Latest news with #HollyCole
Montreal Gazette
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Montreal Gazette
Brownstein: Serial jazz fest performer Holly Cole returns to make magic and melt hearts
Music By If one were to be entirely selfish, it would be simply sublime to catch Holly Cole in a minimalist setting, like some dimly lit piano bar, to perform cuts from her recently released 13th album, Dark Moon, an alluring trip down memory lane, in which she covers an array of unexpected tunes rarely covered these days. Among the album's 11 tracks are Comin' Back to Me, made famous by Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin in 1967; Walk Away Renée, released by the Left Banke in 1966; Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer's 1961 classic Moon River, immortalized by Andy Williams among many others; and the title track Dark Moon, recorded by Bonnie Guitar in 1957. Cole, as she is wont to do, brings a soothing, sultry sound to these tunes, regardless of the setting. A sweet kind of sadness, if you will. And no doubt that Cole will be able to work her magic once again when she plays the Montreal International Jazz Festival, July 2 at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe. An expected sell-out crowd of the venue's nearly 800-seat capacity at this Place des Arts venue would certainly provide more revenue relief for a performer than would an audience in the dozens at a piano bar, no matter how intimate the setting. 'The show will be pared down a little. For instance, there will be no drums, and if you're going to pick something to remove from your band that's going to make the most significant difference in terms of it being an intimate show, that's the drums,' Cole says in a phone interview from her Toronto home. Cole may have also set a record of sorts for including three different 'moon' tunes on one album. The third is No Moon at All, a 1947 jazz standard first recorded by Doris Day and more recently by Seth MacFarlane – yes, the very same Family Guy-creator dude in his lesser-known but astonishing Sinatra-like crooner mode. Cole's obsession with the moon is hardly an accident. 'The moon is my muse,' Cole says. 'It has been since I was a child. I've always been fascinated. I was about 3 or 4 in Halifax where I grew up and I first saw it at night. I had woken up in the middle of the night with this horrible croup cough. My mom crushed up some aspirin in canned peaches so I would eat it. And then my dad wrapped me up in a bunch of blankets and took me outside on his shoulders. That was the first time I saw the moon. I was mesmerized. How was it possible everything could be so dark, except the moon? It blew my mind! When I came home from that, I thought I had the best secret ever.' And as so befits a jazz crooner, she was to become a full-fledged night person. 'The howling at the moon only came later,' Cole jokes. She won't be backed up by her usual trio here, but by another group of musicians she has played with 'continually' over the years. 'They're my dream team. They know I'm a minimalist, that I really respect space around the words for people to be able to absorb their meaning. So I decided to do some songs that I've wanted to do for a very long time.' Cole has long had a penchant for 're-shaping' standards from all musical genres in her own inimitable style. 'But the funny thing about the moon songs I do don't actually talk about the moon in typical fashion. For instance, in No Moon at All, she wants the moon to go away so they can have sex in the dark,' she quips. 'The point is that I love a subtext and I love sad songs … they exorcise my demons. But I'm really not morose … I like to explore my emotions, and some of them happen to be darker.' But where does she go from here? Here Comes the Sun? 'That's an interesting idea. It's already percolating. I actually adored that song.' It's always a homecoming of sorts when Cole returns to the jazz fest. By her own count, she has done the festival 'at least 15 times.' 'Montreal is my favourite city. I mean it. I say that every time I go.' She also proved it in titling her 2021-released album, Montreal. In helping to celebrate the fest's 40th anniversary in 2019, she reunited with the original Holly Cole Trio to perform a series of shows at the Lion d'Or, which were recorded and then emerged as said disc two years later. The feeling is obviously mutual. Among the multiple honours she has earned — including Juno Awards for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for Don't Smoke in Bed and Best Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for Shade — another she really cherishes is the Ella Fitzgerald Award presented to her by the jazz fest in 2013. Cole's history with the festival also has a fairy-tale-like beginning, going back 42 years ago when the event was in its infancy. 'This will date me, but when I was 19, I sent Alain Simard and André Menard (the fest's co-founders) a cassette. I didn't even have a band then. They responded, saying: 'Great. Come sing.' So I did and performed at an outdoor site on the corner of Rue Ontario and St-Laurent. That was my first big gig. 'Big thanks to those guys for listening to a random cassette and saying yes. They didn't know me. What are the odds of that ever happening these days?' Not even Vegas would give those odds.
Ottawa Citizen
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
Brownstein: Serial jazz fest performer Holly Cole returns to make magic and melt hearts
Article content If one were to be entirely selfish, it would be simply sublime to catch Holly Cole in a minimalist setting, like some dimly lit piano bar, to perform cuts from her recently released 13th album, Dark Moon, an alluring trip down memory lane, in which she covers an array of unexpected tunes rarely covered these days. Article content Among the album's 11 tracks are Comin' Back to Me, made famous by Jefferson Airplane's Marty Balin in 1967; Walk Away Renée, released by the Left Banke in 1966; Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer's 1961 classic Moon River, immortalized by Andy Williams among many others; and the title track Dark Moon, recorded by Bonnie Guitar in 1957. Article content Article content Cole, as she is wont to do, brings a soothing, sultry sound to these tunes, regardless of the setting. A sweet kind of sadness, if you will. Article content Article content And no doubt that Cole will be able to work her magic once again when she plays the Montreal International Jazz Festival, July 2 at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe. An expected sell-out crowd of the venue's nearly 800-seat capacity at this Place des Arts venue would certainly provide more revenue relief for a performer than would an audience in the dozens at a piano bar, no matter how intimate the setting. Article content 'The show will be pared down a little. For instance, there will be no drums, and if you're going to pick something to remove from your band that's going to make the most significant difference in terms of it being an intimate show, that's the drums,' Cole says in a phone interview from her Toronto home. Article content Cole may have also set a record of sorts for including three different 'moon' tunes on one album. The third is No Moon at All, a 1947 jazz standard first recorded by Doris Day and more recently by Seth MacFarlane – yes, the very same Family Guy-creator dude in his lesser-known but astonishing Sinatra-like crooner mode. Article content Article content Cole's obsession with the moon is hardly an accident. Article content 'The moon is my muse,' Cole says. 'It has been since I was a child. I've always been fascinated. I was about 3 or 4 in Halifax where I grew up and I first saw it at night. I had woken up in the middle of the night with this horrible croup cough. My mom crushed up some aspirin in canned peaches so I would eat it. And then my dad wrapped me up in a bunch of blankets and took me outside on his shoulders. That was the first time I saw the moon. I was mesmerized. How was it possible everything could be so dark, except the moon? It blew my mind! When I came home from that, I thought I had the best secret ever.' Article content 'The howling at the moon only came later,' Cole jokes.
