Sat., September 19, 2009 @ 8:00 p.m. On Sale June 16, 2009 1-800-265-0710 or 519-758-8090 Tickets $42.00 Reserved Seating Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts 88 Dalhousie Street Brantford, On |
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Holly Cole
There is an intelligence and sophistication to Holly Cole’s singing that sets her
apart. She can imbue well-worn standards and eclectic songs with an uncanny
combination of sensuality, innocence, originality and sheer musicality. Cole
takes tunes everybody thinks they know and discovers new undercurrents in the
venerable anthems of contemporary composers, wrapping her honesty,
compassion and sardonic wit around their sometimes-fragile creations. The
results are sexy, provocative, spellbinding, sometimes dangerous-and never,
ever dull. “I look at the essence of a song,” muses Holly Cole. “If it’s a great lyric
I often love to slow it down, explore it, dissect it and deconstruct it. I love to take
it apart and then put it back together and look at it in an entirely different way. In
the process, it often becomes more evocative. That’s a huge part of my art form,
that’s a huge part of what I do.”
Holly Cole has been staking her own substantive claim to this repertoire for most
of the past twelve years. Beginning with her self-produced Christmas Blues EP in
November 1989, Cole has charted a career that has included seven albums, six
of them gold and platinum, a couple of anthologies, the aforementioned EP, a
gold album in Japan for her 1993 album “Blame It On My Youth”, several
television specials and some of the finest and most engaging vocal work in the
world of contemporary pop. Her last release was 2004’s “The Holly Cole
Collections, Vol. 1” CD which is a career retrospective featuring a collection of
her audiences favourite songs. It was met with great success.
Born and raised in the Maritimes, Cole grew up surrounded by music; her
parents are classical players, her brother is a composer and jazz artist, her
uncle sang and acted on Broadway and her grandfather played C & W accordion.
In her youth she listened to everything from Broadway Musicals, Country and
Western and Classical to sixties rock and the pop of her generation. In her mid-
teens she discovered Nina Simone, Sonny Rollins and Betty Carter and for a
long time listened exclusively to jazz. “Jazz is a big influence on my sound but
ultimately it’s a fusion of many styles”.
Ms Coles latest project, her self titled 8th recording was released last February
in Canada. The recording is co-produced by Greg Cohen (who has also
produced her second full length recording “Blame It On My Youth”) and includes
a collection of standards like “Charade”, “Reaching For The Moon”, “I Will Wait
For You” and her first self composed song entitled “Larger Than Life”. The
recording was arranged by Gil Goldstein and was recorded almost entirely in
New York City last year using a nonet of New Yorks finest musicians.
apart. She can imbue well-worn standards and eclectic songs with an uncanny
combination of sensuality, innocence, originality and sheer musicality. Cole
takes tunes everybody thinks they know and discovers new undercurrents in the
venerable anthems of contemporary composers, wrapping her honesty,
compassion and sardonic wit around their sometimes-fragile creations. The
results are sexy, provocative, spellbinding, sometimes dangerous-and never,
ever dull. “I look at the essence of a song,” muses Holly Cole. “If it’s a great lyric
I often love to slow it down, explore it, dissect it and deconstruct it. I love to take
it apart and then put it back together and look at it in an entirely different way. In
the process, it often becomes more evocative. That’s a huge part of my art form,
that’s a huge part of what I do.”
Holly Cole has been staking her own substantive claim to this repertoire for most
of the past twelve years. Beginning with her self-produced Christmas Blues EP in
November 1989, Cole has charted a career that has included seven albums, six
of them gold and platinum, a couple of anthologies, the aforementioned EP, a
gold album in Japan for her 1993 album “Blame It On My Youth”, several
television specials and some of the finest and most engaging vocal work in the
world of contemporary pop. Her last release was 2004’s “The Holly Cole
Collections, Vol. 1” CD which is a career retrospective featuring a collection of
her audiences favourite songs. It was met with great success.
Born and raised in the Maritimes, Cole grew up surrounded by music; her
parents are classical players, her brother is a composer and jazz artist, her
uncle sang and acted on Broadway and her grandfather played C & W accordion.
In her youth she listened to everything from Broadway Musicals, Country and
Western and Classical to sixties rock and the pop of her generation. In her mid-
teens she discovered Nina Simone, Sonny Rollins and Betty Carter and for a
long time listened exclusively to jazz. “Jazz is a big influence on my sound but
ultimately it’s a fusion of many styles”.
Ms Coles latest project, her self titled 8th recording was released last February
in Canada. The recording is co-produced by Greg Cohen (who has also
produced her second full length recording “Blame It On My Youth”) and includes
a collection of standards like “Charade”, “Reaching For The Moon”, “I Will Wait
For You” and her first self composed song entitled “Larger Than Life”. The
recording was arranged by Gil Goldstein and was recorded almost entirely in
New York City last year using a nonet of New Yorks finest musicians.