Home : Plato's Words : March and April 2007

March and April 2007

I am very excited about an upcoming concert that I am producing with my Toronto based friend George Evans that will take place late in April here in Vancouver. (April 26th at IRONWORKS) In February I had been speaking with George about sharing the stage at some point for a concert performance. We have sung together on a few occasions and have always enjoyed that experience. Now I am typically happy when I have a project to work on whether that is a CD to record or a concert to prepare for. Initially I had thought it might be nice for the two of us perform together in a type of double bill but the more I thought about it the more I got excited about creating an evening that would involve several singers and instrumentalists. So…it seems I have assembled six vocalists, 3 men and 3 women: Kate Hammett-Vaughan, Jennifer Scott, George Evans, Steve Maddock, Carman J. Price and I am the 6th vocalist. We will be singing with a fantastic rhythm section with guitarist Bill Coon, bassist Rene Worst and drummer Bernie Arai.

The concert is entitled LOST APRIL: SONGS OF LOVE AND SPRING. This will be a program that will focus on the beauty, melancholy, excitement and joy of spring and love.  The intimacy and warmth of the Ironworks in downtown Vancouver will be the venue in which this concert will take place. Vancouverites can look for posters that will be displayed around town as well as advertisements that will appear in local newspapers.

Tickets will be available through Ironworks (604-681-5033) Zulu Records (604-738-3232) and Highlife Records (604-251-6954 ). Interested people can also email me for further detailed information (karinplato@shaw.ca)

Regarding April and spring, I have been working on a new song in recent weeks. A friend of mine has written some beautiful words about the month of April and I have been trying to set the words to music. David Altic is a wonderful writer and he has shared many of his descriptive poems and musings with me. His poem IN APRIL he thought might suit me and somehow I think he was right. This is the first time that I have set music to someone else’s words. I have in the past written words to someone else’s music and I have written words to my own music but this has been a different process and at times a very challenging one. There is the aspect of rhythm and meter that I must consider when trying to turn a poem into an actual song. Some lyrics of course have a particular meter that can easily lend themselves to being sung over even phrases and bars. Words that start out as a poem aren’t necessarily the same as a song’s lyric it seems. Still I am up to the challenge and hopefully I will do some justice to David’s April poem.

The next section of my March/April Words entry is a new interview that I have done with my friend Liis Todd, a Vancouver based jazz vocalist: 

KARIN PLATO’S questions for LIIS TODD

I first met Liis Todd when we were fellow students in Banff Alberta at The Banff School of Fine Arts studying vocal jazz with  Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton. That was back in 1996 and I believe it was an experience that greatly affected both of us. Liis continued to go back to Banff for the next three years adding to her arsenal of knowledge regarding the language of jazz. Liis was very determined even then to immerse herself in the music, to truly hone all the skills required to be a complete jazz musician. Over the following years she worked harder than many people I know listening and learning about the music and studying with various musical mentors in Vancouver. Shortly after moving to Vancouver she got a job working at O'Doul's where she could be sure to hear top notch live jazz every night of the week. Ever the determined person she worked her way from being a bus person to becoming one of O'Doul's Sommeliers. Currently she performs with various musicians around town and is a featured artist several times a month at O'Doul's; the very place where she also tends the bar several evening each week. Liis is probably one of the most driven people that I know and she has remarkable focus and when she sets out to achieve something, there is no half way attempt, there is careful consideration and then she goes about mastering her goals logically and meticulously. It is exciting to see her achieve success these days; performing the music that she loves and continuing to grow as an artist. Here are some questions I had recently for Liis, who is also known in Vancouver as "The Singing Sommelier".

K: Liis, could you name some of the musical artists who have influenced you in the past 10 years?

L: The last 10 years? The list would be too long. Let’s skip the obvious and I’ll name a few that you perhaps wouldn’t think of:

Ben Webster for his lyricism and warmth of tone.
Freddy Cole and Andy Bey for their intimate story telling.
Philly Jo Jones for making me think about polyrhythms.
Tower of Power for that groove thing.
Eva Cassidy for soulful honesty of delivery that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up

K: Did you always know you wanted to be a jazz vocalist?

L:No. I always knew that I would be a performer. I just hadn’t settled on a performer of what. The path to here has been unusual, to say the least.

K:When you first moved to Vancouver and started working at O’Doul’s and where you now work as a bartender, were you already determined to follow through on the jazz path?

L: I moved to Vancouver in1996. By that time I had decided that this music was where I could best say what I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it. I was ecstatic to get a job at O’Doul’s bar tending where I could actually get paid while listening to the best in the city play. I’ve been there for almost 10 years now.

K: You travel back and forth between Vancouver and Seattle frequently. Do you notice a difference in the jazz scene in our two cities?

L: I see jazz more enthusiastically supported in Seattle. Musicians on both sides of the border tend to have the same issues (low wages, not enough work) but if I walk through downtown Seattle any night of the week I will see more live music-much of it jazz- than in Vancouver.

K: What is one of the things that you enjoy the most about singing jazz? 

L: Telling the story my way without limits. Delivering a song honestly,  without compromise, and relaying a message I feel is important.

K: How do you go about selecting material to sing? Is it the lyric or the melody of a song that resonate with you first and foremost? Or is the combination of the two that makes you fall in love with a song?

L: The lyric first and foremost. If a tune has a great melody line but really bad lyric chances are I won't do the tune.

K: Before you entered the world of vocal jazz, was there another genre of music that you studied and performed?

L: I had 10 years of classical piano and theory, 3 years of flute and 5 years of classical voice studies. In my last year of classical vocal study I competed at national level.

K: What do you find to be one of the greatest challenges about being a jazz vocalist?

L:  To stop judging what I do and just do it.

K: Do you play any other instruments?

L: I still play the piano.

K: Where do you get inspiration Liis? Are things outside of the music realm that inspire and fuel your creative spirit?

L: Just getting out of bed every day is sometimes enough. I have to say that my guy has been a source of inspiration. He is very involved with the Seattle Art Museum and as a result he has opened up the world of visual art to me. He also challenges me to listen to things that I wouldn’t ordinarily go out and hear. I’ve definitely grown musically as a result.

K: Are you considering recording music for a CD in the near future?

L: I cut a demo in November 2006. A CD is upcoming but I haven't set a firm date for that project yet.

K: What might the audience expect to hear if they were to come to hear you in a performance?  Is that something you would be able to describe for us?

L: Definitely a mixed bag. Don’t be surprised if I follow up a Cole Porter tune with some Curtis Mayfield. Expect to hear some standards, blues and tunes from off the beaten path.

K: Are there artists that you have studied with in the past that you would say have made an impact on you and have helped you make particular choices within music?

L: Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton were my first teachers when I studied at the Banff Centre. They were the cornerstone. After moving to Vancouver I got some real support from Kate Hammett-Vaughan, Bill Coon and Darren Radtke. I would have to say that Jen Scott was instrumental in giving me the tools with which to sort out my 3 octave range and Joani Taylor opened up the world of blues to me. Bob Murphy taught me more about time and tuning than anyone had up to that point. Currently I work with Ross Taggart, Chris Sigerson Andre Lachance and Pepe Danza. What else can I say? I'm a very lucky lady.

K: What are some of your goals for the future Liis? Where might we expect to see and hear you this year?

L: I have a house gig at O’Doul’s Restaurant and Bar at 1300 Robson Street in Vancouver. That’s every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month from 9pm to midnight. That’s the best place to catch me.  Or you can check out the calendar at: www.liistodd.com

So everyone, that is it for my March/April entry. Here’s wishing you a wonderful spring!
Karin