In 2010, vocalist Jane Monheit celebrates the tenth anniversary of her career with her upcoming album “Home”, a collection of vocal standards, which will be released on September 21st.
On Saturday, September 4th Monheit will return to the Tanglewood Jazz Festival as a special guest for a live recording of “Radio Deluxe“, a radio program co-hosted by John Pizzarelli and Jessica Molaskey. This is the second consecutive year that Pizzarelli and Molaskey will leave their “deluxe living room high atop Lexington Avenue” to tape their show at Tanglewood.
Monheit recently spoke with BroadwayWorld.com to talk about her career, new album and performing with Pizzarelli.
Editor's Note: Monheit has long been a fave of the site since she blew the roof off of Joe's Pub singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" at BroadwayWorld.com's Standing Ovations IV: From Stage to Screen and Back Again.
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Randy Rice: I have read in interviews that you were exposed to many different musical influences growing up. Who brought those influences to you?
Jane Monheit: I got them from everyone and everywhere. I got jazz from mom and her parents and musical theater from my mom. I got bluegrass / folk music from my dad. I got the music of my own generation from just being a part of it. Everybody brought something.
RR: Your dad is a musician, right?
JM: Everybody in my whole family is a musician. I am the only one who is a professional musician. There have been others who were professional for a while. I am the only one [in my family] who has just done that.
RR: Was there an event in your life or a specific time when you came to realize that you could make a living with your voice?
JM: I don’t think I ever doubted it and maybe that is why I am able to do it now. I never doubted myself and no one else doubted me either so I forged ahead and did it. Other people in my family have tried to do it, but I am the only one who has gotten this far.
RR: You latest album ‘Home’ is your tenth. It is your first album on the Universal label and also the first album on which you are the sole producer. Is there a correlation between changing record labels and being the sole producer on your album?
JM: Yeah, I think so. I am with Emarcy/Universal and they really seem to trust their artists there. Before I signed, I told them the record that I wanted to make and how I wanted to do it and they said “Sounds good to us” and signed.
RR: Do you think that having that flexibility or authority over your own music is something you will always have going forward?
JM: I insist upon it. It is great to work with talented producers, too. But it is work “with” that is the key thing. I, of course, love to have great people around me who bring their ideas. I am just one person. Sometimes, it is a lot of great minds that go into making an album. No, most of the time it is a lot of great minds. This time, however, I knew what I wanted to do and I didn’t need anyone to help me with that [vision]. It was just time for me to do [an album] on my own.
RR: This is also the first complete album you have recorded since becoming a mom. How has being the mother of a two year-old affected your voice and career?
JM: I probably tour a little bit less now. Well…actually, a lot less because it is better for [our son Jack]. I am lucky that I get to tour with [my husband] Rick [Montalbano]. We all go everywhere together. I certainly appreciate my work a lot more. I have always loved my work. My life has two completely different sides now and I love both of them. [Being a mom] has certainly affected my voice. I have more life experience to sing from and I also had some vocal trouble after the birth of our son. A lot of women do. My voice is under a lot more strain now because I am talking and singing to a two year-old all day long. The act of singing is more of a challenge, but, if anything, I love my work even more. It has more purpose, much more purpose. It isn’t just about me anymore. It is also about my child.
RR: On your upcoming album almost all of the songs are from the loosely defined Great American Songbook, right?
JM: All except “It’s Only Smoke”.
RR: I know you had your own, clear, vision for this album. Do you have a mental “bucket” list of songs you want to record? If so, how do you pare down that list into a dozen or so tracks on an album?
JM: I always have a list of songs in my head that I want to record, but usually they are not standards. They are songs from other genres. With standards, if there is a song I want to record, I just go ahead an record it right away. Generally, when it comes time to make a record if there are songs that I have been thinking about, that we have been playing live; those are the ones that we record. It is really pretty simple. The songs tend to find me. If I have to go out searching for songs to record I will end of with stuff that is not really great for that moment in time. It has to be a natural thing. The songs have to be with me for a reason. I am not writing the songs, so there has to be a connection; a point for me to sing the song.
RR: Can we talk about a specific track on “Home“?
JM: Sure.
RR: On
Jerome Kern and
B.G. DeSylva‘s “Look For The Silver Lining”, this is maybe the first time I have heard an arrangement that matches the lyrics. I have always heard it as a very melancholy song with happy and hopeful lyrics. Your recording turns the song on its head and makes it a upbeat song with happy and hopeful lyrics. How did you chose the song and come to record that arrangement?
JM: It has always been a favorite song of my husband and me. Rick was the person who suggested we start playing it. The version that he and I had connected to was the Chet Baker recording. The track we recorded is reminiscent of Baker’s. I have always thought of the song as warm-hearted and hopeful. This version is lighter, but this album on the whole is lighter than any of my other ones. Neal Miner, who plays bass for me, did the chart. [On this album], rather than assigning songs to the guys to arrange, I gave them a list of songs and let them chose among themselves which they wanted to do. Neil chose the song immediately and totally understood what I wanted for this record; I wanted a classic vocal album. This track, “There’s a Small Hotel” and “This Is Always” are at the moment, my favorite songs to sing live. The arrangements are perfect and capture the exact mood I want.
RR: When you return to the Tanglewood Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend you are going to be singing with
John Pizzarelli. I saw you and John play together a few years ago. Tell me what is like for you to play with John.
JM: Number one, he is a brilliant musician. Everyone knows that about him. Both on and off stage, he is just about the funniest person. Watching him perform is always an learning experience for me. Nobody has the audience in the palm of their hand sooner in the show than
John Pizzarelli. He has just got a gift. When he came into the studio to record “Tonight You Belong To Me” for this album we did it in two takes. The second take we did just because we felt like it. John and I have performed on a lot of double bills. I have opened for him a lot and people really seemed to like it when we did “Legends Of Jazz” together. I just love singing with him.
RR: Besides “Tonight You Belong To Me”, what should the audience expect from your set with John at Tanglewood?
JM: I have no idea. We are jazz musicians. We will probably talk about it the day before. It will be off the cuff, because that is the way we do it. If I had to guess, I would say that we will do “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”. We did it for “Legends Of Jazz” and have sung it live together before.
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Jane Monheit will perform as a special guest during a taping of ‘Radio Deluxe’ on September 4th at the 2010 Tanglewood Jazz Festival. Her 10th album ‘Home’ will be released by Emarcy/Universal on September 21st. For more information on the Tanglewood Jazz Festival visit www.bso.org. For more information on Jane Monheit visit www.janemonheitonline.com.
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