Reunion
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr - Reunion

REUNION
TRUDY KERR AND INGRID JAMES

 

Musicians
Geoff Gascoyne – acoustic bass
Tom Cawley – piano
Seb de Krom – drums
                
‘A CD you’ll want to revisit again and again.  I love it!” - Anita Wardell

 

Trudy Kerr’s ninth album, ‘Reunion’ on the Jazzizit label, sees her teaming up with her long-time friend, the Australian jazz chanteuse, Ingrid James. Between them, they deliver an eclectic selection of jazz, latin and folk songs by composers such as Chick Corea, Bob Dorough, Baden Powell and Carole King.  Trudy and Ingrid laid down the album’s thirteen tracks at the Clowns Pocket Studios in Kent. Song titles include a swinging version of ‘This Could Be the Start of Something Big’ inspired by Jon Hendricks; ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’ with a vocalese penned by Georgie Fame; ‘Cry No More’ by Baden Powell and ‘Soft Shoe’ based on the original Gerry Mulligan Quartet arrangement. Trudy and Ingrid provided the words for the vocalese on ‘Soft Shoe’ and the complete lyrics for Bud Powell’s ‘A Little Crazy’ aka Un Poco Loco.

The story behind the new album
“When Trudy first asked me if I'd like to record an album with her during a recent visit to London, it felt like the most natural thing to do, “ says Ingrid, talking about how the album came about. Both singers had sung together in Australia 20 years ago and, says Ingrid, “I was excited at the prospect of revisiting that wonderful time when our voices would meld so freely and so effortlessly.”

From opposite sides of the planet, rehearsing was no problem thanks to the latest Skype technology and once repertoire and arrangements were complete, REUNION was recorded in London over two very intensive days in July 2009. ”Jazz has always been at the heart of Ingrid’s and my friendship,” says Trudy, “ so making repertoire choices was quite easy - even though we are two very different singers, our influences over the years have been similar.”

Over the last decade in particular, Trudy and Ingrid have led parallel musical lives in jazz performance and voice education. They have been able to observe each other from a great distance, and watch each other grow as individuals. ‘Reunion’ represents a coming together of these two great jazz singers on opposite sides of the world, showing the musical empathy which they both share.

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Like Minds
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr - Like Minds
Trudy teams up with British jazz legend and Ellington aficionado Michael Garrick on piano (and bassist Paul Moylan on selected tracks) to add a new dimension to some of the Duke’s favourite tunes. Among them are In a Sentimental Mood, Mood Indigo and Don’t Get Around Much Anymore plus some of Michael’s own compositions such as October Woman and Song by the Sea.
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Deja Vu
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr - Deja Vu
Kerr’s theme for the CD is based on songs that have a significant link to her past. The twelve beautiful tracks display Kerr’s undoubted versatility as a jazz singer. Trudy is accompanied by the fabulous Swedish pianist Jan Lundgren, her husband Geoff Gascoyne on bass and Steve Brown on drums. Geoff has arranged for string quartet a moving version of “The Summer Knows” as well as augmenting other tracks on the album with strings played by the Juno String Quartet. Trudy’s special guest is Bob Dorough who sang an upbeat duet with Trudy on his original composition of “Up Jumped a Bird”.
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Jazz For Juniors
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr - Jazz For Juniors
"The idea for JAZZ FOR JUNIORS came from a desire to sing songs other than nursery rhymes to my kids. I started to teach them lyrics and melodies to the tunes I grew up with and I thought other parents might like to do the same. This musical adventure brings old favourites to children in a jazz style that's different, new and exciting. Have fun....!" Trudy Kerr Musicians Trudy Kerr vocals Tom Cawley piano Geoff Gascoyne bass Sebastiaan de Krom drums Martin Shaw trumpet Derek Nash saxes Children singers: Emily, Laura and Ruby Gascoyne, Laura and Kristy James All arrangements: Geoff Gascoyne
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Cloudburst
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr
Trudy Kerr - Cloudburst
Something of a miniature epiphany this. A vocal album sufficiently musicianly, substantial and in the instrumental tradition that it could equally well be filed under mainstream. Think vocal jazz automatically equals jazz-lite? Think again. Cloudburst is London-based Australian Kerr's fifth album and follows her fine '02 homage to Chet Baker, My Old Flame. This time she puts the Great American Songbook aside and offers fourteen hardcore jazz instrumentals, to which lyrics and/or vocalese have later been added, either by her or by earlier writers. The original composers are Coltrane, Mingus, Monk, Clifford Brown, Gerry Mulligan, Horace Silver, Mal Waldron, Tadd Dameron, Bill Evans, Lerov Kirkland & Jimmy Harris, Duke Pearson, Antonio Jobim, Ennio Morricone, and Freddie Hubbard. To say Kerr does justice to these guys—which she does—is really to say something. The arrangements are unfussy, and wholly unsweetened, and Kerr's warm and sensuous voice, particularly effective in the midrange, delivers straightforward and engaging readings. Key to the album's success is Kerr's band, a half dozen of London's finest, who're given plenty of space in which to stretch out and improvise. So, a vocal album for people who don't usually like vocal albums. Kerr is 100% real jazz musician, and Cloudburst is 100% real jazz. Things are looking up. "The inspiration for this album came after I heard John Coltrane’s ‘Moments Notice’. I thought it would be great to sing, so I wrote a lyric. I decided an entire Cd of material from the instrumental jazz repertoire would be an interesting and challenging concept for me. To pay tribute to the great solos played I added some vocalese lyrics either penned by myself or the master Jon Hendricks."
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