Feb 28, 2008

Cole creates lustrous jazz gems

By Paul Freeman / Entertainment Writer

If there were any justice in the music world, Holly Cole would be at least as well-known as her Canadian countrywoman Diana Krall. Cole's new self-titled album (Koch Records), her seventh U.S. release, demonstrates supremely enthralling vocal gifts.

She puts her own indelible, sensuous stamp on such classics as "Be Careful, It's My Heart," "Alleycat," "I Will Wait for You" and "Charade." The theme of denial provides an intriguing undercurrent through the album.

"I always want there to be a throughline and a focus," Cole said. "For this record, I sat down and wrote a list of subjects I wanted to sing about - hope, loss, surprise. But the one I decided upon was denial ... or self-deception."

Cole set about finding songs and writing songs with that concept in mind. Denial appealed to her greatly as a subtext.

"The subtext is often how I'm able to reinvent a familiar song," Cole said. "It's a suggestion, rather than a statement. We all take it to the place that's most emotional for us. That, to me, is where the power lies - within subtext."

The Toronto-based chanteuse says denial has a universality. "It doesn't matter what culture you come from, what language you speak, what environment you grew up in. (Denial is) a natural human thing. Sometimes it's necessary. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes self-deception isn't a good idea. But sometimes it is."

The song's text may deliver the writer's viewpoint, but the subtext allows Cole more creative expression. "I tend to naturally make songs about things that are interesting to me, that might not necessarily be what the writer intended.

"Once songs are written, they're out there in the world. They're works of art that are there to be interpreted. It means something different to every person who hears it. Everyone's interpretation is equally as valid as the person who wrote or the person who sang it."

Cole's own composition, "Larger Than Life," fits in seamlessly with the works of Irving Berlin and Henry Mancini. After hearing this one, people have asked Cole why she didn't include originals on previous albums.

"It's a very simple answer," she said. "When you're bookended by Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin, you'd better write really good songs. ('Larger Than Life') is the song that I was happiest with, happy enough to put it alongside those other writers."

Whatever Cole sings, she has to feel profoundly about it. "There were a number of equally beautiful songs that could have been in (the album), but just weren't for me. I hear someone else sing them and go, 'That's incredible and moving and it's perfect for that singer ... but not perfect for this singer," she said, with a little laugh.

"I would be the worst jingle singer in the world, because it's very difficult for me to get behind mayonnaise or something in a really passionate way. Some people have that craft, where they can sound like they're loving it, when they don't really care about it. I don't happen to have that quality. I have to have really strong convictions about the songs that I sing."

Music is in her blood. Cole's parents are classical musicians. Her brother is a composer, her uncle performed on Broadway, and her grandfather played accordion with country music legend Hank Snow.

At 15, unbeknownst to her parents, Cole hitchhiked from New Brunswick to Boston, to visit her brother, who was studying jazz piano at Berklee School of Music. That's when jazz mesmerized her. She had found her life's path.

"When I heard the incredible music there, I was floored," she said. "At 15, I knew clearly exactly what I wanted to do. I saw the young people who were so committed to music. In the world, I see many people who never in their lives figure out what they're really passionate about, what they really want to do. But I was lucky enough to figure it out really young. It was my mandate, a complete focus for me."

The orchestrations on the album are superb, but in club settings like her upcoming Yoshi's date, Cole can sound equally effective with pared-down instrumentation.

"It's back to my roots - upright bass, acoustic piano and reeds," she said. "You have a bigger dynamic range in some ways, because you can get so quiet. You hear the warmth and subtleties of the instruments. Some people say the flaws are the things they love the most - the ache of the wood in the bass, the rattle of the strings in the piano, the really reedy sound of the bass clarinet or saxophone or flute and the crackle in the human voice. I love to hear these nuances exposed like that."