AVAILABLE NOW:
Vocalist HALIE LOREN Celebrates Love and Life on
New Justin Time Records Album, Simply Love
"...the next big thing among jazz vocalists." - JazzTimes
The soul of vocal
artistry is to distill the essence of a song and make it personal,
finding something unexpected yet exactly right. The outstanding jazz vocalist Halie Loren does just that, as her latest Justin Time Records release, Simply Love, vividly demonstrates.
Released last June in Asia, Simply Love
spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard (Japan) jazz albums chart and
landed five tracks on the jazz singles chart at iTunes Japan. Her
Japanese tour in July culminated in six sold-out shows at the famed
Cotton Club in Tokyo. Closer to home, recent appearances at Upstairs
Jazz Bar in Montreal, Birdland in New York, Yoshi's jazz club in San
Francisco and Seattle's historic Jazz Alley have cemented the Eugene,
Oregon-based artist's growing status as a breakthrough, emerging artist
in North America.
There is an intimacy
in her voice that makes listeners feel she is singing directly to them.
Now, with three sparkling new originals and 10 radiantly re-imagined
classics, Loren accomplishes what every singer strives for - to make
every song, regardless of who wrote it or performed it previously,
entirely her own.
Key to her popularity
is the central quartet, the members of which have appeared with Loren on
every Justin Time Records release since 2008's They Oughta Write a Song: pianist/arranger Matt Treder, bassist Mark "Mo" Schneider, and percussionist Brian West. As on last year's Heart First, winner of Jazz Critique
magazine's award for best vocal jazz album, they are again energized by
the band's newest addition, guitarist William Seiji Marsh, and sterling
support from accordionist Sergei Teleshev.
Sonically, Simply Love
achieves a new level of technical sophistication, enhancing her
trademark melodic inventiveness and lyrical sensitivity. Over 13 tracks,
she interweaves themes of sun and sand, earth and sky, wistful dreams
and happy endings, each successive song adding a layer of perspective to
the earlier ones.
"With Simply Love,
I wanted to meet the mood of the season," the Eugene, Oregon-based
singer says. "What kind of soundtrack would I want to listen to in the
warmer months?"
With her late friend
and frequent co-writer Larry Wayne Clark, Loren has produced exquisitely
crafted songs before, including two that became album titles for her.
Still, "Cuando Bailamos" may be their masterpiece, a lilting bossa nova
wrapped in the cocoon of a soaring string orchestra. The strings appear
again on "I've Got to See You Again," and on a rediscovered French song.
Delicate and exquisite, "Le Premier Bonheur du Jour" draws the string
quartet in closer for a chamber orchestration perfectly matched to
pianist Treder's deft arranging touch.
Inspired by tours in
Hawaii and Palermo, Italy, where she headlined with the Orchestra Jazz
Siciliana, Loren again teamed with friend and Grammy® Award-nominated
producer Rick Chudacoff to write "Bare Feet," her ode to simplicity and
rejuvenation. Infusing the song with its irresistible bounce took the
artistry of two Oregon-based masters of ukulele, Ali Heyer and Craig
Chee. Loren closes with the title track, which she penned with
songwriter Benita Hill - a swirling, filigreed jewel set in waltz time,
accompanied only by acoustic guitar, accordion, and felt-draped piano.
It's as stripped down as jazz gets, as intimate as a whisper.
With Simply Love, Loren concludes that she was "striving for positivity, celebratory love and life." She clearly hit her target square on.
Halie Loren· Simply Love
Justin Time Records · Release Date: September 10, 2013
For more information on Halie Loren, please visit: halieloren.com
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Matthew Jurasek · matthew@dlmediamusic.com
Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos
and bios) on all DL Media artists can be found at our new website: dlmediamusic.com