Alix Cohen’s Soapbox
Make It Your Own
March 22, 2018
By Alix Cohen for Cabaret Scenes
I’m listening to my umpteenth indistinctive CD, wondering what’s in the minds of performers and music directors who spend time and money producing familiar arrangements of well-known songs without personal imprint. Occasionally, I receive recordings to review.
Putting out a CD shouldn’t simply rest on having your voice heard—you need something to say. Just like putting together a live show, this means choosing songs that live well together and speak to you. Ask yourself what you’re bringing TO the material. Don’t just speed up a ballad for novelty (be true to the intention of lyrics). Mine your personal take.
Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett—endless icons—have recorded the same songs. Each owns the material.
Part of this is styling, part musical arrangement and/or instrumentation, part the nature of your natural voice. A sax, trumpet, violin, flute, or guitar can add texture. There’s a classical cellist out there whose sound enhances certain material immeasurably.
Recently, I saw a show whose artist and MD completely changed the tenor of familiar numbers without altering a word. Risky, but, in this case, successful. The vocalist had an arc and theme into which the new interpretations fit perfectly. Think about context. I reviewed the CD of a jazz singer who’s apparently been around for some time, but hadn’t recorded in a while.
Her phrasing, octave changes, rhythmic scat, and rich arrangements reached me as if fresh.
Don’t take on the tried and true material without a personal stamp. And/or find different songs. There’s no end to them.