JAM: October/November 2004 Issue: Q&A with Karrin Allyson

KARRIN ALLYSON

Karrin Allyson will perform three nights at Jardine's, November 15-17. She talked with writer and jazz musician Carol Comer about the upcoming performance and her recent CD Wild For You.

CC: How long has it been since you've been back to KC?

KA: Well, when was I at the Blue Room? I think it was six months.

CC: Too long a time. Your fans are sad and mopey. And you haven't played Jardine's since Beena installed the new sound system.

KA: I know. She's so excited about it, and I'm so glad things are going well for her.

CC: You're going to love it. New sound, new lights, stage upgrades…it's the BIG time.

KA: Yeah, you know I'm very pleased to go back. And, you know, for Beena I'd do anything.

CC: I'm looking forward to hearing some things from the new CD (Wild For You) which, as you know, I loved. How did you hone it down to 13 songs?

KA: I have this huge file folder that I use to separate genres. And then there are the choices: do you do it like a big band, do you do album excerpts, etc….I had a French book, I had a pop book, and then I had jazz standards. So, I found my old pop book ‘cause I hadn't been doing any of them for a long time, and, coincidentally, one of my Concord people sent me an article from grammy.com quoting several of us singers who'd been doing more “current” material (and, of course, I'd been putting some of this stuff on my albums all the while—Janis Ian, Bonnie Raitt, the Beatles, Billy Joel, etc.). But there were several that I hadn't done for a long, long time so I dug them out again, and I just went through them. Even old recordings.

So I had to hone it down. We rehearsed at Paul (Smith's) a couple of times just playing around to see if we could come up with something original, and then Ron Ubel let us record some of our stuff at Soundtrek, but I listened to the playback once and thought, “Hmm, no.” But it was because I was just so tired I could hardly sing. Still, it was fun to do. Anyway, we experimented like that. We wanted to create a whole different take, and before we got to that point we still played around with it in our own way(s). We continued to experiment and, in fact, I even gave those things to Gil (Gil Goldstein, producer/arranger/accompanist, Wild For You). I can't believe I did that. I should get them back! But mostly, he and I got together after the honing down process had taken place. I had a whole list of stuff for him and in fact there were about six other tunes I wanted to include but it just didn't work out.

CC: Did Gil integrate any of your ideas?

KA: Only on one tune—“I Got Eyes,” the Melissa Manchester original.

CC: I'm crazy about that one. And apparently she is too: “Her rendition of my song is just great. It reminds me of peppermint candy, sweet but with a definite kick. Many thanks, Karrin. Your fan, Melissa Manchester.” Have you met her?

KA: Yes, I have. I became friends with a songwriter who introduced me to her. I went to hear her here in New York, met her briefly—Bette Midler was there, Phoebe Snow was there (and actually I would love to have done some Phoebe Snow tunes). Anyway, these are my heroes. Those are the first concerts I went to.

CC: Isn't that fabulous!

KA: Yeah! Anyway, I sent Melissa some stuff. Actually my idea was to get these songs to the songwriters before the album came out, you know. Get these versions to each one of the songwriters and really, really push hard to get them to listen to them, you know, ‘cause they're busy.

CC: I think that's a brilliant idea!

KA: I had a letter composed to each one of them. But Concord never did it.

CC: Well, they're nuts! As Stephen Holden said in the New York Times review, you've done them [the songwriters] a huge favor. And don't you know they would have loved to have been a part of that. I guess you can't do it after the fact, huh?

KA: I guess I could, but it doesn't have the same impact. I would still love it though because my fantasy is to meet Joni Mitchell. I'm acquainted with Bonnie Raitt, she's always been very nice to me, but I don't know the others except Melissa, who came to our gig in Hollywood AND she sat in with me!

CC: You're doing a benefit for [your Dad's] charity in November, right?

KA: Right. He's on the Board of Habitat for Humanity, and we're performing for him/them in Omaha on November 13^th. Then we do Jardine's, then we're off to Japan, and then back to New York where I'll be on CBS-TV's Sunday Morning, November 27^th.

CC: Fabulous. I'll bet Billy [Taylor] does you. He usually interviews the jazzers. And speaking of piano players, I hear yours, Paul Smith, is cutting back on the traveling.

KA: Yes. But, you know, I was surprised he was able to travel as much as he did. He'll still be with us in Kansas City and Omaha. And I'll continue to use other piano players like Bruce Barth, and my friend, Laura Caviani, and a wonderful L.A. pianist, Bill Cunlisse. And we don't always have a pianist. I do a lot of things with guitar.

CC: And you'll be playing at Jardine's?

KA: Yes. And Rod will be with me, too. We'll have everybody: Rod, Danny, Paul, Bob, Todd, the full complement except for Gil. They're so fantastic. So talented. And they're my best friends. You should see us on road trips: it's a well-oiled machine. We don't have a bus or a road manager. We just manage to pretty much take care of everything ourselves. In the future we hope to get a good sound person—it's a fantasy—'cause that can be a nightmare.

CC: Is there anything else you'd like to say before we bring this to a close?

KA: I guess I'd like to say I look forward to new directions because staying in the same place, for me, doesn't work very well. I'm really looking forward to writing more, to practicing and playing the piano more.






	Search our site:		KARRIN ALLYSON Karrin Allyson will perform three nights at Jardine's, November 15-17. She talked with writer and jazz musician Carol Comer about the upcoming performance and her recent CD Wild For You. CC: How long has it been since you've been back to KC? KA: Well, when was I at the Blue Room? I think it was six months. CC: Too long a time. Your fans are sad and mopey. And you haven't played Jardine's since Beena installed the new sound system. KA: I know. She's so excited about it, and I'm so glad things are going well for her. CC: You're going to love it. New sound, new lights, stage upgrades…it's the BIG time. KA: Yeah, you know I'm very pleased to go back. And, you know, for Beena I'd do anything. CC: I'm looking forward to hearing some things from the new CD (Wild For You) which, as you know, I loved. How did you hone it down to 13 songs? KA: I have this huge file folder that I use to separate genres. And then there are the choices: do you do it like a big band, do you do album excerpts, etc….I had a French book, I had a pop book, and then I had jazz standards. So, I found my old pop book ‘cause I hadn't been doing any of them for a long time, and, coincidentally, one of my Concord people sent me an article from grammy.com quoting several of us singers who'd been doing more “current” material (and, of course, I'd been putting some of this stuff on my albums all the while—Janis Ian, Bonnie Raitt, the Beatles, Billy Joel, etc.). But there were several that I hadn't done for a long, long time so I dug them out again, and I just went through them. Even old recordings. So I had to hone it down. We rehearsed at Paul (Smith's) a couple of times just playing around to see if we could come up with something original, and then Ron Ubel let us record some of our stuff at Soundtrek, but I listened to the playback once and thought, “Hmm, no.” But it was because I was just so tired I could hardly sing. Still, it was fun to do. Anyway, we experimented like that. We wanted to create a whole different take, and before we got to that point we still played around with it in our own way(s). We continued to experiment and, in fact, I even gave those things to Gil (Gil Goldstein, producer/arranger/accompanist, Wild For You). I can't believe I did that. I should get them back! But mostly, he and I got together after the honing down process had taken place. I had a whole list of stuff for him and in fact there were about six other tunes I wanted to include but it just didn't work out. CC: Did Gil integrate any of your ideas? KA: Only on one tune—“I Got Eyes,” the Melissa Manchester original. CC: I'm crazy about that one. And apparently she is too: “Her rendition of my song is just great. It reminds me of peppermint candy, sweet but with a definite kick. Many thanks, Karrin. Your fan, Melissa Manchester.” Have you met her? KA: Yes, I have. I became friends with a songwriter who introduced me to her. I went to hear her here in New York, met her briefly—Bette Midler was there, Phoebe Snow was there (and actually I would love to have done some Phoebe Snow tunes). Anyway, these are my heroes. Those are the first concerts I went to. CC: Isn't that fabulous! KA: Yeah! Anyway, I sent Melissa some stuff. Actually my idea was to get these songs to the songwriters before the album came out, you know. Get these versions to each one of the songwriters and really, really push hard to get them to listen to them, you know, ‘cause they're busy. CC: I think that's a brilliant idea! KA: I had a letter composed to each one of them. But Concord never did it. CC: Well, they're nuts! As Stephen Holden said in the New York Times review, you've done them [the songwriters] a huge favor. And don't you know they would have loved to have been a part of that. I guess you can't do it after the fact, huh? KA: I guess I could, but it doesn't have the same impact. I would still love it though because my fantasy is to meet Joni Mitchell. I'm acquainted with Bonnie Raitt, she's always been very nice to me, but I don't know the others except Melissa, who came to our gig in Hollywood AND she sat in with me! CC: You're doing a benefit for [your Dad's] charity in November, right? KA: Right. He's on the Board of Habitat for Humanity, and we're performing for him/them in Omaha on November 13^th. Then we do Jardine's, then we're off to Japan, and then back to New York where I'll be on CBS-TV's Sunday Morning, November 27^th. CC: Fabulous. I'll bet Billy [Taylor] does you. He usually interviews the jazzers. And speaking of piano players, I hear yours, Paul Smith, is cutting back on the traveling. KA: Yes. But, you know, I was surprised he was able to travel as much as he did. He'll still be with us in Kansas City and Omaha. And I'll continue to use other piano players like Bruce Barth, and my friend, Laura Caviani, and a wonderful L.A. pianist, Bill Cunlisse. And we don't always have a pianist. I do a lot of things with guitar. CC: And you'll be playing at Jardine's? KA: Yes. And Rod will be with me, too. We'll have everybody: Rod, Danny, Paul, Bob, Todd, the full complement except for Gil. They're so fantastic. So talented. And they're my best friends. You should see us on road trips: it's a well-oiled machine. We don't have a bus or a road manager. We just manage to pretty much take care of everything ourselves. In the future we hope to get a good sound person—it's a fantasy—'cause that can be a nightmare. CC: Is there anything else you'd like to say before we bring this to a close? KA: I guess I'd like to say I look forward to new directions because staying in the same place, for me, doesn't work very well. I'm really looking forward to writing more, to practicing and playing the piano more. RETURN TO OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2004 MAIN INDEX © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2004. All rights reserved.