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Wicked jazz twists from Holly Cole
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Cover art of Cole's "The Best of Holly Cole."
She may be an unknown to many, but Canadian jazz/pop singer Holly Cole made the cut for this week’s pick with “The Best of Holly Cole” thanks to her intriguing vocal art form and stunning smoky, silky voice.
While Cole has little — if any — Latin musical influences in her brew, she easily crosses cultural boundaries while taking anyone willing to hear her on a deeply personal and sometimes dark trip.
Cole’s best-of set — released in 2000 — brings together 13 of some of the Toronto-based artist’s best interpretations with her trio, featuring bassist David Pitch and noted pianist Aaron Davis.
Influenced by Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Anita O’ Day, the 46-year-old chanteuse offers refreshing takes on old familiar jazz and pop standards, including a soaring version of Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now,” Elvis Costello’s “Alison” and The Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen a Face.”
It also boasts songs by Lyle Lovett, “God Will,” Tom Waits, “I Want You,” and Richard Sherman, “Trust In Me.”
Throughout, Cole is joined by Davis on piano and Pitch on bass on most of the tracks, with guest drummers, guitarists and cellists coloring the other jazzy tunes, which also contain pop, blues, country and Celtic elements.
Despite being considered a jazz singer, Cole’s music is difficult to classify. The reason behind it is because only a handful of modern singers today take famous tunes and cast them in a new light successfully with humor and grace.
And this is one of Cole’s greatest vocal gifts. She has a firm grip on time and phrasing, and a playful manner of reaching an audience.
In a unique way, she’s able to turn a standard inside out, pouring on a dash of sensuality and sly wit while often laughing at her self in the process.
And this is what makes her renditions appealing, and truly her own.
“I look at the essence of a song,” muses Cole on her Web site.
“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 a darker tune. That’s a huge part of my art form and that’s a huge part of what I do.”
Cole was born into a musical family in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1963. Since a very young age, she was flooded with a wide range of musical styles. Both her parents are classical musicians, and she studied piano for a time. While in school, rock and pop dominated the scene as Celtic and country music flourished in her community.
But after discovering Vaughan at 16, she switched to jazz. After moving to Toronto in the early ‘80s, she began singing with a big band and in 1985 she formed her trio.
Among her popularly acclaimed albums are “Blame It On My Youth,” “Temptation,” “It Happened One Night” and “Don’t Smoke In Bed.”
Currently, Cole is a well-known jazz singer in her homeland, Asia and Europe.
As far as in this part of the world (the Caribbean), Cole’s low-key jazz vocal work has bounced off against the crushing wave of multi-layered Afro-Caribbean sounds.
But those curious enough to go beyond the mainstream flow, and listen to her stuff, will stumble into a jewel in a sea of contemporary sonic clutter.
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