Jazz For Mara - A History

JAZZ FOR MARA- a history

When our mom Lilly Barnes's book Mara was published Daniel's Quartet played for the jam packed event at the Pilot Tavern. They asked me to sing a few songs that were mentioned in the Jazz centric book and low and behold Jazz For Mara was born. Telling the story of young Jazz musician Ted obsessed with an older european lady who has been accused of a heinous crime seemed to already be set to music given the way Lilly wrote the story soaked in the Jazz scene of 1964 Toronto.

THE TEXT
When the published suggested that it made a good way to perform "readings" of the book my brother Daniel started to mastermind the creation of an evenings length concert. Building the actual show was a year in development involving workshops, readings, video and lots and lots and lots of editing and rewriting. Thank goodness we had the able hand of director and dramaturge Ed Roy on board to help us shape the piece.

THE MUSIC
Although there are plenty of recognizable Jazz standards in Jazz For Mara, both instrumental and vocal, Daniel and I developed a few original songs that helped set the mood and tell the story. Both "Obsession" and "Mystery Lady" as well as Daniels original "Jazz For Mara" become motifs that reappear and support the characters and plot.

THE REHEARSALS
Because Lilly has always been a writer behind the scenes we knew we would need a series of performance opportunities and so with agent Robert Missen on board we booked a few showcases allowing Lilly to find her feet as a performer and for the show to develop. Getting into the Factory and Lower Ossington Theatre's for on stage rehearsals was an important part of building the show for us as well. Our crunch time Fall 2011 was full of Daniel arranging and scoring, myself writing lyrics for the original tunes and Lilly working out the kinks of her performance with Ed.


THE AL GREEN THEATRE

A place Daniel and I have performed in many many times, including the tribute to our father composer Milton Barnes. So it's a logical and organic place for us to premiere the full length version of JAZZ FOR MARA with our excellent band on board. More about the show later but for now..
memorizing lyrics like crazy! ha ha

Domesticated Tour Pics

The second date on the tour brought us back to Queen Street West at our old stomping ground The Rivoli.. Ariana Gillis opened the show and her focused powerful set really cast a deep voodoo over the crowd. This shot of me in the back alley brings a lot of good memories back from the days when we regularly played The Bamboo, The Horseshoe and The Cameron Tavern!
Dan and Micah at Parc LaFontaine in Montreal.

As anyone whose ever been on the road will tell you it sounds great in theory and can be a lot of fun. But it also means sleep deprivation, long periods of boring road travel, weird performance situations, bad food that sounded good in theory... and wild parties full of groupies and drugs.

(OK clearly when your band is discussing the relative merits of the smoked meats at different Montreal deli's for most of the tour the wild parties are not so much a reality)

Last Domesticated Tour Date!

Tour Blog July 6th

Our last show of the season. A special event because I will be joining Daniel Barnes' critically acclaimed Jazz Quartet at The Hillebrand Jazz Festival. An honor and a privilege. Made even more special by the rarity of the occurrence.

Singing Jazz and Blues has always been a very natural place for me. Since my early teen years when I sat with the standards trying to understand the chords and melodies and lyrics of Cole Porter and the Gershwin's my musicality has been informed by the work of Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughn. I've been lucky enough to work in the Jazz idiom long enough that I feel at home there and cherish the opportunity to join a top notch Jazz Quartet like Daniel's.

Daniel and I have been working out the set list and decided on a few choice standards I have been working with since my teenage years.

Lullaby Of Birdland which is of course best known in it's version by the incomparable Sarah Vaughn is one of the uptempo tunes we're doing. Giving the band a chance to shine and the singer a chance to stumble LOL

Light and frothy lyrically but with a gorgeous melody, it was in fact one of the first of the Jazz standards that I tried to learn how to play and sing back when I was preparing material for the coffee houses and cabarets in Toronto at the tender age of 14 or 15!

I first heard Stormy Weather in Ethel Waters version. She was a huge superstar of stage and screen and recording studio in her day and the song was written for her before it became Lena Horne's trademark tune. I've always been attracted to the deeper spiritual question and the time change on the bridge. A complex and yet simple art song that defines the spirit of the blues.

We're also going to try out hand at the tune Cloudburst as a vocal duet for us brothers. This tune was penned by Lambert Hendricks and Ross in it's vocal version and covered by the Pointer Sisters in their early days as a Jazz vocal group. Daniel and I grew up on these recordings so this is going to be a blast.

The Hillebrand show is in fact the first time I've joined The Daniel Barnes Quartet at a Jazz festival. A very special way to wrap up THE DOMESTICATED tour!

Domesticated Set List (Part 2)

Exhausted? Yup. Happy? You bet! The London Free Press just gave us excellent converge of tomorrows show at The London Music Club. The shows are going great, everyone's being really supportive and the buzz on the disc is growing by leaps and bounds. I feel like a very lucky artist indeed.

More about the Songs from the Set:

Two Silhoutes On The Shade:

One is my favorite of the old school covers that the Nylons rearranged and recorded, this one on the classic "One Size Fits All" (my personal favorite of The Nylons discs). Daniel and I are singing with only Jon playing bass in this arrangement which allows the classic heartbreaking story of boy who thinks his girl is cheating by spying below her window and then realizes he was just on the wrong street. One of the best of the old school vocal group songs in that the story is so precise and well expressed lyrically and melodically.

Inside Out:

The beginning of a relationship is an exciting time but also a scary experience. Will be accepted for who we truly are when we stop pretending and pull away the masks? Natural insecurities are bound to come out and I wanted to write a song about the struggle to feel lovable that we all feel.

Its true that I have rerecorded this song on each of my solo discs, I believe this time that we have finally gotten it right. You be the judge.

After You:

Living at the end of the freeway right on the ocean in Venice Beach, (the beach town mentioned in the lyric), and struggling to find balance after the end of a long term relationship..I wrote this song to express "just how far a man could fall". The song was the last one completed for the album "Micah Barnes" and ended up opening up the disc with it's deep sense of drama and loss with communication to the lover saying "I thought you'd want to know, this is what happened after you".

Don't You Forget About Me:

OK Daniel and I agreed we needed a "pop" song that would be deeply familiar to our audiences and give them the kick of memory to leave them feeling happy, (Our "in house" name for this tour has been " The Make The People Happy Tour"), but we hadn't figured out what tune would work best. I was shopping at The Metro late at night and heard this Simple Minds classic over the sound system and got a sudden shiver through my body. I guess thats when I knew we may have found our perfect slice of familiar "happiness".

Domesticated Set List (Part 1)

Thursday June 2nd 2011

I am having the time of my life folks. The Tour dates this weekend are like a pleasure ride waiting at an amusement park. Yahoo!

SoooooI thought I would describe how the songs in the set emerged for us and where they come from.

Firstly a word about the set order and song choices.

I rely heavily on brother/ collaborator Daniel Barnes to find the right balance and not go over board on the ballads which I would sing all night long if given the chance LOL.

We have very similar taste in music, and Dan has the overview about how to build sets that will satisfy an audience much better than I.

…And so our tour set Part 1

(with variations depending on the show and venue and audience of course)...

Wild as the Wind

Been playing with this cover song for years, trying it our while performing solo shows in Los Angeles. I first head this song in the David Bowie version. Bowie's European Cabaret roots emerge from underneath his Rocker image more than just occasionally..both of which I relate to of course.. and his version is a prime example of his deep crooner style. The Nina Simone version is also well known, the original Johnny Mathis version from the film of the same name quiet vapid by comparison to my ears. I find the simple but poetic lyric carries me deep into the wilds of abandon every time I perform the song…making it a perfect way to set the tone and start our sets!

My Teenage Heart

This song from our latest disc "Domesticated" has a Bowie connection as well. While writing that summer in the boat house I was feeling the adolescent messiness of my past romantic behavior and found a way to say I'm sorry to all the past lovers in this tune. Our bridge, which Daniel created, is very much an ode to the classic Spinners sound but the groove idea I was using while writing it was very close to Bowie's "Panic In Detroit" which I've always loved. Although the recorded version which both Daniel and producer Gavin Bradley helped me develop sounds nothing like that recording it's always fascinating to remember the source.

(Now I Know Why They Call It) Falling

I remember well what a simple singable melody does to a crowd from my days with The Nylons. My past solo work has usually been more focused on lyrics and passion and pain…But that same summer in the boat house there was something new happening in my writing. A fresh approach to melody and harmony that held a new sense of joy and happiness and possibility. Writing an open hearted love song is in fact one of the hardest challenges a writer every has. Lets just say there was a bit of inspiration floating in the air that summer that this song tapped into. We used the old Buddy Holly record "Everyday" in our arrangement approach to keep everything simple and straight forward….

Shop Around

When looking for cover tunes the Motown songbook often seems overmined for it's gems…. but this tune, which Smokey Robinson wrote with Berry Gordy and made an early 60's hit with The Miracles, still feels fresh. The sexy and clever lyric always feels playful and a little naughty to me, which isn't a bad thing when you are performing for an audience right? The band (Daniel Barnes and Jon Maharaj) have been turning out a slinky funky groove on this one that feels like we could ride on it all night long. SO much fun to deliver!

More songs later. Off to Waterloo for my first date their as a solo act.

(We're taking this country one town at a time folks ha ha)

Domesticated Tour Blog: Day 5 Song Selection

Day Five: Friday May 6th

Wow so much going on it's hard to stop and breath and write.

Approving website changes, putting together technical info for the Rivoli and other dates, coordinating between PR lady Sue McCallum and venues, making sure the Facebook events page is built before we announce tour dates etc. It's a kooky kind of fun but it's also jam packed and all time specific.

I have found myself in a kind of a round the clock frenzy. (Actually haven't been able to make the gym much grrrrr). But because of the experts on the team (like ROO! Big Shout Out to Dale Speaking "Online Marketing Dood"!) we are now entering the world of online promotion with a lot of new ideas and a powerful locomotive engine driven by creativity and playfulness!

My online team at Dale Speaking and home skillet web mistress Lulu have been working around the clock to prepare the Micah Barnes world for The "Domesticated" Tour. It's been a huge job and I'm frankly really looking forward to how people respond to the new look and feel of all the sites. Twitter, Myspace, You Tube, Facebook and the home website… all updated to reflect the new disc and 8 city tour. Talk to me people are we looking ready for action? LOL

This week I also had the opportunity to see a whole batch of live acts at a big fundraiser for the Stephan Lewis Foundation, reminding me of just what this whole machinery is all FOR. Bringing the music to the people! Performers like old pals Holly Cole and Lorraine Segato and Ka'nan performed in support of the foundations work around Aids in Africa.. along with Rufus Wainwright, Alicia Keys and Angelique Kudjo. Inspirational indeed. I actually got to meet the legendary Harry Belafonte who co-hosted! Wow. Still a handsome devil too. Hows he doing that?

The biggest inspiration for me that evening came from Angelique who tore the stage up as only she can. Do not miss this powerhouse if you have a chance to feel her voodoo live. Rufus and Alicia, although both brilliant incredible songwriters proved to me that they are both best experienced as recording artists.

So..What is it that makes a performer truly great? Been doing some thinking about this.

A willingness to be fearless and completely honest with their audience seems essential. A confidence that they truly have a gift to give and a desire to move people at a core level is important too….

Will I achieve this on the "Domesticated" tour? Hmmmmm. I keep visualizing the venues filed with people, my heart open to give… as the lyrics and melodies and grooves wash over the crowd……

Rehearsals with Daniel went great this week as we locked down the arrangement details on the new material we're presenting during this tour before starting sessions with bassist Jon Maharaj who joins us next week.

The shows are built to present the songs from the new disc "Domesticated" along with some old chestnuts from the world of Jazz and Blues and Soul. I wanted people to get a sense of the entire musical world I live in during this show… and also have a chance to perform some special songs I've wanted to sing for a long time.

Hence, although I am shy to give away the titles, we have material by Smokey Robinson, Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, Cole Porter, Peggy Lee, Laura Nyro, The Drifters, The Supremes, Lee Dorsey, Allan Toussaint, The Originals, etc on deck….as well as a few Nylons chestnuts of course!

There will indeed, be something for everyone. We're jokingly calling it the "Keep The People Happy" tour.

Ok this is the million dollar question. If there was one song you'd like to hear us perform on this tour what would it be?

"Domesticated Tour Blog: Day One

Day One. May 2nd. 2011

I've decided to take you guys on this journey with me as we prepare for the spring tour dates, both so you can have a peek at the process behind the scenes, and also so we can feel a little closer to the folks we are doing this all for…YOU, our peeps!

This past weekend I was still recovering from a week in NYC and literally couldn't get off the couch. Glued to my Michael Connelly crime novel (they are like crack aren't they?) and just managing to do what litle socializing I had already booked.

I actually was awoken in the middle of the night by a combination of Obama's announcement about Bin Laden on the radio and the panic in my head thinking through everything we have to accomplish this month before we kick things off. A little meditation calmed me down and let me sleep the rest of the night. -phew-

The day today started with a little chat with my romantic partnering NYC who is on Broadway (The Tony's are being announced tomorrow, so exciting!), before

rehearsal with my collaborator and bandleader brother, drummer and vocalist Daniel Barnes. Daniel and I warmed our voices up (he has become an excellent BG singer which is a LOT harder than it looks I might add) and we reviewed existing arrangements on the "Domesticated" CD before jumping into a new tune which we are preparing especially for this tour. Danielis always joking that all I bring to the table are ballads but for once I found a rousing rocking tune that will satisfy some of you Nylons fans as well as those people who love a good old fashioned soul rave up. Bet you can't guess which tune it is people! huh? huh?

Then I came home from Liberty Village where Dan's studio is to my own Queen Street apt and brainstormed an idea with Sue McCallum our publicist over the phone. Sue and I agree, she is actually well within my "audience demographic" so when we are talking through potential pitches to media etc I know she has a good handle on whether an approach will work or not. The key thing is she gets the music, which is a good thing, cause we have to fill seats for 8 shows! Tickets for London's show at The London Music Club went on sale today yahoo!

Then after some more e mail business pertaining to tomorrow mornings meeting with my online team Roo and April over at Dale Speaking I headed off to my local Y to follow through on my commitment to make my body as strong and as in shape as possible.

Performing is a physical act and the more in fit I am the more energy I feel I have left for the performance, (not to mention the traveling and the hauling gear and the missed sleep etc.) Thats one thing I learned early in the business. A good show is dependent on good rest, a peaceful unstressed out approach and being in the best physical shape possible. Thank goodness I paid attention while I was being trained this past year because now is the time when it all pays off.

Ones mental attitude changes when you are working out as well. I feel like I have the energy to do anything…which is a good place to be facing the mountain in front of us!