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January 2009

Here in Vancouver as I write this, our city is absolutely covered with snow, lots of snow, heaps and piles of snow. This is more like where I grew up on the prairies than coastal weather. Beautiful as it may appear it causes great problems in a city that is used to commuting in rain downpours but not in snow and ice. Safest thing for most people is to stay home if they can. Of course that is not possible for many and life must go on. I have had many cancellations on this, the first day of music lessons after the holidays. Oh well, Mother Nature will win and I will reschedule lessons for another day and do other work.

During the Christmas break I had several performances with my friends Kate and Jennifer. We sang our renditions of harmonized Christmas songs and carols and had packed audiences at The Cellar and at St Andrews Wesley Church where we performed for the second year in a row for a special Christmas Eve concert.

New Year’s Eve, I performed high up on the mountain in West Vancouver at a gorgeous restaurant called “Fraiche”. It has a view over the city that is breath taking. So too, was my drive back down the mountain later in the night when the gig was over but the snow was not. Huge snowflakes came down and actually covered everything beautifully but also made for treacherous driving conditions. I was relieved to get home safely and thanked my lucky stars that other drivers were taking their time and driving with caution too. The gig itself was lovely and I got to play with pianist Tony Foster and bassist Lawrence Mollerup; both wonderful musicians with a keen sense of swing. I’d recommend this winning view restaurant to anyone who is looking for a unique place to celebrate a special birthday or anniversary or to simply celebrate the beauty of our city from high up near the top of the mountains. Perhaps I’d also recommend waiting until our weather improves somewhat unless you have a snowmobile. Ha!

Now at the beginning of this New Year I feel fresh and prepared to take on new challenges that may come to me in many forms. I have many new songs to learn this month. I charted out at least 25 new charts during the holidays because I knew it was time to update and revitalize my repertoire. I remember studying with Jay Clayton many years ago and she noted that every once in awhile it might be a good idea to put some repertoire aside, letting it “rest” I suppose, and add new tunes in their place. There are so many thousands of songs to choose from and I have great fondness for all the standards that exist for me to select from. I am aware that many singers these days; old and young are choosing songs that are more “current” and not doing so many standards composed in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s but I still finding songs that excite me and that inspire me to re-invent or arrange them to suit my own style of interpretation. Perhaps I was just born in the wrong era? Hopefully that is not the case.

It is not too often that I become disenchanted with my choices in life about being a jazz vocalist and teacher of music. The teaching I typically enjoy and it is logical and allows me some creativity and of course also enables me to spend time with children from very young to teenagers. I feel lucky about that since I do not have any children of my own and I am able to form important relationships with these students and watch their progress and marvel at their talents and enjoy them as newcomers (in many cases) to music of many types. My “other” life as a jazz singer is not quite as logical and not quite as practical and perhaps not even that wise but it is something that I am drawn to; the singing, arranging, composing, and creating music with others and for others. Sometimes it is frustrating and it can be a somewhat solitary existence when it comes to the business of music or even the creative process however the actual experience of playing music is the satisfaction and the reason I am driven to continue on with striving in that direction. I am at a point in my life where I believe my instrument (my voice) is perhaps at the best it has ever been and although I do hope to continue to improve my skills and ability as a musician, I long to do more with my singing while my voice is at its so called “peak”. A voice does have a particular life span I suppose and the voice, like other parts of an aging person will decline as well as it must so now in the next few years I intend to work towards many more recording projects and performances while I am able to and while my voice at my so called “best”. Now I am sounding like a withered old lady and I am not that quite yet! Still I am always aware of the passage of time and don’t want to waste opportunities and I believe that no one can create those opportunities for me, I need to create them by myself. Therefore as I enter 2009 I remain open minded and energetic about the doors that I may find to open and the realization that others may close behind me as well. That’s part of life too.

Looking ahead just a few weeks into this month I am very exited to be singing three nights with Bill Coon and Rene Worst at O’Doul’s. Bill and I haven’t really had many chances to work together in the past two years so I relish the dates coming up when I will be able to sing some new material with Bill. Rene is always wonderful to sing with and I have been able to sing with him more frequently since gigs with Kate and Jennifer always include Rene. Bill and Rene together? I wish you could see the smile on my face when I think about that…Yay!

I am one of the performers in another JAZZILLA concert event taking place this January 22nd at The River Rock Casino in Richmond. Jazzilla is a huge fund raising event and the concert features many of Vancouver’s finest jazz vocalists and instrumentalists including Jennifer Scott, Kate Hammett-Vaughan, Melody Diachun, Steve Maddock and others. It should be a very exciting night indeed and the money raised will be used for a good cause. A link for JAZZILLA is here: http://www.shootingstarsfoundation.org

Happy New Year everyone…
Karin