Roseanna Vitro Clarity Music of Clare Fischer
The richly harmonic, deeply melodic music of pianist and composer/arranger
Clare Fischer (1928-2012) has proven to be fertile terrain for many jazz and
pop artists over the last half-century. Vocalist Roseanna Vitro puts her
passionate stamp on nine of Fischer's compositions (and a favorite of his by
Ary Barroso) on her gorgeous new CD Clarity: Music of Clare Fischer, which will
be released September 30 by Random Act Records. As on her 2011 Grammy-nominated
disc, The Music of Randy Newman, Clarity finds Vitro focusing her talents on a
pioneering composer of renown.
With
their intricate structures and overlapping debts to jazz, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian
music, and classical forms, Fischer's songs are not always easy to sing.
"I really didn't realize what I was getting myself into with this project
of difficult melodies," says Vitro. "But once I was in, well, I was
in." It took almost two years to cultivate lyrics for six Fischer
compositions "that have never been sung before. This is the first vocal
book by a solo singer of his music."
On this
heartfelt project, Vitro pays tribute to a real musician's musician whose
fascination with bossa nova and jazz samba is brought to vivid life by her
longtime working band (and Randy Newman collaborators): pianist/arranger Mark
Soskin, the savvy Sonny Rollins veteran and one of jazz's most in-demand
players; brilliant young violinist Sara Caswell, a member of groups led by
Esperanza Spalding and Marc O'Connor; bassist Dean Johnson and drummer Tim
Horner, rhythm-mates to Vitro and a host of other top vocalists. The prolific
percussionist Mino Cinelu (Weather Report) also contributed; vibist Brent
Fischer, for whom his father composed "Sleep Sweet Child" (presented
here as "Sleep My Child"), guests on one track.
Clare
Fischer's distinguished career began with his work as arranger for the Hi-Lo's
in the late 1950s and included 11 Grammy nominations along with high-profile
arranging work for Prince, Chaka Khan, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, and
other pop stars. His lifelong involvement with Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean
music first came to light on 1962's Bossa Nova Jazz Samba (with Bud Shank) and
continued with 1964's Só Danço Samba and 1981's Grammy-winning Clare Fischer
and Salsa Picante Present 2+2.
The program
on Clarity features several of Fischer's more widely covered compositions, such
as "Morning," "Seagull" (Gaviota), and
"Pensativa," as well as lesser known gems: "Take Your Breath and
Sing" (O Canto), originally recorded in Portuguese with a vocal group, and
boasting new English lyrics by Roseanna's husband (and CD producer/engineer)
Paul Wickliffe; "Love's Path" (Love's Walk), written for Fischer's
wife Donna, with new lyrics by Wickliffe; and "Swingin' with the
Duke" (The Duke), whose lyrics were co-written by Vitro and Cheryl Pyle.
The non-Fischer number, "Web of Love" (Inquietação), is by Brazilian
master Ary Barroso and dates from 1935; new English lyrics are by Roger Schore.
"My
doing Clare's music is a deliberate effort to expand the jazz repertoire,"
says Vitro, whose previous CDs have also spotlighted composers Ray Charles and
Bill Evans. "While the American Songbook now includes works by composers
from the 1960s forward -- Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Paul Simon, James
Taylor, Jimmy Webb -- I felt that Clare was a neglected figure. He's an
insider's composer, representing a chamber-leaning point of view. I'm hoping
that this record will introduce him and his songs to a wider audience, and that
my fellow jazz singers hear this material as worthy of modern
interpretation."
To
illustrate this point, Vitro asked her daughter, Sarah Wickliffe (a painter and
film animator for ABC's The Chew), to create a visual depicting Fischer's
"undiscovered" music as the desert. In Wickliffe's startling cover
art, inspired by a Salvador Dali painting, the water flowing from the piano and
violin "illustrates the birth and beauty of new music flowing into a
bottomless well of creativity," explains Vitro. "My image is smiling,
gazing at our new creation of stories set to intriguing melodies. Clare
Fischer's harmonic colors and resplendent melodies are rhythmic chamber music
for the voice, waiting to be discovered."
Roseanna Vitro A native of Hot Springs,
Arkansas who emerged on the music scene in Houston before relocating to New
York in 1978, Roseanna Vitro has made her mark as an educator in addition to
her accomplishments as a recording artist and bandleader. For the last 14 years
she has been the Vocal Chair at New Jersey-City University. Until last year she
was the vocal jazz teacher at NJPAC, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's
Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens Program in Newark. She founded and runs JVOICE, a
Facebook page for singers (with over 2800 members) where she posts videos,
workshops, school info, and interviews with dozens of "great teachers,
performers, gatekeepers, and pianists -- it's all about the singers."
These interviews led to an affiliation with JazzTimes magazine for whose web
site she hosts a column, Voices in Jazz, featuring interviews with artists such
as Tony Bennett, Bob Dorough, and Mark Murphy. Her piece on scat singing,
"How to Doo Bah -- A Guide to Scat Singing," appears in the September
issue ("My first paid article!").
Vitro
scheduled the following shows in support of the new CD: 9/26 Joe's Pub, NYC;
9/27 The Seqnoia Room, Fort Bragg, CA; 9/28 Bird's Nest Jazz, Oakland; 11/15
Deer Head Inn, Delaware Water Gap, PA; 11/22 Cezanne Jazz Club, Houston (with
Mark Soskin; Warren Sneed, saxophone; local bass/drums); and 12/19 Kitano Jazz
Series, NYC (with Mark Soskin and special guest).
She will
also be giving master classes while in Houston: 11/21 at the High School of
Performing and Visual Arts (with Soskin), and 11/23 at Jane Vandiver's Star
Singers Studio.
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