Just Wild About Karrin

Jazz Diva Karrin Allyson Goes "Wild For You" With New Release And Concert Date In Chico, CA

Two-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson, above, has released

her ninth album for Concord Records titled Wild For You, honoring

the singer-songwriters of the 1970s.

by

Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

  Singers are always looking for good stories to tell and Karrin (pronounced CAR-IN) Allyson is no exception. The two-time Grammy-nominated jazz singer/pianist with an eclectic palate is forever vigilant in search of just the right material in which to showcase her own unique interpretative style. While many jazz artists such as Allyson have looked to "The Great American Songbook" for their inspiration, she frequently steps out of the box to reach deep into her "good story" bag of tricks and pulls out material seemingly from the most unlikely sources. 

In the case of her newest release, Wild For You (her ninth for Concord Records), the staple is the music of the early-to-mid-1970s, where introspective singer-songwriters such as Elton John, James Taylor, Carole King and Joni Mitchell ruled the radio air waves. (See Karrin Allyson CD)

"These are some of my favorite songs that I grew up with and we wanted to portray them as fresh as we could," said the 41-year-old Allyson via telephone from her hotel room in Seattle, WA. Allyson was in Seattle doing a five-day engagement at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley. "I love the directness of the lyrics of these pop tunes and the directness of the emotions. Our intent is to make some different kind of beauty out of it."

Did Allyson and crew feel they succeeded in achieving their goal?

"I'm hoping it will, you never know," she said with a laugh. "Some people ask me if I have kids and I say, 'No, I have CD's!' You do your best doing the project and you put it out there and hope you do right by it and to see what happens."

On Wild For You, Allyson recasts songs from her teen years, making it somewhat of a highly personal coming of age project. Over the years, the celebrated vocalist has performed several tunes that appear on the new album during live dates to an enthusiastic audience response. 

"I was influenced by singer-songwriters," Allyson said. "That's the reason why I did this album. As a teen, I would go out and get the sheet music to those pop songs I loved and would play them on the piano. They've always been a part of me even before I got into jazz music."

While music of the1970s is currently making a modest "come back," other artists have also tapped into its resources as themes for recording projects. Although the timing seems to be right to put out such a CD, Allyson did not do Wild For You because of possible commercial popularity, she said.

"I had no idea that other people were doing similar kinds of projects," Allyson said. "I guess the timing is right. It gives writers something to talk about and it gives record companies to get a 'bug' about, too. You do a project because you feel that it's time for you to do it. That's what happened here."

On the13-track record, the full-throated singer with impeccable pitch and clarity brilliantly reinterprets the works of Elton John's Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Carole King's It's Too Late, James Taylor's Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, Bonnie Raitt's (Goin') Wild For You Baby (with its gut-wrenching feel), and Cat Stevens' Wild World (complete with a hoarse delivery and scat singing), among others, all skillfully crafted with jazzy overtones.

Other album highlights include a "Jamaican" groove to Joni Mitchell's All I Want and a straight jazz feel on her Help Me; a sassy version of Melissa Manchester's I Got Eyes; the soft, gentle stirrings on two Carly Simon tunes: Mind On My Man and The Right Thing To Do; a soulful version of Robert Flack's 1974 smash, Feel Like Makin' Love, and the quiet hush of Flack's The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.

For Allyson, she sees no difference in interpreting songs whether they were penned by Cole Porter or Joni Mitchell or by The Gershwin's or Carole King. She tries her best to convey all songs she sings in a very honest, direct approach, she said.

"There are lots of playful things about both Cole and Joni where you can play with the lyrics," Allyson said. "These two wrote very clever and intricate lyrics. I'd be the last one to start comparing the two. I'm no jazz historian. They both take a story and make it fun to tell."

Breathing new life to the music on Wild For You was pianist/accordionist Gil Goldstein, who wrote all the arrangements. Goldstein, who currently teaches jazz piano, arranging and composition at New York University, has worked with Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Martino, Billy Cobham, Lee Konitz, Gil Evans, Milton Nascimento, Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, and Al Jarreau, among others. Earlier this year, Goldstein won a Grammy Award for his work with Michael Brecker for "Best Instrumental Arrangement" on the song, Timbuktu, on the saxophonist's album, Wide Angles (Verve). In addition, Goldstein has written and arranged numerous film scores.

When Allyson decided on the concept, material, and the band she wanted to use on her new album, she tapped Goldstein, with whom she has worked before on previous projects, to do the arrangements, she said.

"I wanted Gil to arrange these songs because they have been in my repertoire for a long time, at least I've known the tunes forever," Allyson said. "I didn't want to do them like the original artists did them, because we're a jazz band. The idea was to take the music in a little bit different direction. When I spoke to Gil about it, I knew he'd be the one to do that because he has such a modern approach. He also keeps things to my ear and very accessible, which is very important to me."

Giving unique treatments to each tune, Goldstein's arrangements on the album appear to be "orchestral" even though they were performed by a six-piece ensemble. And the results are stunning, according to Allyson.

"Gil did an amazing job," Allyson said. "Every one of the tunes sounds different. I'm very pleased how he did."

It is Allyson's feeling that if Goldstein hadn't worked on the arrangements, her CD would have taken a vastly different turn.

"I don't know if I would have done it," Allyson said candidly. "I seriously played with four other ideas before I decided on this one. It could have gone in a totally opposite direction."

In addition, Allyson receives some crack musical support on the CD from outstanding musicians such as keyboardist Paul Smith (the Paul Smith from Kansas City, not the famed pianist who, for years, accompanied the late jazz diva, Ella Fitzgerald) on Fender Rhodes; guitarist Danny Embrey, who shines on All I Want and Feel Like Makin' Love; acoustic bassist Bob Bowman; and drummer Todd Strait. Also joining in on the recordings are electric and acoustic guitarist Rod Fleeman; and Goldstein himself, playing accordion, Hammond B-3 organ, Fender Rhodes, and piano, offering compelling solos on Wild World and Help Me.

In fact, Allyson credits much of her steady13-year presence on the music scene to the musicians in her band, she said.

"Having  a band that steadily works together for that long is kind of a feat in of itself," Allyson said. "I had a lot of support over the years from my band members as well as from my family, friends, and audience members. I have a lot of inner strength, too, and a lot of self-motivation. I don't like to take a lot of crap from anybody. (laughs) That's part of it. I love this music. It's my chosen path. I've set my mind to it and try to go for it."

Northern Californians can catch Allyson's Wild For You tour when she performs in the Big Room at the Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico, CA, on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2004, at 7:30 p.m. The celebrated singer is also slated to perform the next evening at 6:30 at the Town Plaza in Los Gatos (West Main and Santa Cruz Ave.). Her last scheduled Northern California performance for this year is set for Oct. 1-3 at Yoshi's Jazz House in Oakland.

For her Northern California appearances, Allyson will be backed by members of her long-standing recording/touring band: Danny Embrey on guitar; Paul Smith, piano ; Bob Bowman on acoustic bass; and Todd Strait on drums.

For those who have never attended a Karrin Allyson performance, listeners can expect a very interactive musical experience, according to Allyson.

"We reach back to almost every recording and do something from a lot of different things," Allyson said. "It's a varied program. The musicians are exciting to hear."

Born in October 1962, in Kansas City, MO, Allyson grew up in Omaha, where her father was a Lutheran minister and  her mother a college professor. She began studying classical piano at age 6 with her mother, a classical pianist.

During her teen years, Allyson's parents divorced, and she moved to San Francisco with her mother. She attended the University of Nebraska in the1980s, where she earned a degree in classical piano. 

While in college, Allyson performed in an all-female folk-rock band called Tomboy. 

"It was a lot of fun," Allyson said of her rock band experience. "It was a fluke for me."

As an undergraduate, she also discovered jazz, delving passionately into the songs of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRae and Nancy Wilson, and others.

After college, Allyson moved to Minneapolis, where she played in jazz clubs, honing her skills as a jazz singer perfecting her cool and limpid singing style. 

"I'm very interactive with my players," Allyson said of her style. "I'm a band member. I'm the bandleader, but I'm very interactive with my players not just singing up front letting them accompany me. That's a very important aspect especially in performances when people see it live. It's been said of me that I take an instrumentalist approach, but I don't know if that's true. I love to improvise. I'm a pianist, too, so that makes a difference. I do accompany myself part of the time. I'm not sure if I have the classical jazz voice, whatever that means. All the classic jazz vocalists that you can name  -  the four real obvious one  -  Ella, Carmen, Sarah, and Billie  -  are all so very different from one another. Yet, they are considered classic. Betty Carter was certainly not typical, but she made her own genre, her own sound that has become classic, I guess."

After spending three years in Minneapolis, where she also met Bill McGlaughlin, her "significant other," who now helps produce her albums, Allyson landed in Kansas City , MO, where she began her recording career and where she made her home until moving to New York three years ago. She made her first album, I Didn't Know About You, on her own. From Kansas City, the album eventually landed in the lap of a radio DJ for KJAZ in San Francisco's Bay Area who was also the West Coast promoter for Concord Records. That DJ, in turn, introduced Allyson to Concord Records founder Carl Jefferson, who signed the fledgling jazz singer to a three-record contract.

Concord  reissued I Didn't Know About You in 1992 as her first label album. She's been with the label ever since.

The next year, Allyson released Sweet Home Cookin.' Backed by her regular band, the album included guests Alan Broadbent, piano; Bob Cooper, tenor sax; and Randy Sandke, trumpet, joining in on the fun.

That was followed by 1994's Azure-Te, and Collage in 1996.

The following year, Allyson waxed her fifth Concord album, Daydream, which included guests Gary Burton on vibes, and Randy Brecker on trumpet and flugelhorn.

Two years later, Allyson sharpened her focus with the release of From Paris To Rio, taking on French and Brazilian music. The project provided the singer with her first in a trilogy of real concept albums. On this project, Gil Goldstein debuts with Allyson on wax showcasing his musical artistry on piano and accordion.

In 2001, Allyson recorded Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane, paying tribute to the late saxophonist's ballad playing. Receiving critical acclaim, she garnered a pair of Grammy nominations from the album and greatly broadened her fan base, putting her more in the public ear. The album features James Williams, piano; John Patitucci, bass; Lewis Nash, drums; Bob Berg and James Carter, tenor saxes; and Steve Wilson, soprano sax.

Eighteen months later, in 2002, Allyson tackled the blues with In Blue. The album immediately soared up the Billboard jazz chart and for several weeks remained the top-rated CD on jazz radio.

Allyson also appears on the CD and DVD versions of Voices Of Concord Jazz: Live At Montreux with Peter Cincotti, Dianne Schuur, Patti Austin, Nnenna Freelon, Monica Mancini and Curtis Stigers, and guests on Dianne Schuur's current release, Midnight, singing a duet with the hip singer on the tune, Stay Away From Bill.

The various concept ideas that Allyson has pitched seemed to have worked quite well for her. However, with every record project starting with Paris To Rio, Allyson admitted that she had some initial reservations about expanding her eclectic repertoire on to record, she said.

"I know the record company had their concerns but they were nice enough to go along with everyone of my ideas," Allyson said. "You have to weigh it, but you have to take a little with some abandon, too. The Coltrane project was a big risk. In Blue wasn't so much of a big risk in that regard. You have to trust your instincts and again go with the music with a real honesty. Hopefully, that will come across."

For Allyson's fans, that musical honesty does show itself. In a business where pop singers are a dime a dozen, jazz singers are fewer in number. She agrees that it takes a special musician to sing jazz and to sing with a jazz sensibility.

"It takes a special musician to do anything well," Allyson said. It's all about phrasing. It's all about improvisation. It's all about time. Those things, and more, are perhaps different than being a pop singer or folk singer. I really believe that anybody who does something really well in music is worth listening to, regardless of the style."

Karrin Allyson, left, poses for a picture with Bonnie Raitt

at the 2002 Grammy Awards.

However, with the current "hip-hop" trend so prevalent in today's music, it almost feels like an up-hill battle for jazz musicians such as Allyson to gain wider acceptance for the music they create. But Allyson has no worries, she said.

"We are always striving for bigger and better," Allyson said. "We are always hoping for large audiences especially in jazz. We can certainly use them. I don't feel like I've had a problem being accepted. I'm not saying that every Tom, Dick and Sally love what I do. But I feel like I'm on my way."

Being on her way means also knowing who she is. Allyson is proud to call herself a jazz singer, but doesn't want to limit herself to just that moniker.

"It's almost like some women who are afraid to be called feminists these days," Allyson said. "I'm not afraid to be called a feminist because I have those beliefs. I'm not afraid to be called a jazz singer, but I also have other interests. You don't want to be limited to just one category then they only put you in the jazz bins in the record stores. We want to be put in all the bins, right? (laughs)"

Although Allyson is constantly on the move  -  touring 80 percent of the time, playing more than 260 dates a year  -  she's at a point in her career where she wants to improve her artistry by spending more time doing creative work, she said.

"I want to concentrate on writing more but I have to have more space and time to do that," she said. "A lot of people who write do it every free moment they have. I've been so busy on the road. That takes a lot out of you, especially for a singer. Your body gets tired. The last thing I feel like doing sometimes is just sitting at the piano and singing other things because I have two shows to do a night or I have to catch an early plane the next day and then do two more shows that evening."

Until then, Allyson will continue to sing her heart out by expanding the jazz umbrella even wider to embrace music from the most unlikely places.

"I just want to make good music," Allyson said. "I want to have a good life. Hopefully, I can make other people's lives a little better by having my music around. That sounds a little grandiose, but it's important to me that when people come to hear us or when they put one of our records on, that they might feel better having listened to it."

For more on Karrin Allyson and her hectic touring schedule, log on to http://www.karrin.com/   

*****

***  Jazz singer Karrin Allyson performs in the Big Room at the Sierra Nevada Brewery on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2004, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for all shows are $20 and may be purchased in the Pub at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., 1075 East 20th Street, Chico, CA,  95928 or by phone (with use of a credit card) by calling (530) 345-2739. To encourage the family participation in the enjoyment of live music, our shows are all-ages friendly. A full dinner is available for $10 from the time doors open to the beginning of the evening’s entertainment.  ***