Karrin Allyson

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Karrin Allyson, is, for those of you who are not familiar a 11 time Grammy winning Jazz singer, who sings not only in English but in French and Portuguese as well, with a special soft spot for Brazilian music.
Her lastest release Imagina: Songs of Brazil has songs sung in Portuguese as well as Brazilian songs translated into English ans some written specifically for Karrin.

In an interview to Jeffrey Siegel Author of Straight No Chaser recently when asked about her up coming Master Class She’ll Be teaching in Easthampton she said

I was asked while I was at the Litchfield Jazz Festival, where I taught for a week, and since I just bought a place up here, I thought I’d enjoy it. Not that I want to teach full time or anything, but teaching really forces you to think more inwardly about music making.

I think we’ll be concentrating on a lot of rhythm. The first master class I had with Dizzy Gillespie I don’t think he picked up his horn the entire time. He just played a rhythm instrument from Africa. Rhythm is everything. I listened to a great classical concert this past weekend, - Ravel, Beethoven, Brahms - and let me tell you, rhythm is everything there too (Laughs).

Teaching younger singers about phrasing is important. They need to learn that in improvising with a band, the key is to jump in the big, deep lake. Try not to feel too self-conscious about the sounds you make. Avoid the clich?d phrase unless it works with you. I tell singers that they don’t have to scat, they have to work on their phrasing. Listen to the instrumentalists a lot. Listen to the sound a trumpet makes and try to bring that to your sound.

It’s the choice of material, the way of presenting it, the life you’ve led and what you bring to it that matters.. Billie Holiday never scatted, but she may be our greatest jazz singer. Which doesn’t mean you shouldn’t scat. I rarely do, and I try to avoid clich?d sounds.. (Sings) “Shoo-Be-Doo”. But that’s me. Now, Carmen McRae could do that really well. Carmen McRae could take “sheep dip” and turn it into a great phrase..

To read the interview in full go here.

Karrin Allyson and her Quartet perform Friday August 22 at the Iron Horse Music Hall at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $17 in advance and $20 at the door and are available at www.nbotickets.com. Her Master Class at the PACE Theater in Easthampton will be held Sunday August 24 from 4 to 8 pm. Registrants pay a $60 fee. Contact Carol Smith to register for the class: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 413 529-2604. Master Class will be open to the public for a fee of $15 at the door.