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Interview with Stevie Holland |
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by Rick Holland
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Stevie Holland has mesmerized audiences and critics in the cabaret and theater worlds with her dynamic performances and beautiful voice. Her repertoire, phrasing and innate sense of swing have also earned her respect in the jazz world.
Stevie Holland has mesmerized audiences and critics in the cabaret and theater worlds with her dynamic performances and beautiful voice. Her repertoire, phrasing and innate sense of swing have also earned her respect in the jazz world. Jazz Review has dubbed Stevie a "rising star", Jazz Improv Magazine has simply declared that her "natural voice transcends categorization" and All About Jazz has praised her new album More Than Words Can Say as "a musical performance of the highest caliber".
Arranged and orchestrated by award winning composer Gary William Friedman, More Than Words Can Say explores classic jazz standards, songs from the 50's and 70's and some original material with exciting, innovative and haunting approaches. Stevie is backed by a string orchestra on several selections and by some of today's hottest jazz musicians led by pianists Martin Bejerano and Kris Davis.
Her previous release Restless Willow charted at radio stations across the country and was voted by listeners as one of the top 10 CDs of 2004 at KSDS FM, San Diego, CA. Other honors included being voted a Top 10 Vocal CD of 2004 by the Cape Fear Jazz Appreciation Society in NC. On Restless Willow, Stevie recorded classic standards as well as less-performed songs like Dave Frishberg's "Zoot Walks In" (featuring a vocal/sax duet with David "Fathead" Newman). Her original songs on the CD include "One Touch", a duet with singer Rubén Flores and "Jeg Elsker Dig", a haunting Norwegian love ballad which made such an impact on the Norwegian community, Stevie was invited to sing it for the King and Queen of Norway.
The youngest of seven children, Stevie grew up in a music-filled, Norwegian-Italian household in Westchester County, New York. She studied music and theater at New York University and went on to develop a solo career in New York City's cabaret circuit, performing in concert halls and rooms around the country.
Do You Ever Dream, an inspirational pop CD was Stevie's recording debut as a singer/lyricist. A personal collection of songs dealing with faith and hope, Do You Ever Dream was embraced by audiences as a non-religious, spiritual journey. This Is America, a CD single produced in response to the tragedy of September 11th followed. A soaring pop anthem, This Is America served as a fundraiser for the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund. In 2002, Stevie turned to the American standard songbook, performing her critically-acclaimed show entitled Almost Like Being In Love, which set the material for a new CD of the same name and earned Stevie the BACK STAGE Bistro Award for Outstanding Vocalist of the Year.
Her steady arranger and songwriting partner for the past several years has been composer Gary William Friedman. Among their recent songwriting projects, Stevie can be heard singing a new theme song for Joey Reynolds, the popular Rock n' Roll Hall-of-Famer/ Radio talk show host, which is played nightly on his national program.  although strings are not indigenous jazz instruments, there’s something so beautiful to me about creating that lush sound, and then completely pulling it back to let a musician take an unexpected solo somewhere in the middle. 
She recently celebrated the release of More Than Words Can Say at the Iridium Jazz Club in NYC.
Rick Holland, JR247: Stevie, thanks for joining us at JR247. Just to make this clear to our listeners and readers, we’re not related, and this is my first formal introduction to such a fine artist. I’d like to start by asking you about your educational background. The reason is, there is an excellent sense of control and clarity to your voice. It’s simply beautiful. can you tell us some of the important people who helped shape your vocal instrument?
Stevie Holland: Thanks so much for the kind words Rick…I’m sure we’re related through music. My vocal instrument was initially shaped by my genes. My mom had a glorious operatic soprano voice. She put aside a major career to raise seven kids, but was a professional soloist in church choirs and performed in regional operas. I was fortunate to inherit some of her tone and range. I started to study with private vocal coaches in my teens, focusing more on classical technique. I also had a wide range of vocal studies as a drama major at NYU. I mastered my personal technique later with Elizabeth Howell, a great voice teacher who is no longer with us. Control and clarity are big parts of it, but making sure that all sound has meaning is the key.
RH: When doing some reading about you, I noticed you have done quite a bit of work in the cabarets in NYC, how do you believe this has shaped and molded your singing style?
SH: Working in a cabaret environment helped me to develop a personal, intimate relationship with an audience and to really focus on the interpretation of a lyric. My desire has always been to combine an honest lyric interpretation with innovative musicianship.
RH: Have you always been a Jazz fan? Or, was this a music you discovered later in life? The reason I ask, is you swing so naturally, as if this was an original first love?
SH: I was a very well informed jazz kid. My dad was quite older – he was from the time of the golden band era and swing street. He was a sax man who played in bands (had one in Alaska during WWII) and had a record collection of 78s and LPs that could fill a library. He eventually became a commercial artist and put his horn down, but he played great recordings non-stop – and made sure, in kind of a manic way, that his whole family listened, too! As a first or second-grader, I was singing along with Ella Fitzgerald and Carmen McRae and also knew I had to put a lid on it when Charlie Parker was playing or Ben Webster was taking a solo. Sometimes I resented my dad’s manic way of force feeding us jazz (as I also was pretty into pop and rock – who wasn’t as a kid in the 70’s & 80’s), but as I got a little older I appreciated the influence immensely – it was an unconscious education…
RH: Was your original goal to sweep the Jazz crowd off its feet?
SH: My artistic goal has always been to sing, to write a little, (maybe make a living at it) to entertain and touch people through music. I’ve meandered through many musical styles, but am most fulfilled when working with great jazz musicians who I can join in an exciting journey through song. I hope all music appreciators dig it, and if the jazz crowd appreciates what I do, that thrills me no end…
RH: Talk to us about More Than Words Can Say, it was so beautifully produced. How was it you came to work with Gary William Friedman? His arrangements are lovely on this disc.
SH: More Than Words Can Say was a labor of great love and a meaningful project for us. There are some new songs we’ve written here, including one for my dad, who passed away several months ago. I was also lucky to be able to pull in some really hot players out there today – and although strings are not indigenous jazz instruments, there’s something so beautiful to me about creating that lush sound, and then completely pulling it back to let a musician take an unexpected solo somewhere in the middle. We only used strings on half the songs, to keep a varied and fresh sound to the album.
Gary William Friedman is a brilliant arranger and composer. Early on he was a sax man with Burton Greene and the Free Form Jazz Ensemble and then gained recognition as a composer with his hit show THE ME NOBODY KNOWS. He and I were introduced as possible writing collaborators several years ago through mutual friends. We forged a great working relationship. However, the last thing I was looking for was a personal collaboration! - yet it happened, and we got married. We have a few years between us, but he’s a child and I’m an old soul, so it balances out. It was also really good for us to establish the professional relationship first, so the respect was solidly earned on both sides.
RH: Stevie, what are some things you do, to practice and prepare for sessions and concerts?
SH: Sleep and vocalize, vocalize and sleep. Eat a nutritious diet and go light on the martinis…For a session, I spend a lot of time immersing myself in each song after we’ve charted out the arrangement, creating sketches of various approaches. Then I basically throw those approaches out and go for something new in the session. For a concert, I tend to work with the blueprint of what I’ve recorded and then try to take it to another level, which includes how to physically perform the song for an audience. Most importantly, I relax. I love performing, but still get nervous now and then before a big engagement, so relaxation is key.
RH: I’d like to change the subject slightly; I noticed you were active in the post 911 by contributing a pop anthem entitled, This Is America, as it served as a fundraiser for the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund. Can you elaborate on this project for us?
SH: This was actually a song that Gary and I wrote a year or so earlier for Alveda King, Martin Luther King’s niece. The organization King for America was looking for an anthem for a movement they were starting called “One America”. The song was going to be used for the movement, whose goal was to banish exclusive titles like “African-American”, “Italian-American”, “Native-American”, etc. from our psyches, and just have every citizen be referred to as “American”. However, the movement never fully found its footing and the song remained homeless. After 9/11, like so many artists(and citizens), we were desperate to help in some way, and offering inspiration through music seemed to be our logical path...There was a lot of anger out there, and “This Is America” was a song about unity – so it was a natural choice for us to record. There were an overwhelming amount of organizations to donate proceeds to and we ended up choosing a scholarship fund for victim’s family members. Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Bob Dole were the co-chairs.
RH: Community seems like an important aspect of your life?
SH: Not that I don’t love my quiet time alone with nature, but yes…I was always very involved with community since I was a kid, running youth groups, committees, outreach projects, etc. I think community is important to most performing artists because of our basic need to connect.
RH: What are some of your goals for the upcoming year? Any new recording projects you’re beginning to conceive?
SH: We just released More Than Words Can Say, so I’ll be working on getting that out there for a while. As far as upcoming recording projects go, I’d love to do a hard swing album with brass and I have one or two concept albums that are brewing in my brain…
RH: What are some things outside music that are important to you, that help to contribute to your wholeness as a human and mature musician?
SH: Certainly absorbing other expressions of art – theater, film, visual art, comedy (please make me laugh!)…But most importantly, real life…navigating the daily waters of crazy family and friends, trying to be a good friend. Loving animals, too! I had 2 kitties for many years that passed on and I miss them dearly now – I was allergic, and being a singer it was kind of stupid for me to have them. But I love animals, am insane about them. Creating loving relationships, knowing what’s going on in the world - and caring about it, that’s what makes me whole.
RH: I’m asking all interviewees, how do you see the State of Jazz currently? What are some things you believe the Jazz community must do to preserve this artistic idiom?
SH: I wish there were a State of Jazz, I’d move there!☺… It seems that most of the corporate bucks for jazz today go in into very commercial, similar and pre-packaged sounding projects and that many of the unique, creative voices out there are simply not getting a shot…As a vocalist, I think it’s a little scary that someone like Kurt Elling (with a label like Blue Note) isn’t a superstar…
I also think that many jazz traditionalists have to embrace the fact that today’s artists have been informed by so many decades of other music genres, so there’s a natural evolution that has occurred that is responsible for defining jazz now.
However, back to what must be done - outside of creating a major network TV station, lots of major market radio stations and tons of affordable rooms for musicians to play in, I think the most important things the jazz community can do to preserve this artistic idiom are to passionately educate the young (force-feeding worked for me!) and make a real effort to give the unique voices out there some visibility.
RH: Stevie, thanks for spending time with us and our listeners.
For more information about Stevie and her music, please visit: StevieHolland.com |
Rick Holland |
| About the author: |
| A versatile musician and veteran performer in organizations such as the Louie Bellson Big Band (Chicago Based Band), Jimmy Dorsey, Mike Pendowski, Rob Parton , Buddy De Franco, Buselli-Wallrab and Terry Gibbs Bands, Rick Holland brings a wealth of experience and musicality to each performance. |
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