Posts Tagged: Jazz Violin

Things can look great on the outside but if there isn’t quality underneath, what’s the point?  A few years ago, I was in a house fire—we awoke at about 3 in the morning to confusion…smoke so thick you could hardly see your hand in front of your face.  It was complete mayhem as we rushed out of the house with what we could carry, waited for the fire trucks to arrive in the cool Autumn east coast night and watched most everything else be either charred or saturated beyond recognition.  The next day we learned that it was because of the thick, old fashioned beams that this attic fire had not collapsed the ceiling on us while we slept. Good internal construction saved our lives.

Quality ingredients, carefully prepared equals better end result.  This is just something I believe to be inherently true in life…and in music.

So lately I have not been as active with shows on the performance calendar but I have been working hard at my music and have been taking part in some recording projects including a Christmas album for Jeff Johnson which I cannot wait for you to hear, and a jazz album by sultry vocalist Tasha Miller which is still in production. 

I’ve been honing my jazz vocals—combing material for what feels true and works with my voice, and thinking about what it is I’d like to play as a jazz violinist who is more enamored with beautiful lines and tone production than churning out slick hooks.

I’ve also been crossing my T’s and dotting my I’s in regard to my albums licensing, my status as a songwriter and my presence on the web.  It’s not always as much fun as playing and singing for a live audience, but I think it’s very very important to make sure that I’m going about things in the proper way.  It frustrates me immensely that so many artists record and distribute cover songs without getting permission.  While one can argue that it’s the “big record companies” and all that nonsense about the little struggling artist, one can make the same case for stealing stuff from a large department store or not paying taxes.  Okay…maybe some of the same people do that too!  At any rate, I am trying as best I can to make sure that I do things right.  I’m thankful that the people who built the cottage I slept in on that October night a few years back chose to properly construct the beams or I might not be here to be blogging today about my musical journey!

NEXT WENDY GOODWIN SHOW:  THURSDAY, AUGUST 5th at Sherman Clay Moe’s Pianos  7-8:30 PM

I’m struggling to find the right adjectives to properly convey how much I loved singing and playing with George Mitchell, Kevin Deitz and Ron Steen last night at Wilfs.  For one thing, it’s as if these three gentlemen of jazz share a collective brain when they are playing-each giving authoritative pizzazz yet always playing as a team.  As a guest artist, it’s the musical equivalent of being supported by 3 pairs of strong arms… not so scary to lean out over the edge when you’re in such secure company!

I was also blessed to have such a great group of friends come out for the show.  Looking out and seeing the familiar faces dotting the landscape who support and encourage me in so many ways was awesome.

To top it off, some other fantastic jazz artists were at the show and performed a few tunes—the iconic drummer Dick Berk and smashingly talented vocalist and pianist Laura Cunard.

If you are just getting acquainted with me, and wondering why you haven’t seen me around town, it has to do with a few things-

1.  I tend to play in unrelated genres—right now, I’m working with Celtic/Contemplative Seattle based artist Jeff Johnson and Puck Fair Flutist Brian Dunning.  While these two gentlemen actually have plenty of connections to the Portland Jazz Scene, the Celtic trio performs in churches and concert venues and tours seasonally.

2.  I play a LOT of private events—after finishing school, I started Effesenden Music, a wedding and event music company.  Effesenden gives me the opportunity to play lots of styles of music with a variety of musicians.  It gives me an excuse to do a lot of arranging of pop music for strings, and it gives me the chance to help people with a special day in their lives.  And to be totally honest… I LOVE weddings! 

3.  I have played in bands and appeared as a side woman with many different artists including Rising Violet, Lori Willcuts, Drew Grow, Kelly Jones, Nate Macy, Michael Allen Harrison, Michelle Tumes, Laura Gibson, Tasha Miller, Adam Sweeney, Bryan Clark and more, but have only recently begun appearing under my own name.  Though I love performing, I have always been sort of embarrassed about drawing attention to myself.  In the past I’ve often appeared under the name Effesenden.  When I started writing music though, it seemed natural to start appearing… well…as myself!

I’m looking forward to what lies ahead—in a couple of weeks I’ll be at Sherman Clay Moe’s Pianos (August 5th 7-8:30 p.m.) If you’d like to be kept in the loop of future shows, drop me a line. 

My favorite scene in any movie of all time can be found in White Christmas.  Wallace and Davis (aka Danny Kay and Bing Crosby) have just come to see the Haynes Sister act (aka Vera Ellen and Rosemary Clooney.)  Hoping sparks will fly between the workaholic Wallace (Crosby) and the mother hen (Clooney), Danny Kay and Vera Ellen’s characters leave the dinner table to share a dance sequence that starts on the ballroom floor and works its way outside culminating on the roof of a veranda.  In the old movies and the musicals, there is angst and love, friendship and conflict but the emotions are ALWAYS big and you know what they do when they are trying to figure things out?  They sing about it! 

In jazz there is that element of history—the old movies, the gorgeous evening gowns, the debonair man in the smoking jacket, combined with that “in the moment” improvisation and style—never the same way twice!  With jazz, you’re not trying to sound like so and so’s amazing Carnegie Hall recording… you’re trying to give the song what it needs at this exact second.  You’re trying to sound like yourselves… and it’s a communal effort.  You listen, you respond, you musically converse. 

To prepare, rather than practicing a passage over and over again until you can play it exactly like Joshua Bell or sing it like Kathleen Battle, you dissect the song until you understand its very fiber.  You explore what could be.  Then you take your ideas and you tuck them in the back of your head because everything could change in the moment with the collective creativity of the band, the house, the magic in the air. 

THIS is why I love jazz!

Inspired by the cosmopolitan sights and sounds of Europe’s old cities.

Saturday, May 1st, 2010  at 8 PM
Wine Unwind: NW 11th & Lovejoy, Portland
Wendy Goodwin & Dave Iula
www.wineunwind.com
503.946.8482 for more information.

This photo, taken of the Kleines Cafe in Vienna, Austria on one of our European jaunts has been a visual reminder for me over the years of the type of music I want to create.  Romantic…nostalgic…cosmopolitan…and good!  As a lover of musical styles ranging from Renaissance to Hip-Hop, I’ve had to learn by trial and error that just because I can play something doesn’t mean I should.

Not that I’ve ever attempted to rap in public… but even within the jazz, folk and classical genres, there are things that ring true and others that I must leave to another artist to perform.  2010 in particular has been a year of really vetting what I want to play, sing and say as an artist right now. 

This upcoming evening at Wine Unwind is going to reflect that.  Right now I am drawn to music that one might hear on a street corner in one of Europe’s big old cities… or in a cafe or a small concert venue.  I’m connecting more with beautiful melodies, romantic and witty words.  I want to play and sing Jazz—an American invention true but with that sense of romance that I associate with Vienna. 

I’m trying really hard too to make every single performance a total investment.  Life is busy and time is precious.  When someone takes the time out of their busy lives to listen to my music I want to brighten their lives just a little.  The only way to do that is by being really authentic and giving every song my best.