She may be only 32 but Emilie-Claire Barlow has been dazzling the world with her stunningly beautiful voice for more than two decades. Starting out her career at the tender age of seven, voice acting for television and radio jingles, kids may know her best from her character roles on Sailor Moon, 6Teen, Rescue Heroes, and Total Drama Island, just to name a few.
Music lovers, however, will recognize Barlow as Canada’s up-and-coming rising star on the international jazz music scene, the Toronto-based musician who recently brought home the female vocalist of the year award from the 2008 National Jazz Awards and who was recently nominated for a Juno award for vocal jazz album of the year for her most recent compilation The Very Thought Of You. And next week, the singer who is quickly becoming known as Canada’s incomparable vocal-jazz jewel, will bring her talent to Sackville to perform during an intimate concert at the United Church, an event that is being highlighted during the town’s Cultural Capital year. Barlow says she is thrilled with the opportunity to perform in a community that is becoming so well-known for its arts and culture repertoire.
“I’ve never played there before and I think that this Cultural Capital event that’s happening is such a fantastic thing,” says Barlow from her Toronto home.
“I think it’s a great time to come there and it (the church) sounds like a beautiful venue and I think it’s going to be perfect for the type of music I do and the type of instrumentation I’m bringing there.” It should come as no surprise that Barlow has become such a successful musician. Introduced to music at a very young age by her parents, who were respected jazz artists themselves, she says it was only natural for her to develop a love for it.
“My parents are both musicians and there was a lot of music happening around my household from the time I was very little,” says Barlow. “Music was always very encouraged and I listened to a lot of singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme and Tony Bennett when I was young and I just started to fall in love with all of those standards.”
Later on in high school, Barlow studied musical theatre and started putting together her first jazz quartet.
“And it just kind of snowballed from there,” she says.
Barlow says she has been influenced not only by the jazz greats that came decades before her but also from some of the more modern artists who have not been afraid to tackle music from that era, such as Holly Cole.
“I loved the fact that these contemporaries were taking songs from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, and keeping them alive. They’re so well crafted, these songs. They’re so brilliantly written that they’ve not only withstood the test of time but withstood so many people doing them in different styles and voices.”
She has been inspired to do the same herself.
“I love taking a song that’s maybe 70 or 80 years old and trying to just put my own little spin on it and perhaps introduce it to the next generation of people and keep it alive. That’s exciting to me.”
The self-managed Barlow produces her own albums and recently released her sixth title under her own record label Empress Music Group. Over the past three years, the Juno-nominated vocalist has secured Canadian distribution with Distribution Fusion III, and a licensing deal with JVC Victor Entertainment in Japan. Her music is also available worldwide on iTunes and many other digital retailers.
“I think it’s important for me to have creative control. I do have a lot of ideas right now; I have a lot of inspiration . . . I think that, for the moment, producing the records myself is a challenge that I want to take on.”
Warren Maddox, coordinator of Sackville’s Cultural Capital programming, says he’s ecstatic about bringing Barlow to the area.
“She’s got such an amazing voice. She’s just one of these performers that spellbound me,” says Maddox, who first heard Barlow several years ago during a concert in a small Montreal theatre. He says he instantly knew she would soon be rising to the top of the charts.
Maddox says attracting up-and-coming artists like Barlow to Sackville during 2008 has been his main goal.
“You’re going to see people this year performing that are not too far away from their first Juno . . . people that are the Diana Kralls of the future.”
And what can audience members expect during Barlow’s upcoming show?
“They can expect a very intimate concert,” she says.
“It’s a small group so it really features the voice and my guitarist. You’re going to hear some swing tunes and some bossa novas, just a great night of music.”
Opening the evening concert at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the Sackville United Church will be New Brunswick native Rémi-Jean LeBlanc with his ensemble.
The group is composed of four exceptional musicians who perform in different musical circles in the Montreal region.
Their influences, mostly deriving from jazz and pop music, create a distinct ensemble sound because of the unique musical background of each member.
Tracklist:
01. The Very Thought Of You (6:38)
02. Almost Like Being In Love (3:45)
03. O Pato [The Duck] (3:35)
04. Les Yeux Ouverts [Dream A Little Dream Of Me] (4:46)
05. Pennies From Heaven (4:25)
06. What A Little Moonlight Can Do (5:22)
07. Surrey With the Fringe On Top (5:00)
08. My Time Of Day/I've Never Been In Love Before (5:58)
09. C'est Si Bon (3:51)
10. De Conversa Em Conversa (2:54)
11. The Boy Next Door (4:25)
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