The self titled debut album “Painted on Water” release in June 2009 by artists Sertab Erener and Demir Demirkan is a combination of traditional music and art from eastern culture with America's roots music, jazz and blues representing the culmination of a truly global vision. The group “Painted On Water” just completed a highly successful tour in the US.
Ucombo music editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to interview both artists about their career, collaboration, and the making of this wonderful international music project.
SERTAB ERENER has been among the most acclaimed female artists on the Turkish pop music scene for over 15 years. A conservatory-trained coloratura soprano, Erener’s versatility in opera and pop styles has won her an army of devoted fans, and global sales of over four million records. In 2003, she represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest in Riga, Latvia, and became the first Turkish singer to win the Eurovision first prize with “Every Way That I Can,” co-written with her partner in PAINTED ON WATER, Demir Demirkan.
Demir Demirkan is the songwriter, arranger, co-producer, guitarist, and singer for PAINTED ON WATER. Embarking on their world music and jazz/blues/rock fusion together after ten years of successful collaboration on Erener’s pop projects in Turkish and English, PAINTED ON WATER was co-produced in Los Angeles with Jay Newland, a nine-time Grammy-winning producer and engineer.
Meg: Hi Sertab and Demir, thank you so much for taking the time to talk us about making this wonderful global music project. Prior to Pained On Water, you had been collaborating for over a decade. You co-wrote “Every Way That I Can,” the song that helped launching Sertab’s international career. How did you two meet? What was your first collaborated project?
POW: Hi Meg, thanks for interviewing us.
We met in the summer of 1996, at a club where Sertab was singing. I had just relocated to Istanbul from Los Angeles and she had had her 2nd album released. My first thought was “she should be singing worldwide!” And honestly, I can say that was the moment I fell in love with her.
I started working on another singer’s debut album, meanwhile we got together with Sertab for some of her demos. We prepared a 2 song demo for Arif Mardin, he was in Istanbul at that time. That’s also the time we got together as a couple. The first project we worked on was Sertab Gibi, her 3rd Turkish release. We co-wrote songs and I did the production, arrangements and a lot of guitar playing :)
Meg: Sertab, your work in PAINTED ON WATER represents a new creative plateau in an already accomplished career, you said that “In this album, not so many variations, and big voice in the performance, but instead — soul. Expression.” Music is all about reaching out to the audience and igniting listeners’ emotions and passion. That’s every artist’s dream. Do you find yourself using different singing techniques? Since you were trained as an operatic soprano?
POW: When I was studying music and vocals at the Conservatory, I used to be very fond of some singers, musicians, and bands. During my education, I used to perform jazz, pop jazz , pop, with different bands as a lead singer. But of course, to create my own individual sound of voice was the most necessary and important thing in my career. So now I definitely am using different techniques when I am singing and enjoy it. it makes me free.
Read more of the interview on Ucombo Music Reviews with Painted On Water.
Showing posts with label indepedent music reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indepedent music reviews. Show all posts
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
An Exclusive Interview with Elli Fordyce
A highly accomplished vocalist and actor, Elli Fordyce had an unusual musical journey. 30 years ago, after a devastating car accident that ended a successful year-long “Elli Fordyce And Her Favorite Things” tour, Elli took time away from her musical journey. Although it took 15 years to heal spiritually, music was not over for her. An unlikely inspiration helped to get her back to singing: Elli discovered that her ginger-colored Yorkie pup named Dindi (which is pronounced gingy and means little jewel in Portuguese) loved hearing her sing that song to her. Urged on by Dindi, Elli made a successful comeback, releasing her first CD, “Something STILL Cool,” at the age of 70. It became an overnight sensation with rave reviews.
Ucombo Music Reviews editor Meg Dilts interviewed Elli this week about her early musical career and her comeback.
Meg: Hi Elli, thank you so much for talking to us. You had a successful musical career before you stopped singing for 15 years. Can you tell us your early musical training? How did you get started?
Elli: We sang group folk songs daily in the elementary school I attended and I listened to top-40 radio in Jr. high school; than at 15, a boyfriend and his dad introduced me to jazz, which we heard often, both in-person and on our terrific local AM jazz radio stations. I took a few voice lessons at 16 in Greenwich Village. When I returned to college for two more years at 25, I studied music education. The rest was on-the-job training from the age of 18 when I briefly sang in public with jazz trios.
Meg: You were on a roll with your career when the car accident ended your successful one-year tour of “Elli Fordyce And Her Favorite Things.” You gave up singing soon after. Was it physically too painful to sing after the accident?
Elli: Although I’m still working on physically healing my back injury after 30 years, the injury didn’t directly effect my singing. After the accident, my band was so emotionally distraught and when we couldn’t get work until 6 weeks later and then at a much lesser level than we’d previously achieved, none of us handled it very well. We took our frustration out on each other and with no work coming through, I wound up disbanding the group and trying to start from scratch. When the next band I was in — over which I was thrilled and which had so much combined potential — disintegrated (this time, due to drug use by its leader), I threw my hands up in despair and decided to eliminate what it was that was magnetizing all this drama into my experience and to turn my life back around. At the time, I didn’t know I would leave the business and I dabbled in a couple of short-lived projects not long after, but found myself in situations which led very far from those dreams for the next 15 years. To me, everything is based in the spiritual/emotional, the physical parts being the final but more obvious outcome. I finally took a stand and became more proactive about life.
Meg: The very unlikely inspiration that got you back was your Yorkie pup, Dindi. She loved hearing you sing the song for which she was named. How did you discover she loved it? What did she do when you sang to her?
Elli: I began borrowing her from her litter up the block when she was 6-1/2 weeks old, in 1991. Carrying her in one hand, I’d sing Dindi to her and she’d snuggle and calm down. Several months later, Frank Sinatra came on the air singing her song and she literally did a double take at me, as if asking me why someone else was singing that song. (At least that’s how it seemed; maybe she just recognized her name.)
To read more, visit Ucombo Music Reviews.
Ucombo Music Reviews editor Meg Dilts interviewed Elli this week about her early musical career and her comeback.
Meg: Hi Elli, thank you so much for talking to us. You had a successful musical career before you stopped singing for 15 years. Can you tell us your early musical training? How did you get started?
Elli: We sang group folk songs daily in the elementary school I attended and I listened to top-40 radio in Jr. high school; than at 15, a boyfriend and his dad introduced me to jazz, which we heard often, both in-person and on our terrific local AM jazz radio stations. I took a few voice lessons at 16 in Greenwich Village. When I returned to college for two more years at 25, I studied music education. The rest was on-the-job training from the age of 18 when I briefly sang in public with jazz trios.
Meg: You were on a roll with your career when the car accident ended your successful one-year tour of “Elli Fordyce And Her Favorite Things.” You gave up singing soon after. Was it physically too painful to sing after the accident?
Elli: Although I’m still working on physically healing my back injury after 30 years, the injury didn’t directly effect my singing. After the accident, my band was so emotionally distraught and when we couldn’t get work until 6 weeks later and then at a much lesser level than we’d previously achieved, none of us handled it very well. We took our frustration out on each other and with no work coming through, I wound up disbanding the group and trying to start from scratch. When the next band I was in — over which I was thrilled and which had so much combined potential — disintegrated (this time, due to drug use by its leader), I threw my hands up in despair and decided to eliminate what it was that was magnetizing all this drama into my experience and to turn my life back around. At the time, I didn’t know I would leave the business and I dabbled in a couple of short-lived projects not long after, but found myself in situations which led very far from those dreams for the next 15 years. To me, everything is based in the spiritual/emotional, the physical parts being the final but more obvious outcome. I finally took a stand and became more proactive about life.
Meg: The very unlikely inspiration that got you back was your Yorkie pup, Dindi. She loved hearing you sing the song for which she was named. How did you discover she loved it? What did she do when you sang to her?
Elli: I began borrowing her from her litter up the block when she was 6-1/2 weeks old, in 1991. Carrying her in one hand, I’d sing Dindi to her and she’d snuggle and calm down. Several months later, Frank Sinatra came on the air singing her song and she literally did a double take at me, as if asking me why someone else was singing that song. (At least that’s how it seemed; maybe she just recognized her name.)
To read more, visit Ucombo Music Reviews.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
An Exclusive Interview with Jerry Costanzo on His New Release "Destination Moon"
Considered one of the best and busiest singer/bandleaders on the scene today, Jerry Costanzo and his own big band – the Jerry Costanzo Orchestra, have gained popularity among audiences young and old.
The critiques have called his style of singing “brings a Sinatra-like quality as he leads”. Dedicated to the preservation of the American songbook, Jerry released his first CD entitled “Destination Moon”.
Ucombo Music Reviews editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to interview him on his musical upbringing and the release of his first CD.
Meg: Hi Jerry, thanks again for letting us interview you. You were born into a musical family and you started listening to Jazz at an early age, how early?
Jerry: I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and my parents were from the “Hey Day” of the “Jazz & Swing era”. They constantly had records playing and the radio on. As young kids, my brothers, sister and I were not allowed to listen to Rock & Roll when traveling with my parents in the car. We knew all the great standards before we were teenagers.
Meg: Your father started teaching you saxophone when you were in third grade, was that the instrument of your choice?
Jerry: No! My father was a reed player and so was my grandfather. So my first instrument was my grandfather’s alto sax that he played in the Army band during WWI. I wanted to play the piano but we never owned one and my father was not going to pay for lessons when he was perfectly capable of teaching me the sax. I always tell him, I might have found my voice much earlier in life if I didn’t have a mouthpiece plugging up my face!
Meg: You studied acting at the Herbert Berghoff studio in NYC after high school. So you were not thinking about pursuing a career in music initially?
Jerry: Nope! I didn’t start pursuing music/singing until I was in my 30’s. I was a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none before that. You name it! I was an Auto Mechanic, Salesmen, painter, electrician, plumber, and carpenter. My major trade was Communications lineman. I sang a lot of tunes hanging off of telephone poles. One time a lady yelled out her window. “Hey Mister. You missed your calling, you should be a singer. It wasn’t long after, that I took her advice LOL!!!
Meg: While you were attending the acting school you landed a job working for Al Pacino as his personal aid and chauffeur that must have been an interesting job. Did you get to meet some interesting people?
Jerry: Ok! Who did I meet? Let’s see… Francis Coppole, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Debra Winger, John Huston, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen, Mikhail Baryshnikov to name a few. That and a chocolate nickel got me nowhere. I was young and dumb, You know what they say “If I only knew then what I know now” Yikes!!
To read more of the interview, visit Ucombo Music Reviews
The critiques have called his style of singing “brings a Sinatra-like quality as he leads”. Dedicated to the preservation of the American songbook, Jerry released his first CD entitled “Destination Moon”.
Ucombo Music Reviews editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to interview him on his musical upbringing and the release of his first CD.
Meg: Hi Jerry, thanks again for letting us interview you. You were born into a musical family and you started listening to Jazz at an early age, how early?
Jerry: I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and my parents were from the “Hey Day” of the “Jazz & Swing era”. They constantly had records playing and the radio on. As young kids, my brothers, sister and I were not allowed to listen to Rock & Roll when traveling with my parents in the car. We knew all the great standards before we were teenagers.
Meg: Your father started teaching you saxophone when you were in third grade, was that the instrument of your choice?
Jerry: No! My father was a reed player and so was my grandfather. So my first instrument was my grandfather’s alto sax that he played in the Army band during WWI. I wanted to play the piano but we never owned one and my father was not going to pay for lessons when he was perfectly capable of teaching me the sax. I always tell him, I might have found my voice much earlier in life if I didn’t have a mouthpiece plugging up my face!
Meg: You studied acting at the Herbert Berghoff studio in NYC after high school. So you were not thinking about pursuing a career in music initially?
Jerry: Nope! I didn’t start pursuing music/singing until I was in my 30’s. I was a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none before that. You name it! I was an Auto Mechanic, Salesmen, painter, electrician, plumber, and carpenter. My major trade was Communications lineman. I sang a lot of tunes hanging off of telephone poles. One time a lady yelled out her window. “Hey Mister. You missed your calling, you should be a singer. It wasn’t long after, that I took her advice LOL!!!
Meg: While you were attending the acting school you landed a job working for Al Pacino as his personal aid and chauffeur that must have been an interesting job. Did you get to meet some interesting people?
Jerry: Ok! Who did I meet? Let’s see… Francis Coppole, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Debra Winger, John Huston, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen, Mikhail Baryshnikov to name a few. That and a chocolate nickel got me nowhere. I was young and dumb, You know what they say “If I only knew then what I know now” Yikes!!
To read more of the interview, visit Ucombo Music Reviews
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
An Exclusive Interview with David Bennett Cohen - the exceptional hippie who also cooks
A professional musicians for more than 3 decades, David Bennett Cohen “isn’t the average hippie gone Wall Street”. Best known for his innovative keyboard playing as an original member of the ’60’s rock band, Country Joe and the Fish, he is an equally accomplished guitar player who has been involved in numerous music scenes throughout his varied career.
Ucombo Music Review editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to interview him on his long musical career and his latest CD release entitled “Cookin’ With Cohen” this week.
Meg: Hi David, thanks again for giving us the opportunity to talk with you about your long and prolific musical career. The critiques have called you “a certifiably smokin’ barrel house rumba boogie-woogie piano player”, but you were trained classically initially. How did it all start?
DBC: I took piano lessons when I was a kid. From about age 7 to 13 or so. I can honestly say that I hated them. My first piano teacher was a fellow named Ben. He essentially turned me off to the piano. We developed this routine after a while. He would put some music in front of me and I would struggle to read it. Really struggle. After a few very painful moments, I would say something like, “Ben, you play so beautifully, why don’t you show me how it goes?” He would puff out his chest and play it for me. After I heard it, I could play it fine. When I was about 12 or 13, I got an acoustic guitar, and that began a love affair. My High School days were spent this way – I would get home from school around 3:30, and play my guitar for about 6 hours, do, maybe, 15 minutes of home work and go to sleep. Somewhere in the middle of all this I would eat some dinner, but that was pretty much it for High School. When I decided to be a musician, it was as a guitar player. When I was about 16 or so, I heard some Boogie-Woogie piano on TV. I was hooked and started to learn as much as I could find. I listened to the Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson album and that led to Otis Spann and Muddy Waters, Professor Longhair, Champion Jack Dupree, Jimmy Yancey, etc. This was in the ’50’s and I was part of the Washington Square Folk music scene, so even though I played a little piano, I was essentially known as a guitar player. When I got to CA in 1965, I got into the scene and played with several bands. Dylan’s Highway 61 had just come out and Country Joe was looking for an organ player. There was an old piano in the corner of the club we used to hang out at and every once in a while I would bang out some B-W or maybe play St Louis Blues. Barry Melton, who was playing with Joe at the time really liked the way I played the piano, so he told Joe, “Well, David can play organ.” So, I was asked to join the band. I had never played organ in my life and the only ones I had seen were the big theatre or church organs and I was really intimidated by them. But, I wanted the gig, so I joined and started out by playing guitar but then they bought me a Farfisa organ and I started to learn it. At first, I stole my guitar licks and applied them to the organ. Amazingly, I got these reviews that said things like, “What a unique style,” but I was really learning on the job. Eventually, I did learn how to play it properly and it rekindled my interest in B-W and Blues piano.
Meg: And when did you become fascinated by boogie-woogie piano?
DBC: Well, as I said, I was intrigued and started to learn B-W around 16. I saw Meade Lux Lewis on TV and I thought it was the most fun piano I had ever heard. I had a friend in college, Bob Fox, who played guitar and piano, too, and we would trade licks and such. But, mostly, I wanted to be a guitar player. Bob was also part of the Wash Sq scene. He passed away several years ago. After I left CJ and F, I played in several bands, one of which was the Blues Project. I learned early on that if I wanted to work steadily, I had to play piano. Everybody else, it seemed, was playing guitar. By this time, I was known as a keyboard player and I really began to appreciate the piano. It is an amazing instrument. The lowest note is lower than a bass and the highest, higher that a piccolo. Plus, with 10 fingers, you can play really big chords. Blues, to me, is the most joyful music there is. I think, maybe, that’s because it comes from so much suffering. But I really enjoy the feeling of release that happens when the Blues works.
Meg: What was the music scene like when you were growing up?
DBC: The Washington Square scene in the late ’50s and early ’60s was a moment in time that changed the history of music. People like Danny Kalb, John Sebastian, Happy and Artie Traum, Eric Weissberg, David Grisman and so many others were part of it. Then, in 1960, Dylan showed up and the evolution of Folk music took another leap forward. It was a magical time and I am so proud to have been a part of it. And, of course, behind it all and, in a sense, overseeing everything was Pete Seeger. He was the ideal that we all strove for. Not just musically, but poltically, socially and as a personal example to all of us.
To read the rest of the interviews, visit Ucombo Music Reviews.
Ucombo Music Review editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to interview him on his long musical career and his latest CD release entitled “Cookin’ With Cohen” this week.
Meg: Hi David, thanks again for giving us the opportunity to talk with you about your long and prolific musical career. The critiques have called you “a certifiably smokin’ barrel house rumba boogie-woogie piano player”, but you were trained classically initially. How did it all start?
DBC: I took piano lessons when I was a kid. From about age 7 to 13 or so. I can honestly say that I hated them. My first piano teacher was a fellow named Ben. He essentially turned me off to the piano. We developed this routine after a while. He would put some music in front of me and I would struggle to read it. Really struggle. After a few very painful moments, I would say something like, “Ben, you play so beautifully, why don’t you show me how it goes?” He would puff out his chest and play it for me. After I heard it, I could play it fine. When I was about 12 or 13, I got an acoustic guitar, and that began a love affair. My High School days were spent this way – I would get home from school around 3:30, and play my guitar for about 6 hours, do, maybe, 15 minutes of home work and go to sleep. Somewhere in the middle of all this I would eat some dinner, but that was pretty much it for High School. When I decided to be a musician, it was as a guitar player. When I was about 16 or so, I heard some Boogie-Woogie piano on TV. I was hooked and started to learn as much as I could find. I listened to the Meade Lux Lewis, Albert Ammons and Pete Johnson album and that led to Otis Spann and Muddy Waters, Professor Longhair, Champion Jack Dupree, Jimmy Yancey, etc. This was in the ’50’s and I was part of the Washington Square Folk music scene, so even though I played a little piano, I was essentially known as a guitar player. When I got to CA in 1965, I got into the scene and played with several bands. Dylan’s Highway 61 had just come out and Country Joe was looking for an organ player. There was an old piano in the corner of the club we used to hang out at and every once in a while I would bang out some B-W or maybe play St Louis Blues. Barry Melton, who was playing with Joe at the time really liked the way I played the piano, so he told Joe, “Well, David can play organ.” So, I was asked to join the band. I had never played organ in my life and the only ones I had seen were the big theatre or church organs and I was really intimidated by them. But, I wanted the gig, so I joined and started out by playing guitar but then they bought me a Farfisa organ and I started to learn it. At first, I stole my guitar licks and applied them to the organ. Amazingly, I got these reviews that said things like, “What a unique style,” but I was really learning on the job. Eventually, I did learn how to play it properly and it rekindled my interest in B-W and Blues piano.
Meg: And when did you become fascinated by boogie-woogie piano?
DBC: Well, as I said, I was intrigued and started to learn B-W around 16. I saw Meade Lux Lewis on TV and I thought it was the most fun piano I had ever heard. I had a friend in college, Bob Fox, who played guitar and piano, too, and we would trade licks and such. But, mostly, I wanted to be a guitar player. Bob was also part of the Wash Sq scene. He passed away several years ago. After I left CJ and F, I played in several bands, one of which was the Blues Project. I learned early on that if I wanted to work steadily, I had to play piano. Everybody else, it seemed, was playing guitar. By this time, I was known as a keyboard player and I really began to appreciate the piano. It is an amazing instrument. The lowest note is lower than a bass and the highest, higher that a piccolo. Plus, with 10 fingers, you can play really big chords. Blues, to me, is the most joyful music there is. I think, maybe, that’s because it comes from so much suffering. But I really enjoy the feeling of release that happens when the Blues works.
Meg: What was the music scene like when you were growing up?
DBC: The Washington Square scene in the late ’50s and early ’60s was a moment in time that changed the history of music. People like Danny Kalb, John Sebastian, Happy and Artie Traum, Eric Weissberg, David Grisman and so many others were part of it. Then, in 1960, Dylan showed up and the evolution of Folk music took another leap forward. It was a magical time and I am so proud to have been a part of it. And, of course, behind it all and, in a sense, overseeing everything was Pete Seeger. He was the ideal that we all strove for. Not just musically, but poltically, socially and as a personal example to all of us.
To read the rest of the interviews, visit Ucombo Music Reviews.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Since I Ain’t Got You” – An Exclusive Interview with French Jazz Musician Pierre Sibille on His First North America CD Release
Began his career at the age of 14 in the clubs of the south of France,
French R&B/Jazz musician Pierre Sibille is releasing his first CD in North America, entitled “Since I Ain’t Got You.” Ucombo Music Reviews editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview him this week.
Meg: We’ve had the pleasure listening to the 3 tracks on your newest release “Since I Ain’t Got You”. I’m very much impressed by your natural singing tone which must be essential to a great jazz singer. We heard that you are not only a singer, but also a pianist, a composer, and a harmonica player. This is unusual, can you tell us how you got your start in every aspect?
Pierre: I have played the Harmonica ever since my mother found out that it was a nice way to stop me from crying when I was a baby. I have had a harmonica with me ever since. Then I started to play the piano at the age of 6. I wanted to play the Blues, I was fascinated by Ray Charles, Memphis Slim, Nina Simone. . . I started to learned Classical music but I always wanted to reach the feeling that I had when I was listening to the Blues. Even if I couldn’t understand a word, I was still catching the essence. Composing just became a natural way to reach that same feeling.
Meg: You got your start at 14 in the clubs of the south of France, what was it like to start a career at such a young age?
Pierre: Yes, at 14 it was in a couple of little concerts with friends . . . but I started to like the idea to practice a song, build an ambiance and perform. At the age of 15 I met a great American pianist-singer, Randy Bettis. I started to play the harmonica with him, he taught me all the left hands – the basslines. He also made me listen to different kinds of Blues. We were playing one or two times a week. At the age of 16 I was able to play piano solos with the harmonica, like Bob Dylan. I started to play every time that I could. My parents or my girlfriend, had to drop me at the clubs because I didn’t have my driver license yet.
To read more of the interview, go to Ucombo Music Reviews.
French R&B/Jazz musician Pierre Sibille is releasing his first CD in North America, entitled “Since I Ain’t Got You.” Ucombo Music Reviews editor Meg Dilts had the opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview him this week.
Meg: We’ve had the pleasure listening to the 3 tracks on your newest release “Since I Ain’t Got You”. I’m very much impressed by your natural singing tone which must be essential to a great jazz singer. We heard that you are not only a singer, but also a pianist, a composer, and a harmonica player. This is unusual, can you tell us how you got your start in every aspect?
Pierre: I have played the Harmonica ever since my mother found out that it was a nice way to stop me from crying when I was a baby. I have had a harmonica with me ever since. Then I started to play the piano at the age of 6. I wanted to play the Blues, I was fascinated by Ray Charles, Memphis Slim, Nina Simone. . . I started to learned Classical music but I always wanted to reach the feeling that I had when I was listening to the Blues. Even if I couldn’t understand a word, I was still catching the essence. Composing just became a natural way to reach that same feeling.
Meg: You got your start at 14 in the clubs of the south of France, what was it like to start a career at such a young age?
Pierre: Yes, at 14 it was in a couple of little concerts with friends . . . but I started to like the idea to practice a song, build an ambiance and perform. At the age of 15 I met a great American pianist-singer, Randy Bettis. I started to play the harmonica with him, he taught me all the left hands – the basslines. He also made me listen to different kinds of Blues. We were playing one or two times a week. At the age of 16 I was able to play piano solos with the harmonica, like Bob Dylan. I started to play every time that I could. My parents or my girlfriend, had to drop me at the clubs because I didn’t have my driver license yet.
To read more of the interview, go to Ucombo Music Reviews.
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