Getting to know vocalist Ori Dagan

It’s surprises me to know that the last time I wrote anything for my blog was about a year ago and that was one of my “get to know” blogs featuring my Toronto based friend Maureen Kennedy who was coming to town to perform. Now, fast forward to May 2024 and I am going to introduce you Toronto based jazz vocalist Ori Dagan who is coming out on his first ever West Coast tour. Perhaps you know him already? Welcome to our beautiful province Ori!

Ori and I will share the stage for one concert on May 16^th we’re calling “These Are A Few of Our Favourite Tunes” at Brentwood Presbyterian Church in Burnaby and then Ori heads to the island where he will sing as part of a Big Band Festival in Nanaimo followed by a performance in Victoria and then he’ll return to Vancouver where he’ll perform his special “Rat Pack Songbook” tribute show on May 21^st at Tyrant Studios. As you can see he is a busy guy!

I’m delighted to have Ori do this Q & A with me and I hope you enjoy getting to know a bit more about this uniquely talented and hardworking artist.

K. Ori, you have performed many duets in concerts and for recordings. What are the aspects of singing a duet that you particularly enjoy?

O: For me what makes jazz music so interesting is the element of surprise – so it is always fun to work with different musicians, play for different audiences – and the best is if I manage to surprise myself! I find that duets always lend themselves to moments of surprise, especially when performed live. I have had the honour of singing with some of my favourite vocalists including Alex Pangman, Heather Bambrick, Simone Denny and of course, Sheila Jordan which was a career highlight! It is particularly enjoyable to do this with the standards we know and love and to see how another artist might approach something familiar and make it feel brand new.

K. Who would be some of your main influences in jazz that have helped inspire and guide you in music?

O: It was Ella who got me into the music, with her “Mack the Knife: Live in Berlin” album which I listened to over 10,000 times. My other big influence in terms of vocalists is Anita O’Day – absolutely love her sense of time, use of dynamics, creativity in arranging and her ability to reinvent the familiar. Louis Armstrong I adore forever for the joy, the swing, the love. Carmen McRae is someone I greatly admire for the depth of her interpretation – there is never an instance where she isn’t truthful, and when she takes liberties with melodies these always manage to enhance the lyric.  Of course I adore Billie Holiday – it took me a few years to get into her approach but now I can never get enough. Sarah Vaughan is another one who is almost superhuman in terms of how she makes virtuosity seem effortless – a true goddess of music.  More and more I realize that Mark Murphy is a huge influence of mine, especially when I find myself exploring the possibilities of a song and stepping outside of the box. I am not generally a fan of choral singing in jazz but I absolutely adore Lambert, Hendricks & Ross as a collective and individually – such intense creativity and pure genius in those recordings. Sheila Jordan is like my spiritual grandmother – not only for her brilliantly original approach to singing but also for her role as a “jazz ambassador” which I strive to live up to as well. Besides all of these vocalists I get a lot of inspiration from horn players – saxophone is my favourite instrument to listen to and some of my favourites include Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Don Byas and Arnett Cobb to name a few.

K. When you listen to recordings do you listen to CD’s, Vinyl or do you prefer streaming platforms?

O: I love collecting vinyl – have to stop going to these stores for a while because I have no more space haha. Generally I don’t buy CD’s anymore unless there is a good reason (e.g. a live album by Anita O’Day in Tokyo!) or if I am supporting a fellow artist. I do listen to streaming for the convenience of it. Everyone please check out Bandcamp!!!

K. When you write songs do you sit at the piano or do you do that away from any instruments?

O: It is strange but for me songs just come out of nowhere and I have to run to the piano to try and lay them down. The challenge is always FINISHING the song – this could take months or in some cases years.  Hoping to become more disciplined about songwriting as the years go by, maybe one day I will work on it every day. As the great Sheila Jordan says, “dedication is the key” and I think that applies to everything in life and music.

K. What are some factors you look for when you are putting bands together for your various shows? Do you look for specific qualities in the musicians you like to work with?

O: YES! I love to work with musicians who have good positive energy, who smile, who listen, who swing, and who have a good time.

K. Do you have a specific vocal regime that you use to prepare for a gig?

O: I have a classical vocal exercise that I go through, but I am not too religious about it, just a few minutes in the shower.  I do sing just about every single day whether it’s at my gig, a jam session, a friend’s gig or on a walk, so I find that keeps my voice in pretty good shape.

K. Other than jazz-based music are you drawn to any other genres?

O: Anything that has heart and soul and especially creativity! I only don’t connect very well to heavy metal music because I find the instrumentation to be a bit jarring….but I am always open to something new.

K. What do you find the most challenging aspect of being a musician?

O: Staying positive in the face of regularly being rejected; making a living in an industry that is barely functional from an economic standpoint. And yet I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world!

K. Do you have any advice for young budding musicians who are very early in their musical development?

O: Yes – dedication and discipline, and then go out there! Jam. Listen to others. Meet others. Support others. We have to help each other – community is so important. 

K. Are there any special projects coming up in 2024 that you are very excited about?

O: I just launched a brand new project: The Rat Pack Songbook with jazz orchestra, which debuted in Quebec last month.  I will be performing it again May 18 at the Nanaimo Big Band Festival with the Vancouver Island Repertory Jazz Orchestra and am so looking forward to this!  Also I am working on a brand new album in collaboration with master pianist Hila Kulik and one of my greatest inspirations Jane Bunnett, stay tuned at @oridaganjazz! 

Thank you Ori. Wishing you every success on this tour and, of course I am excited about sharing the stage with you this month!

Here’s a link for our “These Are A Few of Our Favourite Tunes” concert: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/these-are-a-few-of-our-favourite-tunes-ori-dagan-karin-plato-in-concert-tickets-884263063627?aff=oddtdtcreator

And here is a link to Ori’s website for all of you: https://oridagan.com/home

Toronto jazz vocalist Maureen Kennedy

Photo of Maureen Kennedy Quintet at Frankie’s by KP

Here is a brief excerpt of the words I wrote after my colleague Maureen Kennedy appeared at Frankie’s Jazz Club in 2019:

My Toronto friend and colleague Maureen Kennedy calls herself a type of “nerd”. I giggle at the word “nerd” as it relates to Maureen since I never thought of her as such. She may be a nerd however she also happens to be a fabulous jazz vocalist, one with sophisticated taste in repertoire, one with a gorgeous nuanced vocal tone, an ease and natural ability to deliver the songs without fuss or extra “stuff” The purity of Maureen’s vocal sound and her exquisite phrasing puts a smile on my face. From the first phrase of each tune, there’s something about the quality of Maureen’s singing voice that pulls in you in, or perhaps it coaxes you in. Can a singing voice sound silky and sandy at the same time? Maureen’s voice does to me.

Now, more currently on May 2nd/2023 are the questions I recently asked Maureen. (Some of you may recall I do enjoy interviewing artists from time to time) Perhaps reading Maureen’s answers will be a way of getting to know a bit more about her musical path in advance of the upcoming dates at Frankie’s Jazz Club. Yes! Maureen is returning to Vancouver to perform May 19 and May 20.

Karin’s Q & A with Maureen Kennedy

K. What draws you to certain songs and songwriters when you select your repertoire?

M. I am drawn to a varied selection of songwriters. I like to dig deep into the vault of lesser-known tunes, but I also love some of the classic ones people know.  Recently I’ve been uncovering some beautiful Vernon Duke songs.  And I am also drawn to the lyrics of Lorenz Hart and John Latouche. Latouche wrote the lyrics to “Lazy Afternoon” and the Billy Strayhorn / Ellington tune “Daydream.” I find what they’ve written very relatable. I tend to like songs with a sense of melancholy and longing.

K. Are there any artists who you believe have influenced your own style and approach to singing jazz standards?

M. I’ve been influenced by many singers for different reasons. The list is very long.  I’ll name a few Irene Kral, Frank Sinatra, Helen Merrill, Carmen McRae, June Christy, Annie Ross, Jackie Paris, Nat King Cole, Mark Murphy – and this is a few!  I like the fact that all of these singers not only had incredible voices but also vast repertoires. A singer for me, like a horn player, has to have a personal sound. 

K. What are some specifics about the jazz genre that entice and captivate you?

M. I was drawn to jazz because it challenges you to never sing or play a tune the same way.  You can do this by altering the melody a bit or in how you phrase.  And playing with jazz musicians is a constant learning experience.  It’s a vocabulary that keeps expanding.  I listen to as much instrumental jazz as I do vocal.  When I hear a tune, I love I want to hear an instrumental version of it to get more ideas.

K. Do you recall when and why you first decided to become a jazz vocalist/recording artist?

M. I started singing in my early 20s. I was very green.  It took me time to develop a style and a repertoire. Studying with trumpet and flugelhorn player Fred Stone was very important to me. 

K. Is there a practice routine you use to keep your voice in singing condition?

M. I just vocalize a lot and I have a piano so I can really focus on learning the original melody of a tune.  I like to get the original sheet music for this reason. I think that having studied with Fred helped me with technique.  He once said the moment I stopped thinking about breathing was the moment I did it right.  It’s important to sing from the diaphragm for support. I’m distracted when I hear a singer breathing strongly between phrasing.  I suggest checking out Frank Sinatra for great breathing technique. He developed his breath control from watching trombonist Tommy Dorsey playing night after night. “Eventually he worked out that Dorsey had a pinhole in the corner of his mouth through which he was taking furtive breaths (circular breathing). Sinatra came to see that singing, too, was about breath control and that the secret was never to break the phrase.” 

K. Are there certain instruments that you are drawn to in music?

M. I love all the instruments used in jazz.  I listen to a lot of saxophonists. I also love trumpet and clarinet.  I love to sing with guitar and piano. The double bass is such a great instrument too – in terms of sound. 

K. What is something that you enjoy about performing live for an in-person audience? 

M. I find singing live challenging but necessary.  I love introducing audiences to songs they may have not heard.  And I love to tell them where I discovered the song – who performed it on recordings I love. I’m a curious person and I think that audiences are too.

K. Other than jazz music are there other genres you enjoy listening to?

M. I was in high school in the 1970s when the singer songwriter was a big thing. I went to a lot of great concerts then and was lucky to hear Bob Dylan, The Band, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Elton John in their primes.

K. Do you listen to CD’s or vinyl, or do you stream your music when you listen?

M. I do it all.  My daughter’s both have turntables and great collections of music.  And I’ve kept all my CDs.  I like to buy CDs if I go to someone’s launch. The problem with streaming is there are no liner notes.

K. What advice would you give to up-and-coming jazz vocalists?

M. Focus just as much if not more on learning tunes, listening, practicing, than on social media. Social media is a promotional tool but, in some ways, it can be anti-social. Music is not a popularity contest. The great thing about jazz is that young musicians can get together with older musicians. I think that cultivating these kinds of relationships can be very enriching. Lately, I’ve been getting together with a very talented pianist and singer Hannah Barstow who is in her twenties. I love that she is curious about tunes and singers.  She recently did a great recording on Cornerstone records with Mike Murley and Jim Vivian. I love the tunes she has covered as well as her own compositions.

Thanks Maureen! See you in a few weeks.

Photo of Maureen Kennedy singing with bassist John Lee by Vincent Lim

Snowflake Season

Today is November 22nd 2022 and I am going to post about (gulp) Christmas. Still, I see that several neighbors have put up Christmas lights and, the truth is December is just around the corner. I tend to have mixed feelings about the Christmas season, and I suppose I am not alone in feeling this way. There is such a mash up of emotions all swished and swirled together and along with that comes the MUSIC. Ah, yes Christmas music! The sacred, the secular, the popular, the annual favourites, vocal and instrumental, the new ones you discover or write yourself.

*photo depicts Plato’s Pinecone People made by me many years ago and posed in the snow last December while visiting my Mom on the prairies.

Christmas Music: It’s true I’ve always loved hauling out the Christmas music books and producing new arrangements of standards and I’ve also written songs related to the season. Do you know my tune “Olive, the other reindeer”? Ha ha! You probably do NOT know that one. Maybe if you live in Vancouver, you have heard it since I have sung it in performance with We Three Queens. It’s fun and it’s silly and no, I have not recorded that one. *There is another song or two written about that less than famous reindeer if you do some swifter than a reindeer can fly internet search.

Yesterday while digging through my Christmas box, I found my song “Fa, La, La It’s Christmas” and a few other KP compositions which I had honesty forgotten about. A few are “throwaways,” but others seem catchy somehow and worth revisiting.

Moving forward and looking back at the same time:

Over 20 years ago now I recorded a Christmas Jazz album called “snowflake season”. The recording features some wonderful musicians and quite a cross section of music. Swing, Bossa, Ballads, more. Much has happened in life since that recording however, I still enjoy all the song choices I made. It is not a “commercial Christmas cd” if, you know what I mean? *Admittedly I don’t play my own album much during the holiday season because I have other annual faves I turn to. More on that another day. snowflake season is available on various streaming platforms and, the physical CD is available from my online store: https://www.karinplato.com/past-cds

Christmas Jazz Concert featuring KP Quintet:

Lucky me! I will be singing and swinging Christmas Jazz at The Anvil Theatre on St. Nicholas Day December 6^th. How appropriate that the concert lands on St. Nicholas Day! A family tradition for us was this: When we were children on the evening of December 5^th, we would set out one of our shoes at the front door and in the morning, St. Nicholas would have put chocolate or marzipan treats or some other Christmas delight in there for us. Yeah, we liked St. Nicholas!

Tickets are available now. https://anviltheatre.ca/event/piva-presents-a-jazz-christmas/ I hope you decide to come to the concert. I am currently working on the program of songs and certainly I will perform a few from my album snowflake season. The band I have assembled is exceptional: Miles Black, Tom Keenlyside, Conrad Good and Dave Robbins. The Anvil Theatre is located in New Westminster and is easily accessible by skytrain.

In closing, may the season that we are facing be filled with good chocolate and good music and if possible some real joy.

Thanks! Karin

Piano? What Piano? A True Story

Perhaps a slightly longish short story?

My husband Gorm and I go for bicycle rides regularly and we have a few favourite routes to take in our beautiful city. We love riding out to UBC and venturing into the woods along a path for a stretch that allows us to feel as though we are far away from any city. We have another loop that takes us down a long street where it feels as though you are riding through a potential movie scene. There are mansions with expansive properties and enormous trees and the occasional peak of a swimming pool through the shrubbery. 

Another bike ride we enjoy, and which involves a bike ride and picnic supper we were doing throughout out the summer and well into September when the days were slightly longer, long enough for the ride, the picnic followed by the ride home again before dark.  This bike ride ends up down at the planetarium and beach where you can look across the water at English Bay or look over at the mountains on the North Shore. You can spot the many boats and yachts and paddle boarders and kayakers and cyclists and flocks of geese and if you are lucky you can watch the sun go down just before making the bike ride home again before dark.

On the Picnic-bike ride you go through one of our city’s old neighborhoods with requisite mansions and picture-perfect landscaping. It is a curving and winding route leading to long downhill glide to the beaches. Getting there is a breeze. Yes, you must make it back up that hill again to go home after the picnic however we have slightly different route with a more gentle clime that takes us home and allows us to see one more vista from up high looking out over West Vancouver.

On a particular corner I noticed one day as we headed to the beach that right in the middle of the enormous property stood a grand piano under cover, set back well within the yard under a protective cover. What a magnificent sight! A few more times as we made that ride, I slowed down to see if the piano was still there. Yes! There it stood under the protective cover. I daydreamed about how wonderful it would be to be a guest of the people who lived there, perhaps to sit and listen to a concert performed in the yard or, to be the person performing in such a dreamlike setting. 

Finally, on one of our rides down to our usual picnic spot we stopped so that I could take a picture or two of the piano still sitting there under cover. I wanted to send my Mom a photo of the piano in the garden. I wanted to capture the image so that I could continue daydreaming about the possibilities of that piano waiting to be played in that gorgeous garden. No one was standing in the yard each time we rode by otherwise I would have mentioned to the owner how enamoured I had become of the beautiful yard with the piano standing and waiting for someone to play it. 

That day a lovely young woman was walking towards us on the sidewalk and she waited for me to take my photo so that we could maintain a safe distance. My husband mentioned to her what I was doing and why I was taking a photo of someone’s yard. At first she didn’t hear him because she had her earbuds in but as she removed them she began to understand and she too became rather enchanted with the view of the grand piano sitting there in the middle of the yard. When I told her that I was particularly thrilled to see a piano in such a habitat because I was a musician. She said that she had been thinking about taking piano lessons again and perhaps some singing lessons and might I know someone who might be available. I told her about my life as a music teacher and we exchanged contact information. We gazed longingly at the piano once again and we chatted awhile and then we parted company. 

The young woman (Susan) was one of my participants in the online song camp that I recently taught and, in the days before that began, she filled me in on part two of the piano story. Susan was out on a similar walk through the neighborhood, heading down towards Kitsilano and the owner was in the yard and she decided to say hello and tell her the story of how the two of us became acquainted all because of her piano in the yard. The owner seemed rather puzzled and she said “oh, you must mean you can hear my kids play the piano on occasion when the windows are open?” Susan said “no I mean the grand piano in your yard” while she pointed toward the piano under cover sitting on the large concrete base. The lady laughed and said “Oh that? That is not a piano! That is our garden table under cover!”

Susan emailed me to fill me on the case of mistaken identity. We both think it has been a wonderful confusion which has had us connect in an unusual way. We plan to meet up outside soon in a park somewhere because we have more things to converse about. Perhaps there will be another sunny day when I can get on my bike and ride past the piano yard to rendezvous with Susan.

My husband and I rode past the house last week and were amused to see that now, where the piano er, table stood is a large shrub in a pot. I did not mistake that for another instrument.

Lastly, I sheepishly looked back two photos I took of the “piano” on my phone. Yes, the photos were taken from a great distance but also yes, when I zoom in, I can see that the legs peaking out from under the protective cover are not piano legs.

The piano photo attached to this story is a photo of a mini piano gifted to me by my friend Andrea.   

Here’s to bike rides and gardens and friendly conversations with strangers!

Sing a Song of Summer 2020

Summer 2020 is officially here! I love this season: the endless flowers, the long days, the sun’s heat and, often there are camping trips and garden party get-togethers with friends.  This will be a very different kind of summer for everyone due to the current pandemic. Typically this month, I am preparing music for various  music camps that I teach at each summer season however,  all those camps are cancelled for this year.

Since the very beginning of the pandemic I have been able to shift most of my voice and piano students to an online platform. There certainly have been some major challenges along the way and, this method of teaching has required a great deal more work and preparation and flexibility however, I do appreciate the fact that in this current world, I am able to connect with my students and remain safe and distanced and yet still share the beauty, creativity and joy of music making and learning.

“adapt, modify, be positive”– those have been my key words in teaching online music to people of all ages.

I am aware that there are many people who are missing the experience of singing with others or, they are missing the in-person experience of sharing music in a lesson. Some people (perhaps especially the ones who are living alone?) are missing their social circles and have expressed a sensation of feeling anxious, sad, and frustrated with this current and continuing reality.

Over the past month or so I have designed a virtual song camp that I will offer online this coming July called “Sing A Song of Summer” I am really hoping that this song camp will bring some much-needed joy and connection to people who love to sing. I have been researching music that was made popular in the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. Some of the songs that were pop hits in the day are recognized as jazz standards while others were blues or country hits.  I have gathered “famous, familiar and perhaps forgotten” songs that have lovely melodies to sing and a potential for easy harmony parts.

Through the magic of the internet I will invite interested participants into my music studio each morning in this virtual song camp. One fact that has come to mind and which makes me rather excited is that people from various Provinces and States and, even those living in other countries could feasibly attend this song camp. Although my studio is located in Vancouver, BC you can live anywhere in the world and it may be possible that you can participate.

In my mind the type of person who might enjoy this song camp would be someone who longs to sing but wishes they could do so with accompaniment; a vocalist wishing to extend a current repertoire or someone who considers themselves a poor singer. One fact about this online camp is that people will see and hear me on the screen (piano and voice) and they will SEE others on the screen but not hear anyone else. So, you could feasibly sing your heart out and no one will be able to criticize how you sing! This is not a technique camp but rather a sing ’cause you love to sing camp.

I’ve got a lot more to say about the 2020 virtual song camp, but this blog is already longish. People interested can email me directly about the cost and other specifics: karinplato@shaw.ca

Have a safe summer everyone! K

I’ll Send This Dream

I’ll Send This Dream is the title of the new recording I’ve been fortunate enough to make with acclaimed mandolin player John Reischman and harmonic master on the guitar John Miller. We’re going to be playing two special Vancouver concerts this December to celebrate the release and we’ll play music from the recording as well as new material we have been working on.

December 12 – 7 PM @ Roedde House Museum Tix for concert

December 20 – 8 PM @ Tipper Review Room Tix for concert

Two summers ago, and rather soon after my quintet recorded This Could Be The One in Warehouse Studio in Vancouver the two Johns and I recorded I’ll Send This Dream in a much more basic setting: The dining room of our home!

** I can barely believe that I had the notion? the determination? the will? to make two recordings within just a few weeks that July!  However crazy it may sound, I was prepared and I worked hard to maintain a healthy strong voice and I had a good feeling about both projects.

I have always appreciated the warmth of the sound in our dining room and thought it would be fun to capture the natural sound of the trio for our recording. I enlisted engineer Marc L’Esperance who was able to bring his recording studio gear and set up his control room in the kitchen area while we three musicians sat on our chairs facing each other in the same way we would while rehearsing. It was lovely. It was relaxed. It seemed to be just the right approach for us to record this music.

We did a few takes of each of the songs and only once did we have to stop recording while the sound of a large truck rumbled by. That’s rather remarkable in a city such as ours I think and it seemed that luck was on our side.  I love the way we could record this music without wearing headphones. As always, I enjoyed hearing all the beauty that these two men put into the music and I feel so fortunate to be able to sing with them both.

The recording includes some new originals for the recording such as my song “Soon” (the only song I play the uke on for this recording) and John Miller’s song “To No End” for which I composed a lyric.

Thanks to my incredible husband Gorm Damborg who always encourages and supports my efforts with his positive attitude and, who didn’t mind that we turned our house into a recording studio for this project!

Karin

 

What do you know! ‘Tis AUTUMN

I am somewhat surprised and yet willing to accept the fact that Autumn has indeed arrived. Summer was wonderful and filled with music and vacation time too.

I’m back to teaching in my music studio and I certainly do have some interesting piano and voice students ranging from very young to much older. Some like jazz. Some like classical music. Some are pop singer-songwriters. Some are absolute beginners. My task? To help teach and guide and motivate and cultivate the joy of music no matter what genre my students are interested in studying.

I still have space for new students in case someone out there is considering lessons. Note: typically, my music room is far more cluttered than this photo indicates and that is a fact! Often song books and piano books begin to pile up during the week. There is table for that specific purpose and every once in awhile I decide to place books back on the shelf in an attempt to keep things tidy, at least for a day or so. Ha!

Aside from my teaching I have some lovely opportunities to perform coming up, here in Vancouver and also in Toronto and I am certainly excited about the month of October.

Soon, I’ll be singing at Vancouver’s premiere jazz club: October 11th at Frankie’s!  I’m delighted about sharing some of the music I’ve been working on this past September. I’ll be singing lots of jazz standards, some are new to me and others I have revised after many years of neglecting or “resting” them. I have one new original that I will debut that evening with my band mates. Reservations can be made here: Frankie’s Jazz Club

Just a week later I will be heading to Toronto to attend the Audio Festival and the Vinyl Festival and, even more exciting to me, I’ll be singing two exclusive concerts with the acclaimed Mark Eisenman Trio. The one of a kind “Jazz In The Kitchen” concert series is where these performances will take place and tickets are available here: Jazz In The Kitchen

Last but certainly not least it’s time for the new Joy of Jazz Concert season to kick off and Sunday October 27 will be a doozy! Kate Hammett-Vaughan and I will be joined by Miles Black and Conrad Good and the evening will be a Cole Porter celebration.

Many years ago Kate performed Porter themed concerts entitled “Kate Loves Cole”. We both love Cole! So, our concert is entitled “Let’s Do It” and we’ll definitely include that song as well as many others. Further information at the website: Joy of Jazz Concerts

Enjoy your Autumn days everyone!

Karin

What’s Your Story Morning Glory?

August greetings everyone! Here in my Vancouver garden the flowers seems content with today’s refreshing rain. Moments before the rain really kicked in, I ran outside to take a photo of my Morning Glory flowers. I love this blue! It’s a good day for me to write a blog about some of the music related projects in my life right now.

I have a new recording which will be officially released in December. It’s called “I’ll Send This Dream” and it is dedicated to the memory of Nancy Thorwardson, a musician who really made an impact on many people with her songs, her sense of humour and her engaging personality. She is dearly missed. Check out more about Nancy at her website: https://www.nancythorwardson.com/

I consider myself lucky to make music with and record with mandolin star John Reischman and incredible guitarist John Miller.  I admire and respect the musicality of both these men so much! Recording engineer Marc L’Esperance  was able to record us “live off the floor” here in our dining room and I am very happy with the end result. It’s natural and unadorned and just the way we like it! We recorded some beautiful jazz standards and we also included some original songs. We’ll be performing a CD release concert later in the year. Thank you to Paul Norton for the graphic design:

I’ve been putting the finishing touches on the next Joy of Jazz Concert Series for 2019-2020. These concerts take place at Hood 29 on Main Street and this year we’re presenting the concerts on Sunday evenings: October 27, December 15, February 23 and April 26. These are early evening concerts starting at 7:30 PM so even people who are working the next morning will (hopefully) consider attending. This is my labour of love series! I am part of each concert however some of my personal pleasure comes from hearing my fellow musicians in performance together and in solo presentations as well. Web-Meister Paul Norton will have the new website up and running soon. Here’s a link to last year’s series: www.joyofjazzconcerts.com 

Take a look at who is involved in the 2019/2020 series!! Yeah, it’s going to be a doozy…

There may be one more “Plato Pop Up Performance” which will be part of this series in 2020. I’m still scheming…

Enjoy the rest of your summer days everyone and thanks for reading my blog.

Karin

She Can Bloom

March is the month that signifies the beginning of a new season. It’s also the month when I’m involved in assisting with and performing as part of the Strong Women Strong Music concerts. These fund raising events specifically help Enterprising Women Making Art (EWMA), a program of Atira Women’s Resource Society based in Vancouver. This will be the 13th year we’ve presented women in jazz performing these concerts.

This year, since the SWSM concerts take place March 5-7 and, because International Women’s Day is actually Friday March 8th, I decided I’d like to produce another special event celebrating creative women artists. She Can Bloom will be an intimate community event which will take place on the Hood 29 Stage in East Vancouver. Hood 29 is a local Bistro with a warm and inviting atmosphere with a good stage and room to seat 100 people max. Expect spontaneous laughter, tears, joy and appreciation when these artists take to the stage with songs, poems, prose and thought provoking themes with wide ranging appeal. All are welcome to attend! Consider this a Dinner + Show event with the show starting at 8 PM, doors open for dinner by 6:30 PM.

Five creative, intrepid & inspiring artists in collaborative and solo works:

Kristina Olsen -American based song-writer/multi-instrumentalist

Jodi Proznick – Juno Award winning bassist/composer/educator

Shauna Johannesen- Leo Award winning actor/writer/film maker

Kate Braid – Acclaimed Canadian poet/writer

Karin Plato – Juno nominated vocalist/composer

I am absolutely thrilled that these extraordinary women have agreed to perform for the ‘She Can Bloom’ project. These are women I have watched and listened to, have been inspired and deeply moved by. I have cried, I have laughed, I have cheered for these talented artists. I have read the poems, books and songs that they have written. I have watched their films and plays. I have listened to their recordings and in some cases I have been able to share the stage with them. Now, the Vancouver audience will be able to attend an evening featuring each of these creative women in celebration of International Women’s Day.

Advance tickets are available through eventbrite.ca (She Can Bloom) Here’s the link:

She Can Bloom Tix

She Can Bloom – Friday, March 8th – 8 PM at Hood 29 – 4470 Main Street Vancouver 

Do you LIKE karinplatomusic?

Not so many months ago I released a new recording and although there hasn’t yet been a tour associated with the recording (maybe in the future?) my band mates and I performed two concerts in the Vancouver area to celebrate. I’ve only just begun to send out CD’s to radio stations and music reviewers.  Fans of my music have been very supportive already and have made various requests to have my music heard and featured on radio stations in their region of the globe. Thank you everyone! A spiffy new website will be up any minute now as designed by my good friend and at times the busiest man in town Paul Norton. I’ll let everyone know when it’s up and happening!

These days it appears that social media activity is rather important as it relates to an independent artist’s life and therefore I decided to hold a type of contest to give away a special KP gift package to some individual who “likes” my official facebook karinplatomusic page  karinplatomusic

It’s a bit of silliness to have to request people to like your page (in my opinion) however if you can imagine this: Apparently there are certain artist grants that musicians are currently applying for will look at those numbers and apparently are making some decisions based on those figures. Not the numbers on your “regular” facebook profile but the numbers on your artist page. So, rather than simply request those “likes” I’ve decided to give something back in the form of this gift package. It includes a copy of my new CD This Could Be The One, a spiffy new bebop bo bag featuring the character Bo who appears within the graphics of the CD and vinyl plus a gift card once again featuring Bo.

To enter simply go to my the karinplatomusic page on facebook and there are two things you will need to do to be “officially” in the contest:

1. LIKE the page itself.

2. LIKE the photo image of the KP Gift when you find it on the karinplatomusic page

I will make a draw for the winner on December 21 which, people often associate as being the first official day of winter. I’ll probably do a little video and have one of my friends be there to make the draw with me. I’ll have the package ready to be mailed (or if you live in the lower mainland I’ll try to have it delivered directly to you)

Do you like the sound of the contest? Ha!

Thanks everyone!
Karin