Fisher excited for her JazzFest return

Close to 20 years after her Medicine Hat JazzFest debut, Cheryl Fisher’s excitement about coming back for the 2017 edition can pretty much be felt through the phone.

“It was so cool the first time,” she said last week. “There was like a potluck waiting for all the musicians and there was handmade macrame necklaces for your identity tags and I thought ‘I love this.’ Your volunteers were just right there for all of us.”

The volunteers weren’t the only thing that left a lasting impression on Fisher, recalling her appearance on the front page of the Medicine Hat News and noting the city’s picturesque and pretty sights and its history of being culturally supportive.

When Fisher was asked back to the festival by head honcho Lyle Rebbeck she was honoured. She said Rebbeck is a “good and serious musician” who is up to date on what is happening in the Canadian and international jazz scenes and that he appreciates her continued growth and development as an artist.

“I think it’s a testament to the fact that ... I’m still developing in new ways, that I’m not static,” she said. “If Lyle asks me to come then to me it’s a compliment.”

Fisher’s latst album, “Quietly There,” is something of a compliment in its own right. It’s comprised of 12 lesser-known jazz standards that had been suggested to her years ago while living and working in Miami. Her connections in the industry would often suggest or ask her to record certain songs. She began listening to the songs and came to a conclusion. Jazz and chill, you could call it.

“Quietly There” is the sort of album a person can put on when in a reflective, easy ride sort of mood, she said.

“This is a CD that isn’t all quiet music but it’s reflective and all of a mood,” Fisher said. “It’s a celebration of love, it’s an acknowledgement of loss, it’s a welcoming of the future and it’s a life cycle really I suppose.”

For an album she made just for her, it’s caught the attention of many. She’s gotten a record contract, won a Global Music Award and was close to a Grammy nomination. She calls it some of her best work.

Fisher expects Medicine Hat fans will be musically satiated when they leave her JazzFest performance June 21 at 7 p.m. in the Esplanade Studio Theatre.

She calls the men joining her — Eric Allison (woodwinds), John Stowell (guitar), Sheldon Zandboer (piano) John Gray (string bass) and Jon May (drums) — world-class musicians.

“It’s a nice feeling to perform confidently when you have the kind of talent behind you I do,” she said. “I think that (the audience) is in for a treat.”

Visit www.medicinehatjazzfest.com for full details including schedules, ticket information, artist bios and more.