BOLD DREAMS
Alex Pangman is a jazz singer with a powerful voice and an even more powerful story
Performers don’t come much bolder than Alex Pangman — and not just because the Toronto-based vocalist fearlessly mines the sepia-toned, post-Depression jazz era for inspiration. “Canada’s Sweetheart of Swing” is also a two-time double lung transplant survivor (!), a point that makes her success as a singer downright astonishing. Whether as a song stylist or a musician and songwriter in her own right, Pangman connects with audiences on a visceral level, hitting them squarely in the gut (or heart or head or funny bone) with a honeyed voice and a sassy delivery seemingly lifted straight from a Bakelite radio.
How did you make the bold choice to become a jazz musician?
“I had been studying another field at university and I got quite sick. And while I was sick, everything came into focus. I realized life was short, and that you had to make the most of every day. And music was what really lit me up. So instead of going back to school, I made the crazy decision to become a jazz musician.”
What gave you the courage to pursue it?
“Being born with a serious illness. My parents were very supportive, although my father, who was in banking, probably didn’t think music was the wisest career move. But I was born thinking I was only going to live to be 20 years old. And when that hangs over your head… For me, music made me happy and made my heart sing, so it wasn’t a hard decision, just the right decision.”
What were the biggest obstacles?
“I had lung disease and I am a singer. That was probably the boldest and most courageous thing: to proceed in music even though my handicap existed in my instrument. I coughed all the time, and I was unable to sing a song without having to clear my throat. I had to learn to sing with less lung capacity but because it was jazz music, I could phrase as I needed to. A lung transplant changed that. Now for the first time in my adult life, I can make the music I always wanted to but I couldn’t because of the illness. Now my lungs work and it’s fabulous.”
Who are your mentors?
“I joke that a lot of my mentors are already dead because I listen to a lot of music from the 1930s. But I am inspired by any artist who persevered, so Frida Kahlo, Ian Dury or Connee Boswell, a beautiful singer who inspired Ella Fitzgerald but started out in a wheelchair. People who make art despite obstacles inspire me most.”
What is the best advice you didn’t take?
“Opening up about my illness. The gentleman who produced my first record [late blues guitar great Jeff Healey] really wanted me to let the world know that I had this terrible disease. I fought against it because I wanted people just to see my art. So for the first three-quarters of my career, I made music fighting lung disease and not letting anybody know. I only went public because I thought I could raise awareness and encourage people to sign their organ donor cards.”
What three adjectives describe your approach to making music?
“Playful. Intuitive. Cathartic.”
What is your favourite song to perform?
“Probably ‘Shanghai Lil’ which is from a Jimmy Cagney film [1933’s
Footlight Parade]. It’s a very moody song about this woman in Shanghai who’s gone missing but has taken this guy’s heart in the meantime. It’s a pretty neat arrangement — it goes down to a whisper and finishes with a roar — but it encapsulates the human condition; trying to find something and constantly seeking it. It’s a great song and it’s a heck of a lot of fun to sing.”
Which album of yours would you put in a time capsule?
“Probably 33 [from 2011]. It’s got one of my originals on it — important in the jazz genre — and it also has a lovely duet with Ron Sexsmith. It covers everything; it’s got grateful songs, zippy songs, sad songs. I just think it’s my best effort. And I was 33 when I recorded it.”
What do you love about playing Toronto?
“I really appreciate living in such a busy music town. I can walk up the street to the Cameron House and a little further along is the Rex Hotel. You can go out any night of the week and find inspiration.”
Of all your successes, which has been the most meaningful?
“That I’ve been able to continue with music despite my illness. The fact that I’ve been able to persevere and make a name for myself — and that I get to record for Justin Time, one of the most established jazz labels in the country. Also that I got to sing on-stage at Massey Hall in 2013 [opening for Willie Nelson]. I was so ill that I had to sit but I could still sing. That was an amazing high point.” See Alex Pangman with the John Pizzarelli Quartet featuring Jessica Molaskey on Wednesday, June 24, at 8 p.m. at Koerner Hall TELUS Centre, part of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival 2015.