Jane Irving is loved by Australian audiences for her impressive vocal range, ability to swing and phrasing that embodies a rare understanding of, and feel for, the dynamics of jazz and blues. Irving has recorded two critically acclaimed albums, Better Than Anything and Beams, and recently recorded with Sydney band, The Swinging Blades. She visited New York in 2003, where she studied with Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton, and has now decided to make a permanent move to the world's jazz capital.
Suite101 caught up with Jane Irving to talk about life as a jazz musician, her thoughts on good music and her imminent change of continent.
Suite101: How did you get into singing?
Jane Irving: I grew up studying classical piano and sang a bit in school choirs and Eisteddfods. I’d been listening to lots of jazz throughout school, so I was getting a bit of a feel for it. When I left school, I started doing solo piano gigs and would just sing whatever I knew - pop, jazz and blues tunes. Later on, I took a vocal workshop at the Conservatorium in Sydney and met a guitar player who asked me to do a gig with his trio – my first singing gig. No piano in front of me, just a mic and an audience; it was quite liberating. I loved it. It was then that the voice became my first instrument.
Suite101: Who and or what are some of your major influences?
Jane Irving: I’ve had so many influences; I’ll keep this one brief. I love a lot of singer/pianists. I guess I feel an association there. I always loved Shirley Horn and Blossom Dearie; Patti Wicks, Dena DeRose –both from New York. Then there’s Mark Murphy, who has been a huge influence in my life. I have so many of his albums. To me, he is someone who can take a tune and make it completely his own. I admire that. I also love Kitty Margolis, Nancy King, Andy Bey, Gregory Porter, Bob Dorough, Jay Clayton and Rebecca Parris. Oh and I LOVE Betty Carter –man, I would love to have hung out with her -all those wild ideas.
Suite101: Name five CDs or bands or musicians you've been listening to lately.
Jane Irving: Joe ‘Be Bop’ Lane’s The Magnificent One. I recently obtained a copy of this and it’s heavy.
Oliver Nelson’s Blues and The Abstract Truth
Betty Carter’s The Audience with Betty Carter
Carmen McRae’s Live At Sugar Hill
Gregory Porter’s Water
Suite101: Tell us about the CDs you have recorded and released.
Jane Irving: I’ve just recorded with the ‘The Swingin’ Blades’, a band I’ve been singing with for a while now. We’ve had a weekly residency for two years and so decided it would be a good idea to go into the studio and document the feeling that we’ve developed from playing together so much. We got everything down in a day and I think the finished product sounds good. The members of the band are all amazing musicians and the fun we have together translates really well.
My own album, Beams, released a while ago now, was a real labour of love. I knew I wanted to make a CD of jazz standards, but they had to be special tunes that I had a specific connection with. I’d been singing the well-known mainstream standard jazz repertoire for years and this was the point at which I started mining for interesting things – tunes that, whilst still in the jazz genre, weren’t necessarily all that well known. The process of making this record was intense. I had a helping hand from Kerrie Biddell with producing; other than that, I made all the decisions. It’s a big project, putting together your own recording, very intense but really rewarding. I definitely came out of that project a better musician.
Suite101: What's happening in New York? How long are you going to be there?
Jane Irving: Well, I’m moving there. I’ve been doing gigs in and around Sydney for many years now and I figure it’s time for a change. I’m looking forward to being in a very different environment – a change of pace. Also, each time I’ve been to New York I’ve felt very at home there. Back in 2003 I decided that someday I would live there, so that time is now.
I guess it’s going to be like starting again, although this time I’ll be armed with knowledge, experience and a slightly thicker skin –does that mean I’ll be able to handle the ass whippings easier?
It’s an exciting time. I think it will be really good for me in a lot of ways. I’d like to really get into playing more piano – I mean I’ve been doing a few quiet sneaky little solo gigs in the past months but I think it might be time to give it another go. Having said that, I quite like not having too many plans and enjoy following the path of least resistance. It will be great to just be living in that beautiful city - meeting and playing with new people.
Suite101: What do you think makes for good music?
Jane Irving: Intent, feel and emotion. To know what you want to say, how you want to say it and to tell your story. Chops aren’t enough - there’s gotta be some blues in there too, some grit –something personal. With that comes a connection, which is one of the wonderful things about music that brings people together.
Suite101: What do you enjoy about being a musician? What do you find difficult or challenging about it?
Jane Irving: I guess I have a love-hate relationship with never knowing if what I just played was really any good. Then there are the combinations in between - thinking what I just played was quite good and then knowing that what I just played was shit; then when I feel like I’ve turned some kind of corner that ignites the passion to keep going and striving for more. I also love finding a language with other musicians I work with, and how that can differ so much; how different musicians bring different things out in me – that’s an awesome thing.
Someone told me recently that I should really consider going on Australian Idol. When I told them that wasn’t really my thing, they suggested that maybe I shouldn’t sell myself short. What do you say to that when you’ve got five minutes till the next set begins?
Jane Irving plays at 505, 280 Cleveland St, Surry Hills, Sydney, on Wednesday, November 30th, 2011, and at the Sound Lounge, Sydney, on Saturday, December 3rd, 2011.
Jasmine Crittenden - Jasmine Crittenden (B.A.)(Hons.)(First Class) is a writer and editor specialising in music, literature and travel.
