Shout Out Out Out Out marks milestone
At first glance, Ellen Doty is a jazz singer, but listening and reading might alter that perception.
Her 2014 full-length debut disc, Gold, has the look of a jazz album; the Calgary-based chanteuse is appearing at a mostly jazz venue (Yardbird Suite) this Friday; and her lithe, breathy voice reveals a distinct knowledge of jazz phrasing and harmonies. But that’s only part of her story.
The first clue that Gold isn’t a typical jazz album is in the credits, the all-original songs, most cowritten with collaborator Oliver Miguel, who also plays sax and coproduces the album.
He did the horn arrangements, too, which feature Calgary luminaries like Al Muirhead and Pat Belliveau.
Most of the tunes take a popjazz feel, but hints of soul and folk music seep through, and the lyrics reach beyond standard cliches to take on something deeper on numbers like No Good Man.
Impressively, Doty produced the album with the help of a crowdfunding campaign and a grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and once it was released to favourable reviews, she booked herself into a 30-city, 46-date coast-to-coast tour.
I’m pretty sure there aren’t 46 jazz-dedicated venues in Canada, so you know she was gaining exposure beyond that circle.
“I’ve learned so much taking this musical journey,” Doty offers. “Gold was more of a jazz-focused album, but I recently recorded my second album in Toronto for release later this year and it’s a little less strictly focused on jazz. It’s hard to describe. You definitely hear jazz harmonies, but there’s a lot of pop and folk and other influences mixed in.”
That next album will include tunes co-written with Justin Rutledge and Andy Stochansky (Ani DiFranco’s ex-drummer) and was produced by Boston drummer Davide DiCenso. She hopes to include one or two new songs from that project in her show here Friday.
“It’s just me. It’s a reflection of who I am and all these things that have come together.”
Born in Okotoks, Doty grew up in a musical family. Her mother directed a church choir, where she first sang in public from age five.
Her family’s connection to jazz started with a grandmother who lived across the street from Nat (King) Cole in Los Angeles, so Doty grew up hearing records by Cole and other jazz singers, along with country, folk, soul and pop.
By her teens, she had taken piano, guitar and voice lessons and was auditioning for talent shows. Music and Doty clicked, but she still wasn’t sure about careers.
She put music on the back burner to pursue basketball in high school and switched from music to geology at Ottawa’s Carleton University, switching again to play basketball at Edmonton’s King College, and then to the University of Calgary.
It was after her move to Calgary in 2010 that Doty started pursuing music again.
She got a weekend gig at the Fairmont Palliser Hotel and then about five years ago, she decided to “jump in all the way” after New York jazz drummer Dave Mancini heard her at the hotel and pushed her to record.
After doing her initial EP That’s Love in 2012, Doty produced Gold. Along the way, she appeared with the likes of P.J.-Perry, Bobby Shew and others. More recently, she opened a festival date for Gregory Porter.
Either co-writing or on her own, Doty’s approach to songwriting has evolved.
“When I started out, I was trying to write things that would be catchy or popular that people could latch on to, but I’ve learned more and more that it’s important to write things that are meaningful to you personally, stories that affect you and do something to your heart. People feel those connections and it makes it easier for me to re-connect with the songs when I’m on stage.”
For her Friday show, Doty performs with musical friend and special guest, award-winning Vancouver saxophonist Eli Bennett, who you might know from Five Alarm Funk. Guitarist Ryan Davidson, bassist Justin Kudding and drummer Jon May fill out the band, performing 8 p.m. Friday at the Yardbird.
Tickets are $22 for members, $26 for guests, from Tix On The Square or at the door.
JAZZ FEST NOTES
The 2017 TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival is three weeks away and the festival organization has finally fine-tuned their Internet presence with a colourful, detailed, fully linked, revamped site design at edmontonjazz.com. Programs and posters for the event happening June 23 to July 2 will be out this weekend, but in the meantime, you can get a facsimile of the booklet online.
Interested in volunteering? Applications for volunteers can also be found online at the festival site and the first volunteer orientation session is scheduled for June 17.