The Birds

Reviews

All that jazz – All in A Day

If I sat down and really thought about what I could achieve in a single day, I might be able to come up with some interesting challenges that I think might be possible…. but record a whole album? Well that would probably not be one of them, even if I had the requisite talents. But that is exactly what jazz singer Alice Williams did for her first studio release, All In A Day, a mix of classic jazz covers performed in her distinctive style such as Can’t Help Falling In Love, Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You and You Do Something To Me plus a number of her own original songs, including the excellent and personal favourite, Guilt Box, The Weather Song and I Love You. Few of us are unaware of the competitive nature of the music business and with the advent – and media/mass market domination – of marketing vehicles like The X Factor, finding a space for yourself is extremely tough. So making and producing an album, which is an expensive commitment, is a major challenge with limited resources – and it’s a testament to Alice’s natural talent that she was able create an album of such quality in just that one day. What makes Alice so distinctive is her wonderfully smokey voice, a quality that furniture designer William Yeoward found so arresting at a concert she was performing for the National Trust, that he sought her out to appear at a private party he was holding. His recent review of this album in his profile in the FT Weekend Supplement speaks for itself.  I agree about the engaging nature of Alice’s voice, having recently seen her perform at The National Theatre in London, where an appreciative audience were enthralled. I caught up with Alice and asked her about recording All In A Day, her song writing and her future projects. BontheB: Recording a 16 track album in one day must have been a challenge not just for you but the musicians involved; did it take a great deal of planning? Cousin Alice:  While I was on a whizz trip back to the UK to do a corporate gig (I was working the winter in Barbados) Martin Wheatley, who’s a world class guitarist recording with many including Brian Ferry, loves my voice and interpretations so set a day up  to record a demo of maybe 5 songs LIVE. Well we nailed the songs in an hour ... as the musicians locked in together...  we continued...a magic happened and by the end of the day we had recorded 21 songs straight. Martin laid down all of them over dub guitar solos , banjo, and hawaiian  guitar in the last hour ..  I  chose 16 tracks for the album.. All In A Day... but planning. Ha.. No not a lot of planning;  it was very spontaneous. BontheB: The music industry is notoriously tough and difficult to break through in; what can people do to support independent artists like yourself? Cousin Alice: Come to my gigs...!  Live is best.. you'll find my schedule on my website. Also my album and EPs are available to buy online.. (also through Rays Jazz @Foyles Charing Cross Rd) and recommend me to your pals.. word of mouth I believe is best. Do follow me on Facebook and Twitter (@cousinalice).  Anyone in the film or advertising world..  please pick up and include  my songs in your projects...  it's the best form of exposure. Aside from my recordings, I love playing live, so any private  and corporate events help pay the bills. I am looking into getting sponsorship to enable me to tour and embark on other creative recording projects. So sponsors, sponsorship and advice are always welcome. BontheB: The album has some great original songs on it; who would you say are your greatest influences when it comes to song writing? Cousin Alice: Fats Waller, Tom Waits, Peggy Lee, Billie Holliday, Lester Young, Chet Baker, Lord Kitchener... I love the old style swing. and songs from the tradition of story telling... tho I mix up the sounds with other  influences like reggae and old calypso. Today however, I just listened to Lena Lovich.." My lucky Number’s One" and " Home is Where The Heart Is " BontheB: My personal favourite is Guilt Box; what’s the story behind that? Cousin Alice: So you like that one eh!!..Ha.!!  Fats Waller is an influence with that lyric style; he always wrote with humor and naughtiness tho I have recorded a song of his  "Feeling Blue Turning Grey" which is straight ahead heartfelt and available on download on my EP After Hours Sessions. … My song GUILTBOX well  that's a You Done Me Wrong song with attitude.. .. when the sadness moves to anger...and then  humor creeps in ...along with a 2-fingered gesture a broken  heart is on the mend!! BontheB: Your website has some fab videos of new songs that you recorded in Rio recently; how did that come about? Cousin Alice: I have been very well supported by Bel Brito of Sinaapse Communicadoes a Brazilian media/design company. She sponsored my website and it is amazing, she also got a Brazilian music producer Marcel Cotta and Fiscal to do a remix of my song "Swinging On Rainbows" and we made a music video to that arrangement. And then last year I went to Rio again and spent the glorious month of March there encompassing carnival. Marcel Cotta did an arrangement on my song "My Shade Of Blue" - we went up the coast an hour from Rio to  the beautiful town of Buzios for a few days to make the video clip. This track is going to be used as the theme music for MYOPIA an art documentary series that Sinaapse Communicadoes has under production. I am also doing the narration for this. It's a nice exchange and am pleased to be able return  the favour, tho a small token for  their generosity BontheB: You play a banjolele, which has a really distinctive sound; what made you choose that instrument? Cousin Alice: I bought a 10 pound ukelele 13 years ago to  play with  a girl trio.. Three Piece Sweet.  Then a friend, a very good accordion player by the name of Winkie Thin, gave me the beautiful banjo ukelele I now play.. it's an old 1927 American instrument and it marries with my voice beautifully. I have been song writing with it for the last 11 years. I was very novel and had a residency at Cafe De Paris in London 10 years ago…and did a lot of the cabaret clubs and burlesque venues back then (and on the occasion now.) The ukelele is having a renaissance making me very hip! BontheB: What plans do you have for this year? Cousin Alice: I had some collaborations with a DJ called Article P, last year. I wrote a song about internet dating which I put over his drumloops, he took it to New York and got a rapper to add to it and it’s sounding hot! It’s called "On-Screen Lover" and is going to open up his album. We may collaborate on some of my material again later this year. I have regular gigs in London of course and have 2 cruise bookings from Rome to UK in May and the other in June going up to Norway for 2 weeks to the midnight sun. I want to release an EP/album also with an acoustic version of  Swinging On Rainbows and  My Shade Of Blue along with a few other songs I recorded last year with Danny Keane (he plays with the Gorillaz) featuring his piano and cello so a  new sound. I am travelling at the moment; I am writing this in Los Angeles en route to New Zealand and Australia and should be doing a gig or two along the way. I’m hoping to get an agent in place in Australia to enable a tour to be booked for the end of 2012 or early 2013 for the festival season there. So lots of exciting things to look forward to and to be getting on with. You can find out more about Cousin Alice at www.cousinalice.com and buy her songs from Itunes.   If I sat down and really thought about what I could achieve in a single day, I might be able to come up with some interesting challenges that I think might be possible…. but record a whole album? Well that would probably not be one of them, even if I had the requisite talents. But that is exactly what jazz singer Alice Williams did for her first studio release, All In A Day, a mix of classic jazz covers performed in her distinctive style such as Can’t Help Falling In Love, Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You and You Do Something To Me plus a number of her own original songs, including the excellent and personal favourite, Guilt Box, The Weather Song and I Love You. Few of us are unaware of the competitive nature of the music business and with the advent – and media/mass market domination – of marketing vehicles like The X Factor, finding a space for yourself is extremely tough. So making and producing an album, which is an expensive commitment, is a major challenge with limited resources – and it’s a testament to Alice’s natural talent that she was able create an album of such quality in just that one day. What makes Alice so distinctive is her wonderfully smokey voice, a quality that furniture designer William Yeoward found so arresting at a concert she was performing for the National Trust, that he sought her out to appear at a private party he was holding. His recent review of this album in his profile in the FT Weekend Supplement speaks for itself.  I agree about the engaging nature of Alice’s voice, having recently seen her perform at The National Theatre in London, where an appreciative audience were enthralled. I caught up with Alice and asked her about recording All In A Day, her song writing and her future projects. BontheB: Recording a 16 track album in one day must have been a challenge not just for you but the musicians involved; did it take a great deal of planning? Cousin Alice:  While I was on a whizz trip back to the UK to do a corporate gig (I was working the winter in Barbados) Martin Wheatley, who’s a world class guitarist recording with many including Brian Ferry, loves my voice and interpretations so set a day up  to record a demo of maybe 5 songs LIVE. Well we nailed the songs in an hour ... as the musicians locked in together...  we continued...a magic happened and by the end of the day we had recorded 21 songs straight. Martin laid down all of them over dub guitar solos , banjo, and hawaiian  guitar in the last hour ..  I  chose 16 tracks for the album.. All In A Day... but planning. Ha.. No not a lot of planning;  it was very spontaneous. BontheB: The music industry is notoriously tough and difficult to break through in; what can people do to support independent artists like yourself? Cousin Alice: Come to my gigs...!  Live is best.. you'll find my schedule on my website. Also my album and EPs are available to buy online.. (also through Rays Jazz @Foyles Charing Cross Rd) and recommend me to your pals.. word of mouth I believe is best. Do follow me on Facebook and Twitter (@cousinalice).  Anyone in the film or advertising world..  please pick up and include  my songs in your projects...  it's the best form of exposure. Aside from my recordings, I love playing live, so any private  and corporate events help pay the bills. I am looking into getting sponsorship to enable me to tour and embark on other creative recording projects. So sponsors, sponsorship and advice are always welcome. BontheB: The album has some great original songs on it; who would you say are your greatest influences when it comes to song writing? Cousin Alice: Fats Waller, Tom Waits, Peggy Lee, Billie Holliday, Lester Young, Chet Baker, Lord Kitchener... I love the old style swing. and songs from the tradition of story telling... tho I mix up the sounds with other  influences like reggae and old calypso. Today however, I just listened to Lena Lovich.." My lucky Number’s One" and " Home is Where The Heart Is " BontheB: My personal favourite is Guilt Box; what’s the story behind that? Cousin Alice: So you like that one eh!!..Ha.!!  Fats Waller is an influence with that lyric style; he always wrote with humor and naughtiness tho I have recorded a song of his  "Feeling Blue Turning Grey" which is straight ahead heartfelt and available on download on my EP After Hours Sessions. … My song GUILTBOX well  that's a You Done Me Wrong song with attitude.. .. when the sadness moves to anger...and then  humor creeps in ...along with a 2-fingered gesture a broken  heart is on the mend!! BontheB: Your website has some fab videos of new songs that you recorded in Rio recently; how did that come about? Cousin Alice: I have been very well supported by Bel Brito of Sinaapse Communicadoes a Brazilian media/design company. She sponsored my website and it is amazing, she also got a Brazilian music producer Marcel Cotta and Fiscal to do a remix of my song "Swinging On Rainbows" and we made a music video to that arrangement. And then last year I went to Rio again and spent the glorious month of March there encompassing carnival. Marcel Cotta did an arrangement on my song "My Shade Of Blue" - we went up the coast an hour from Rio to  the beautiful town of Buzios for a few days to make the video clip. This track is going to be used as the theme music for MYOPIA an art documentary series that Sinaapse Communicadoes has under production. I am also doing the narration for this. It's a nice exchange and am pleased to be able return  the favour, tho a small token for  their generosity BontheB: You play a banjolele, which has a really distinctive sound; what made you choose that instrument? Cousin Alice: I bought a 10 pound ukelele 13 years ago to  play with  a girl trio.. Three Piece Sweet.  Then a friend, a very good accordion player by the name of Winkie Thin, gave me the beautiful banjo ukelele I now play.. it's an old 1927 American instrument and it marries with my voice beautifully. I have been song writing with it for the last 11 years. I was very novel and had a residency at Cafe De Paris in London 10 years ago…and did a lot of the cabaret clubs and burlesque venues back then (and on the occasion now.) The ukelele is having a renaissance making me very hip! BontheB: What plans do you have for this year? Cousin Alice: I had some collaborations with a DJ called Article P, last year. I wrote a song about internet dating which I put over his drumloops, he took it to New York and got a rapper to add to it and it’s sounding hot! It’s called "On-Screen Lover" and is going to open up his album. We may collaborate on some of my material again later this year. I have regular gigs in London of course and have 2 cruise bookings from Rome to UK in May and the other in June going up to Norway for 2 weeks to the midnight sun. I want to release an EP/album also with an acoustic version of  Swinging On Rainbows and  My Shade Of Blue along with a few other songs I recorded last year with Danny Keane (he plays with the Gorillaz) featuring his piano and cello so a  new sound. I am travelling at the moment; I am writing this in Los Angeles en route to New Zealand and Australia and should be doing a gig or two along the way. I’m hoping to get an agent in place in Australia to enable a tour to be booked for the end of 2012 or early 2013 for the festival season there. So lots of exciting things to look forward to and to be getting on with. You can find out more about Cousin Alice at www.cousinalice.com and buy her songs from Itunes.