British jazz vocalist Anita Wardell a joyful singer |
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Seattle Gay News
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posted Friday, October 29, 2010 - Volume 38 Issue 44 British jazz vocalist Anita Wardell a joyful singerby E. Joyce Glasgow- SGN A&E Writer Anita Wardell October 17 Camano Island British jazz vocalist Anita Wardell has loved singing jazz tunes since she was a teenager, and has been performing since age 19. Her ease with and love of music comes forth in a joyful outpouring in performance. As an audience member, I couldnt help but smile along with her, feeling that joy during a performance I attended as part of the Jazzvox house concert series. Singing with Seattle jazz pianist Bill Anschell at the grand piano at Patty and Andy Carrs lovely home on Camano Island, Wardell charmed her intimate audience with a variety of jazz standards. Her voice is smooth, pleasing, and expressive, and her natural musicality, sense of time, rhythm, appealing style, vulnerability, and comfortable relationship with the lyrics are exactly right for the interpretation of jazz tunes. She has a flowing capacity for improvisational scat singing, as was evident in her upbeat performance of Gershwins 'But Not For Me' and during 'East of the Sun,' and when joined by Jazzvox producer and Seattle-area jazz vocalist Nich Anderson on a lively, vocally interactive version of 'Autumn Leaves.' Wardell, who spent time living in Australia, performs internationally and regularly in London, where she now lives. She won the prestigious BBC Award for Best of Jazz in 2006. She incorporates vocalese into a number of her songs. This is a jazz form in which the singer applies lyrics to original instrumentations or to what have been the specific instrumental solos that musicians have played during tunes on recordings. Jazz singers Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, The Manhattan Transfer, and Kurt Elling, are probably the most well-known for their performance of vocalese. Wardell sang vocalese versions of the solos of Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster on Duke Ellingtons catchy In a Mellow Tone and a fast and complex vocalese of a Stan Getz solo on Dont Get Scared. The program included It Might as Well be Spring from Rodgers and Hammersteins musical State Fair; Reaching for the Moon, a song originally performed by both Carmen McRae and Billie Holliday; Flor de Lis, a Brazilian tune sung in Portuguese; Willow Weep for Me ; and a great ballad version of The Meaning of the Blues. The highlight of Anita Wardells performance was her beautiful, dreamy, slow version of Duke Ellingtons In My Solitude, with an especially lovely solo by Bill Anschell on the piano. It was probably one of the best interpretations of that song that I have ever heard. Wardell really tapped into the meaning and simple, subtle beauty of the composition. The Jazzvox jazz vocalist house concert series continues through the year in homes in Auburn and Camano Island, WA. The homes accommodate an intimate audience of about 30 each. Producer/vocalist Nich Anderson started this project to bring some of his favorite jazz vocalists to perform in the Seattle area and has chosen outlying venues to make it easier to reach and encourage jazz audiences in their own towns and who may live far enough out to regularly attend concerts in Seattle. Excellent chef Patty Carr prepares delicious, homemade food. Attending the events is just like being at a wonderful party. For vocal jazz lovers it is a really great find and a wonderful value at a $30 donation for a concert, with dinner included. At Wardells Camano concert, Carr prepared fresh mushroom soup and chicken meatball soup with orzo, as well as a rich pumpkin cheesecake and ginger lemon cream cookies. Upcoming Jazzvox concerts include Roseanna Vitro with Mark Soskin (piano) on November 12 and 13 and Kate McGarry (one of my favorites) with her husband Keith Ganz on guitar on December 10 and 11. To learn more about Jazzvox concerts and to hear musical samples of the artists, visit www.jazzvox.com. To learn more about vocalist Anita Wardell and her six available CDs, visit www.anitawardell.com. On the way home from the Camano Island concert, we stopped in Stanwood to meet and visit with Ed Beeson in his new restaurant/café/performance venue the Blackbird Bakery Café. Beeson has had an impressive and seasoned career in performance production, having owned the popular Backstage in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle for a number of years. He was also in charge of performance programming for the Bumbershoot Festival for some time. He plans to present an exciting variety of performances, arts, and other community events at the Blackbird. Keep your eyes open for whats going on at this great new venue. Visit www.blackbirdbakerycafe.com for more information. |
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