LUCIDMEDIA

Lily Frost Swings With A New Jazz Album

Written by Catherine Kustanczy Wednesday, 25 June 2008 05:07

The day before the Toronto-based singer-songwriter made a visit to a tarot card reader, she’d tossed around the possibility of making a jazz tribute album inspired by two very different sources: Canadian underground roots music legend Ray Condo, and Lady Day herself, Billie Holiday. By the time she went for the tarot reading, the idea for the record had been forgotten, but the project presented itself nonetheless, via the Wheel of Fortune card. For Frost, it represented not just recent changes in her life (like being a new mother), but the visual representation of a record.

The result is Lily Swings, released in May on Aporia/Marquis Classics. The album, comprised of 11 songs, is a loving tribute that features Frost’s ebullient, sprightly voice, and simple, elegant arrangements, courtesy of Rick Kilburn and Jose Miguel Contreras, Frost’s husband and a member of Toronto power pop band By Divine Right. Condo, who passed away in 2004 just weeks shy of his 54th birthday, was known for his hard living and his passion for reinventing old classics from various music genres. “(Ray’s) thing was Western swing. He and I both really loved Billie Holiday,” she explains from her home in Toronto, “I wanted to pay homage to him and do a record with his band. He had a knack for choosing songs that are quite obscure and extra special, and that never were his own, so I decided I wanted to do Billie’s songs.”

Instead of choosing pieces like "Strange Fruit" or "God Bless the Child", which Frost calls “super-identifiably” part of the Holiday sound, she and Condo’s band, The Dukes, chose songs that “worked well with an upbeat swing sound. Some didn’t work with my voice because it’s too light, while others worked with the band.”

Asked about the intimidation factor in covering tunes Lady Day made famous, Frost admits to being nervous, though she also acknowledges it was important to her that she not lose her style amidst a sea of nostalgia. “In terms of the name ‘Billie Holiday’, definitely, I was in reverence, trying to honour her with every word, while being true to myself, and not aping her, (at) the ends of songs in particular. She has her way of ending, and if I emulated her style, it would’ve sounded really different.”

While Frost says she thinks she sounds imitative in places, the average listener won’t pick up on any form of Holiday-ing. With a breath of relief, Frost says she’s glad the imitation isn’t noticeable, observing that “my voice is clearer, and higher. (Holiday’s) is super-husky, even (in) the way it was recorded.”

The recording process for Lily Swings was given a bit of purposeful aging in post production, when, following studio time in Vancouver, Contreras performed a bit of audio mixing magic back in Toronto, in order to give the album an aged, retro sound. While Frost says they could’ve gone in “the Krall direction”, of sleek production and clean audio, the nature of the project, and the material, demanded something more in tune with the nature of the songs. “My husband is the one who helped make it really gritty. He has a good sense of artistic direction. He brought it back to house, made it mono, put things through amps, so everything sounds old-fashioned.” The retro sound will eventually be manifest when Lily Swings gets a vinyl release. “It’s in the works, “says the singer with notable excitement, “my label’s a little apprehensive, but my manager is determined.” Frost credits her past experience singing with Canadian pop-swing band The Colorifics for giving her the proper foundation to sing such jazz standards as "Them There Eyes" and "All of Me", both featured on Lily Swings. “We played for about four or five years,” she says of her time with The Colorifics, “and it was up to five times a week. We were crazy busy. I knew I could do that style, but I haven’t done it for four records now, so it’s almost like pulling up this side of myself that I knew was there. This is really more a part of who I am than original stuff.”

Frost’s love for Billie Holiday is made plain in both sound and look; the album’s cover features the blue-eyed singer, her dark hair spread out like a mermaid, accented with white gardenias. It compliments the belief Ray Condo held, that awareness of old music makes for good future music. For listeners who are unacquainted with the Holiday sound, or indeed, jazz itself, Frost is more than happy to make the introduction, infusing the much-loved classics with a fun approach and a breezy interpretation. Although she isn’t quite sure who were listeners are (aside from past Colorifics fans), she’s found that her friends have been the best test market for her new/old material thus far. “They really like it, “she says with a smile, “I think that type of music - upbeat, a traditional style and sound - speaks to everybody because it’s clear what it is, and it’s not asking too much of you. You can lay back and enjoy it… or dance.”

It’s this approachability of sound that Frost believes is behind the resurgence of interest in swing-style jazz, although as the mother of a two-year-old, the music is a nice release from her daily pressures and responsibilities. It’s also a nice change of pace from being in The Colorifics. “Just being able to show up and sing is so much easier than having to write, lug a guitar and amp, and be responsible for a band. At this time in my life it’s quite a relief!”

Still, Frost stresses the importance of staying away from formula and habit. “It has to be interesting for you as well. A lot of the artists who have longevity, they have their thing they do it really well, and while I like that, I also like the totally crazy, (Rheostatics co-founder) Martin Tielli-type thing.” While Frost’s career is definitely eclectic, so say nothing of her tastes, there is a mature consistency to her sound on Lily Swings that does not diminish the album’s overall energy and verve. Furthermore, her recent solo shows has given Frost a greater awareness of her own strengths as a performer, and shown her the importance of conveying the passion she brings to the material on Lily Swings to a live setting. “Choosing the songs to play is always interesting because certain tunes I can find myself loving playing, and other ones, I’m bored with. That’s what determines what will be in the show. It’s really clear: either I’m into it or I’m not. When I’m into it, it’s full on, when I’m not, it’s boring. The song has lost its spark for me, so I’m not going to share it with (an audience).” That spark, however, was thankfully present during the recording of Lily Swings, when Condo’s former bandmates came together to re-work old classics. Standouts include "Solitude", which features Frost’s haunting, wispy soprano rising above Greg Shea’s quiet piano contemplations, and "Love Me or Leave Me", with a fast, Django Reinhardt-strummed guitar (courtesy of Chris Dean) and Frost’s knowingly sensuous phrasings. "Willow Weep For Me" features the dreamy sounds of Jimmy Roy’s steel pedal guitar, and, like much of the instrumentation on Lily Swings, provides a playful backdrop that perfectly compliments the singer’s girlish, if knowing, sound. “All the guys in the band were so gracious, so sweet and encouraging. It made me optimistic. I know (them) really well. They’re older, in their sixties, so they took me under their wing, and it felt super-fluid, super-clear, super-everything-on-the-right-track.”

Unlike many collaborative projects, particularly within the arts sphere, recording Lily Swings with The Dukes was blissfully conflict-free. “It was totally my vision,” says the singer, “I never had to fight for anything. People respected the idea. I came in, said, ‘this is what we’re doing’, and everybody was cool with it. It was really different.”

That’s not to say the process of recording was entirely smooth, however, with Frost having to part ways with one producer, after “sculpting” what she says was the most difficult letter of her life to write. But again, it was in the cards. Her tarot reading didn’t just turn up the Wheel of Fortune, but an image of a woman on a horse, traditionally considered a so-called “challenge” card. Frost describes it as “men’s eyes surrounding a woman, who is throwing her head back to the wind. It’s all these men, who are priests and judges, judging her.” She says the entire time recording in Vancouver was characterized by that kind of negativity from on high, and admits it was a challenge “to deal with the egos that would come up along the way.” Nevertheless, it buoyed her in her determination to stick to her vision of what the album should sound like, and she took the card as a symbol of “me trying to hold on to the whimsical nature of the entire project and not be bogged down by judgements.” The image of the woman on the horse, proudly throwing her head back “really guided me”, she admits.

So would she record another jazz album? “I don’t think so, but who knows?” she says with a laugh, “We have so many ideas for future records. Maybe I’d do something more stripped down, like a trio -a double bass and piano, or with a Julie London style, double bass and electric guitar. I’d love to do a bossa nova record, in the style of A Life Aquatic’s soundtrack.” She lists off numerous current projects, including “duets with my husband, a French record, and my next original record is an ode to the forest, called ‘Symphony Of The Trees’”, which she describes as “my love affair with nature… trying to humanize elements of nature.” She could be describing Lily Swings when she says “it relates to every human being, and it’s what I’m pouring my heart into.”

While there is a light breeziness to the songs on Lily Swings, the approach belies a fierce intelligence and determined passion for the material. The blue eyes on the cover don’t lie, and, as it turns out, neither do the cards. Billie and Ray would be proud.