The Blues:
Susie Arioli's sense of style
Susie Arioli has been touring all over with her very successful group. Most of what they they do is 1930's Jazz (Swing Music). "We love the simple approach of people such as Maxine Sullivan, Billie Holiday & Memphis Slim. We have been playing this music around Montreal for a while, and have received a lot of support and encouragement." - Susie Arioli and Jordan Officer.
The Women's Blues Revue has always presented artists who work some distance from the blues mainstream — if only because the blues has informed almost every kind of North American popular music.
Take Susie Arioli as a wonderful example of artist who includes the inimitable flavour of the blues in her music — music that will fit as well in the Women's Blues Revue as it has done in the Montreal Jazz Festival (where she made her major breakthrough in 1998) and as it does when she played the Top of the Senator or the JVC Jazz Festival.
Her initial Montreal Jazz Festival gig was such a success that she was immediately asked to open for Ray Charles - and led to recording industry interest, a series of showcases, work New York's Birdland club, cross-Canada festival appearances in jazz, folk and blues events, and a 24-city tour of Europe.
She's told interviewers that she never wanted to call herself a blues singer, if only because people "would expect some Chicago blues chick." And, because her repertoire includes classic pop songs from the '30s ad '40s, she's never quite seen herself as a jazz singer (would that Diana Krall would adopt the same attitude these days!).
So, along with the softly propulsive little band she leads — standing at the vocal microphone with brushes and a single snare drum in front of her — she calls herself a swing singer, even though she doesn't seem entirely comfortable with that description.
Writers and critics, prophesying with their pens, have tried to explain her appeal. Wrote one smitten New Yorker: "I got my head sharply turned...watching and listening to the velvety voice of this absolutely incredible vocalist. If any old-timer ever tells you that no-one sings like Ella and Sarah used to do, tell them to go to Canada, where this lady, so blessed with an angelic voice, hails from..."
Long a fixture in her native Montreal, Susie is slight, small and bespectacled; off stage you'd likely agree that she fits the stereotype of the small-town librarian. Vocally, she has a light but crystal-clear voice, and is blessed with the ability to make you understand the lyrics of even the most-known, most-played pop songs of the era she delights in: He's Funny That Way, Lover Come Back to Me, It's Wonderful, and What is This Thing Called Love are all proof of this on her current self-titled CD, released independently last year,. and subsequently re-released (as part of a three-album contract) on the Justin Time label. (Justin Time, one must add, released the aforementioned Ms. Krall's first albums).
One of the keys to her success is her straight-head no-ornamentation vocal approach to the material she chooses to sing. There is none of the brittle, show-off vocal pyrotechnics of the likes of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey or other current pop divas— her vocal technique, while every bit as complete as her contemporary sisters in the pop field, is always and only used to enhance, underline, and clarify the lyrics she sings.
While the music she chooses includes the standards that are still the meat-and-potatoes of women jazz singers, but she casts her net a lot wider to include such little gems as Leonard Feather's No Smoke Blues, which seems oddly apt some 50 years after it was written; it's a trifle about it being easier to find good reefer than a pack of cigarettes.
At the Women's Blues Revue, of course, Susie Arioli, will be performing in a vastly different setting than the one she usually has on-stage. Her partner, lead guitarist Jordan Officer, will not be there, and neither will be her regular rhythm guitarist and bassist. Instead, of course, she'll have the distinguished company of the versatile all-star band that Lily Sazz will include.
The one thing you can be sure of, though, is the Susie Arioli will — as she always does — swing her heart out.
- Richard Flohil
More
about Women's Blues Revue:
(pics of artists and more info can be found at www.torontobluessociety.com/wbr)
Joining us from Montreal this year, is Susie Arioli, of the Susie Arioli Swing Band. You can read more about Susie in our lead story (above) and find much more info and audio samples at http://www.lentriola.com/arioli.htm.
Toronto's Alana Bridgewater is a singer/songwriter who discovered her love of performing at a very early age, singing and acting for her school. As a member of the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus she performed in Dr. Canon's Cure, The Golden Vanity and Pirates of Penzance. She also performed with the National Ballet in the chorus of The Dream before joining Robert Cooper in the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir and developing as a soloist.
After attending the University of Windsor and studying with Steven Henrikson and Richard Householder, Alana returned to Toronto and performed in Women's Blues Revue (1998). She has toured the east coast with jazz great Joe Sealy and his quartet as a member of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. She has also performed extensively throughout the Mediterranean.
TBS members and local Torontonians may recognize Divine Earth Essence as her former self, Michelle "Boo Boo" Brown. She has performed in the critically acclaimed musical, "Mama I Wanna Sing" and has been spotlighted by the Temptations and George Benson. She participated in the 1997 Tel Aviv Jazz Festival, the Juno Awards and the International Women's Festival in Bremen, Germany.
By now, it's a familiar story: young blues guitarist Sue Foley strikes out on her own, leaving hometown Ottawa, ON, Canada to experience life and explore southern-fried blues under the tutelage of Austin, TX's legendary blues supporter, Clifford Antone. Since then Sue has toured with the world's greats, like B.B. King and Buddy Guy (just this summer in fact). Her mantle has grown crowded with Maple Blues Awards and a coveted Juno Award. Her latest CD is called "Love Comin' Down". Back by popular demand, we welcome Sue back to the Women's Blues Revue for her third appearance. See http://www.suefoley.com.
Martina Sorbara has been making a buzz on the Canadian music scene recently and has been touring the United States and Canada. Her second album, entitled "The Cure for Bad Deeds" was produced by jian ghomeshi of Moxy Fruvous, who also manages her. Martina plays both piano and guitar and is a talented songwriter. "I feel very satisfied with myself, and my songs, when a listener tells me they understand exactly what I mean. Ideally, I want people to just enjoy the melody and relate to my sentiments." Martina has another musical talent, building musical instruments. She made both of her acoustic guitars herself. This will be Martina's first appearance in the TBS Women's Blues Revue.
Nanette Workman is an established star in Quebec. Born in New York and raised in Mississippi, she left for New York at the age of 18 and landed numerous theatrical roles including Broadway and summer stock. She came to Montreal to record her first French single, which remained number one on the charts for fifteen weeks. Her career has continued to flourish since then, and is too multitudinous to list here but she has worked with greats like Dudley Moore, the Rolling Stones, members of the Beatles, and numerous other British artists during time she spent in England. She left England for France and worked with Superstar Johnny Hallyday, touring as his opening act. She then recorded another album, this time in English with Peter Frampton, Gary Wright, Mike Kelly and Andy Brown. Most recently, she appears in a major role for a CBC television series in Quebec, entitled "Riviere de Jeremie". This will be Nanette's first appearance in the Women's Blues Revue. http://www.nanette.qc.ca
Presenting the 2001 WBR Band:
Lily Sazz, Band Leader/Keys; Marg Stowe, Guitar; Suzie Vinnick, Bass; Michelle Josef, Drums; Sarah McElcheran, Trumpet, Colleen Allen, Saxophone, Clarinet; Jane Bunnett, Saxophone, Flute