This is a show I've been wanting to do for years. Grant Simpson dropped the idea of doing a Cole Porter show the first time I played with him and I've been pestering him about it ever since. I'm a pain in the butt that way.
If you don't know Cole Porter... well, you do. You might not know who he is, but he's written some of the most well-known and well-loved jazz standards of all time. Night and Day is one of his songs. I've Got You Under My Skin is another. I recorded You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To last summer (check it out here), and I did So in Love at my Jazz in the Hall concert in November.
Each of us is going to do three tunes, plus there'll be a couple of group numbers and some special guests and some unorthodox instruments. There's going to be stride piano and swing guitar and all kinds of different textures including a funky gospel version of a song I learned just for this show.
I am told that Cole Porter didn't like his songs to be messed with. He wanted them to be played only the way he wrote them. He may roll in his grave at my gospelization of his song, so I may have to pray for forgiveness at the end of it. But I think even he would approve of the crazy dress I found to wear for it.
If you're in Whitehorse, get your tickets in advance at Dean's Strings or Aroma Borealis. Come early and have a drink before you settle into the show!
If you're not in Whitehorse, I'll try to take some time out of my Scandinavian travels to tell you about it. So long as Cole Porter doesn't strike me down first.
Big thanks to our sponsors: Jazz Yukon, Yukon Women in Music, Dean's Strings and Aroma Borealis!
The gospel of Cole Porter
02 May 2012
Golly, it's been a busy month. (As usual, of course. Anyone out there not busy?!)
There have been rehearsals, piano lessons, a Big Band dance, more rehearsals, longish bouts of single-parenting, spring-cleaning the greenhouse, and that most fearsome of all April chores: taxes.
And now here we are, welcoming in May. I hope wherever you are, spring is springing strenuously. Here in Whitehorse we have just a few patches of snow left; it's definitely the season of mud puddles and wet dog smell. I mean that in the best way possible, of course.
A week from now, I will letting my husband have a turn at single parenting for 12 days of exploring Norway and Finland with my parents. However, before I get to that, there's the matter of this little show I'm involved in and that I am really excited about.
This is a show I've been wanting to do for years. Grant Simpson dropped the idea of doing a Cole Porter show the first time I played with him and I've been pestering him about it ever since. I'm a pain in the butt that way.
If you don't know Cole Porter... well, you do. You might not know who he is, but he's written some of the most well-known and well-loved jazz standards of all time. Night and Day is one of his songs. I've Got You Under My Skin is another. I recorded You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To last summer (check it out here), and I did So in Love at my Jazz in the Hall concert in November.
Each of us is going to do three tunes, plus there'll be a couple of group numbers and some special guests and some unorthodox instruments. There's going to be stride piano and swing guitar and all kinds of different textures including a funky gospel version of a song I learned just for this show.
I am told that Cole Porter didn't like his songs to be messed with. He wanted them to be played only the way he wrote them. He may roll in his grave at my gospelization of his song, so I may have to pray for forgiveness at the end of it. But I think even he would approve of the crazy dress I found to wear for it.
If you're in Whitehorse, get your tickets in advance at Dean's Strings or Aroma Borealis. Come early and have a drink before you settle into the show!
If you're not in Whitehorse, I'll try to take some time out of my Scandinavian travels to tell you about it. So long as Cole Porter doesn't strike me down first.
Big thanks to our sponsors: Jazz Yukon, Yukon Women in Music, Dean's Strings and Aroma Borealis!
This is a show I've been wanting to do for years. Grant Simpson dropped the idea of doing a Cole Porter show the first time I played with him and I've been pestering him about it ever since. I'm a pain in the butt that way.
If you don't know Cole Porter... well, you do. You might not know who he is, but he's written some of the most well-known and well-loved jazz standards of all time. Night and Day is one of his songs. I've Got You Under My Skin is another. I recorded You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To last summer (check it out here), and I did So in Love at my Jazz in the Hall concert in November.
Each of us is going to do three tunes, plus there'll be a couple of group numbers and some special guests and some unorthodox instruments. There's going to be stride piano and swing guitar and all kinds of different textures including a funky gospel version of a song I learned just for this show.
I am told that Cole Porter didn't like his songs to be messed with. He wanted them to be played only the way he wrote them. He may roll in his grave at my gospelization of his song, so I may have to pray for forgiveness at the end of it. But I think even he would approve of the crazy dress I found to wear for it.
If you're in Whitehorse, get your tickets in advance at Dean's Strings or Aroma Borealis. Come early and have a drink before you settle into the show!
If you're not in Whitehorse, I'll try to take some time out of my Scandinavian travels to tell you about it. So long as Cole Porter doesn't strike me down first.
Big thanks to our sponsors: Jazz Yukon, Yukon Women in Music, Dean's Strings and Aroma Borealis!