real Group.
They recently won the final of The Voice Festival UK 2013 and were
presented with the Ward Swingle Award for outstanding originality,
outstanding musicality and also best arrangement.
Vive's aspirations are to do everything they can to help inspire
a new generation of music lovers and bring back the freshness of
the human voice to the industry. They also have a strong underlying
message of perseverance, self-acceptance and motivation, which they
share through their music.
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