How or when did you first “discover” jazz?
My father has been an avid jazz collector since his college-days. Among
his favorites: Miles, Cannonball , Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Clifford
Brown, Charlie Parker, Ray Brown, Coltrane, Art Blakey - too many to
name here. Vocalists too, especially Sarah , Billie and Ella. As a kid
Ella somehow grabbed me the most. Her songbooks, and especially her
albums with Louis Armstrong were among my strong early favorites
alongside the Beatles, Schubert & Chopin (which my Mom played whenever
she could get a little space in between my Dad's dominating listening
pleasures). As a younger child (elementary school) I did not take to
all of my Dad's tastes. I loved Miles and Oscar, but Billie somehow
made me sad, and Coltrane and Charlie Parker's music made me
feel 'nervous' ... only to enjoy them all the more later in life. Jazz
is my musical roots. It is what was played around our house continuously all throughout my childhood.
Do you remember the first recording you ever purchased?
Earth, Wind & Fire"Gratitude" was the first LP I owned. (And, I still love
it!)
Name one of your greatest creative influences and why?
I've had various influences during different periods of my musical
development but for the past decade I would have to credit Brad
Mehldau for the incredibly sensitive way he phrases a melody, makes
his piano 'sing' and the way he spins out the melody when building up
a solo - his amazing sense of form and time and the freedom he finds
within it. He has the ability to put you in a mood, but not just one
mood: his playing can make you deliriously happy as well as infinitely
melancholy. It's very emotional and intellectual at once- it's magic!
But I'm equally heavily indebted to Shirley Horn, Herbie Hancock, Elis
Regina, Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, E,W & F, and many more.
What made you decide to become a musician?
Listening to music is the second greatest pleasure, but being inside
the music and actually creating it felt better then anything I had ever
done (at an early age) and it still is one of the best things to do
anytime today.
Tell us about your recording FIRE.
"Fire" is partially my attempt to infuse the music I heard as a child
on the radio with the music we played at home. I've tried to put a jazz-
slant on various pop-tunes from my school days. Funny enough, I wasn't
necessarily a big fan of those tunes during that time, but when I hear
them now they fill me with a certain nostalgia that makes me remember
those times intensly. I also recorded some original compostitions, a
song from the classical era and Brazilian-tinged songs on "Fire." I
really don't like to think in categories or labels too much; it's all
music I feel passionate about and it becomes connected through the way
I've arranged it and the sound we've developed with the band featuring Jeff
Ballard (d) Jesse van Ruller (g) Brad Mehldau (p) Seamus Blake (s)
Johan Plomp (b) and Gil Goldstein (accordion).
Name one recording that you cannot live without.
Herbie Hancock "Speak Like A Child" or Antonio Carlos Jobim "Tom & Elis" can't decide - both are superb and have great sentimental value for me. It is not that they are the "best"recordings I know, they are just among many other beautiful records - very personal and thus indispensable.
What is the best thing about playing jazz?
That feeling of freedom that anything can happen - whatever comes up
in your head - just going for it and always being in the moment.
What is in your CD player right now?
Nellie McKay, "Get Away From Me!" - I saw her perform live in Central
Park this summer and she just baffled me with her wit and wisdom at her
age (only 21)! Her music is just as wacky, truly in tune with her personality. I think
she's very talented, and nicely uncategorizable!.
What is the last movie you saw?
"We Don't Live Here Anymore" (starring Mark Ruffalo and Naomi Watts) - Intriguing film about infidelity. Great original soundtrack too!
What is the last book you read?
Paul Auster, The Book of Illusions is the last American novel I have read. It was a fast read but somehow not completely satisfying. But before that I started a book that I still haven't finished and that I found very interesting. It's called The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Though I'm hardly a New Age fanatic, this book offers some insights that should speak to jazz adepts - it's about being in the 'now' (which is something you naturally do when you make music or do anything that you're truly into).
What is your favorite escape?
Playing ... in every sense of the word
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Background
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Fleurine is a young Dutch vocalist with an impressive international resume.
She studied at the Amsterdam School of High Arts / Conservatory for four years, and then left The Netherlands to live in New York and has been working on both continents since 1993.
Wanting to sing songs of Jazz in a different way, thinking it would be hard to add anything to the repertoire of her favourite vocalists, she set out to write her own lyrics to compositions of famous Jazz composers such as Thelonious Monk, Kenny Dorham, Ray Briant, Curtis Fuller and Thad Jones, but also to songs of contemporaries such as Tom Harrell and Joshua Redman, thus creating a brand new vocal repertoire, writing in English and in Portuguese.
She recorded these songs on her debut Album "Meant to Be!" in N.Y, with a band consisting of Tom Harrell (tp), Ralph Moore (ts), Renee Rosnes (p), Jesse van Ruller (g), Christian McBride (b), Billy Drummond (d) and Grammy Award winning Producer Don Sickler (who produced a/o Joe Henderson, Jimmy Smith, Christian McBride and Mark Whitfield).
The Album, which was received excellently by the International Press, (see reviews) was released on English Independent label "Bluemusic". (1996). It immediately became a regular Jazz Hit in a/o The Netherlands and England.
Shortly after, Fleurine toured all over the world, performing with her own band at renowned Jazz clubs such as Birdland and Blue Note(recorded for TV) in New York, the renowned PizzaExpress Jazzclub in London and at International festivals such as the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Edmonton Jazz festival in Canada, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, the Istanbul Jazz Festival in Turkey and the North Sea Jazz Festival, where she performed seven times since 1994.
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Related links:
Fleurine
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Torcuato Mariano
