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See Carol Welsman in action once and you'll never forget her. Tall and blonde, she sits poised at the piano, head back, fingers stretched over the keys, her slender body arched in a seductive curve. Then the music flows, a combination of voice and piano that seems symbiotically linked. Like bossa nova icon Joao Gilberto and his guitar, Carol’s honey and whiskey sound and her crisp, rhythmically articulate piano lines seem an integral part of each other. At a time when female jazz singers have been arriving in waves, she is that rarity – an authentic vocal/instrumental artist who brings an irresistible blend of musicality and lyrical insight to everything she touches.
Carol’s focus upon the essential elements of her art is not surprising. Coming from a musical family (her grandfather was the founder and first conductor of the Toronto Symphony), she has studied in the U.S. (at Berklee College of Music) and Europe, and released seven albums since her first CD, Lucky To Be Me, in 1995. Her numerous achievements include the receipt of four Juno (Canadian Grammy) Award nominations, and several Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards.
She has become well-established as an international artist, touring the world, and performing in Italian, French, Portuguese and English.
In this new collection of songs, Carol pays tribute to Peggy Lee – a singer she has always admired – even though, at first glance, the connection between the two appears slim. True, they are both blondes, and they both have jazz in their souls. But the physical differences are obvious, and Lee’s stand-up, big band singer-based style was dramatically different from Carol’s identity as an intimate, vocalist/instrumentalist. A connection, nonetheless, was established early.
Lee was the favorite singer of Carol’s musician father. "He took me to see her," she recalls, "when I was 12, when she was performing in Toronto. And one of the first things I ever heard of hers was her Beauty and the Beat album with George Shearing, because my father loved Shearing. He liked Peggy’s no nonsense, unaffected kind of singing, the subtlety of what she did. And he drew a lot of comparisons with me when I was starting out, because I never had the big vibrato, always had a cooler sound, and he thought that she was the best person to follow."
Her father’s instincts were right on target musically, which is where the real connection lies between Carol and Lee. Though there are plenty of differences in style, manner, and even intent, the quest toward originality, toward finding the heart of a song – while avoiding the easy temptations toward superficiality that attract too many singers – is the one essential quality that links the way each approaches her music.
All of which virtually guarantees that this collection of Peggy Lee-associated songs – although performed with affection for the original versions – reflects Carol’s creative view, her own unique interpretations of some very familiar material. Several of the tunes include Lee’s lyrics. Some – Why Don’t You Do Right, Fever, Lover – are classic hits from the lexicon of American pop songs. But the most fascinating aspect of this compelling collection is the way each is treated as a new musical experience by Carol, as an adventure in creative imagining.
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