One not enough for The Jimmy Stahl Big Band
Band recorded two albums before the pandemic covering female jazz greats and Sinatra
Niagara’s Jimmy Stahl has never been one to do things the conventional way.
When other kids were picking up guitars, he grabbed a trumpet. When everything was punk and disco, he formed a big band in the late ’70s. He then waited 35 years to release his first album.
So when he decided to put out his next album — in the middle of a pandemic — he figured: Why not two? With two different singers?
This month sees the release of both “I Just Found Out About Love,” covering the female jazz greats, and “Swinging on a Star,” a tribute to Frank Sinatra.
Stahl would love to gather his 20-piece band to play the new material live, but he and his trumpet are stuck at home during COVID-19. Which gives him time for some Q&A:
The Review: I thought only acts like Bruce Springsteen and Guns N’ Roses released two albums at once — why the double feature?
Stahl: “Originally it was going to be one album featuring both singers. I had the studio booked for two days, and based on the band’s track record in the studio I took 27 songs to record and figured I’d pick the best of what we actually were able to get accomplished. The studio felt there was no way we were going to record 27 songs in two fivehour days. Well, to make a long story
short, at the end of day two we had 27 songs recorded and they were all so good that I couldn’t just pick 12 or even 16 songs.”
The Review: You’ve got two different singers for each album. What does Geneviève-renée Bisson bring to the Ladies of Jazz tribute?
Stahl: “Geneviève-renée Bisson is such a great talent. She is young, beautiful, vibrant, and has a way of taking each of the great standards on the album and making them her own with a fresh outlook and approach to each song. I have to say that Renée is an absolute dream to work with and has an incredible work ethic. I don’t really know what I would
do without her today.”
The Review: Likewise, you tapped Michael Vanhevel for the Sinatra tribute. Is it difficult finding something new in the Sinatra catalogue after all these years?
Stahl: “I don’t think that the secret is finding something new in the Sinatra catalogue as much as it is making the songs in the Sinatra catalogue sound new … Michael understands the phrasing that made Sinatra famous and he incorporates that into the delivery of every song with his velvety voice. The same as Renée, Michael has a way of taking each song (and) maintaining the integrity of the style, but still making it
his own.”
The Review: It has been awhile since you performed with the band, and it may be awhile yet because of COVID-19. How are you holding up?
Stahl: “Well it has certainly been a strange year so far … I do keep in touch with the band on a weekly basis, and a few of them on almost a daily basis. The Godsend in all of this is that we already had both projects recorded, which provided the opportunity to get all the mixing and mastering done to complete the albums for release.”
The Review: Of all the bands you could be in, I imagine a ‘big band’ is the hardest and most expensive to keep going. What pushes you to continue?
Stahl: “Yes, a big band takes a lot of effort to organize, book and pay 20 to 22 musicians. The size of the band makes everything about it big. You need a large stage, a bigger venue, a larger price tag for the show. All these factors restrict where you can sell the show.
“We are more of a show band geared for the large stage, galas, corporate events and festivals. Most days, what keeps me pushing forward is my absolute love for this style of music, the band members who love to perform these shows, our fans who are so supportive, and the thrill and adrenalin rush of performing on stage with such a worldclass act.”
“I Just Found Out About Love” and “Swinging on a Star” are available on itunes, Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer.