As one of the leading young jazz singers in the world, Sophie Milman now gets to play major international concert halls (The Hollywood Bowl, The Kennedy Centre) and jazz clubs. That doesn’t stop her from getting an extra tingle of excitement at the thought of her upcoming concert at Toronto’s premier venue, Massey Hall.

“I’ve been excited about it since playing there two years ago,” she told Tandem recently. “No matter what prestigious venues I play, Massey still has something very special about it. American artists tell me the same thing. It is eerie to be on that stage where so many amazing artists have played.” 
Milman says she enjoys playing both clubs and concert halls, “for very different reasons. The clubs are still fundamentally where jazz lives, where you can do things and experiment and where audiences expect a level of spontaneity. There’s a wonderful vibe. I just finished a run at The Blue Note in New York, and it’s the quintessential amazing jazz club. The sound is different when you are playing a concert hall. The level of precision you can accomplish is higher.”
Headlining Massey Hall testifies to the rapid career ascent of the Toronto-based Milman.

When this scribe first interviewed her five years ago, on the release of her self-titled debut CD, she had no inkling that she’d get this far so quickly. “No plan, no expectations,” she recalls. “Now I have those!”

Her career and audience continues to grow, and her new album (her third), Take Love Easy, has been met, justifiably, with near-unanimous rave reviews. “It has really helped put me further on the map in terms of critics and reviewers, and it has been getting a fantastic response. Personally, I finally feel I have made a record that stands on its own without the story of my life. The music is so personal and the playing is so wonderful that it’s a record that I can enjoy listening to on a certain level. When it comes on the radio I don’t shudder and turn it off!”

While noting that she’s had little negative response in her career, Milman does acknowledge “the media baggage that comes with success. Here, I feel I’ve made a record where nobody can say ‘oh, it’s because she’s blonde or young or because she’s an immigrant.’ This is a record that stands on its own. It’s eclectic, it’s interesting.”

It is a fact that Milman’s undeniable blonde beauty and her fascinating life story (she was born in Russia, then migrated to Italy then Canada with her family) helped account for early media attention. Now, however, the back story is of less importance than her evolution as a highly skilled jazz vocalist with an attractively sensual and slightly husky voice.
Milman’s 2007 album, Make Someone Happy, won her a Juno Award last year, confirming the industry respect she has earned here. As with Take Love Easy, it was recorded in Toronto with producer Steven MacKinnon (Natalie Cole, Molly Johnson) and an A list of our best jazz musicians. 
She credits the creative success of Take Love Easy as the result of “experience and comfort and increased confidence and working with musicians who really get me and in turn who I get. I don’t just sing a melody and a lyric. I understand what they’re doing. I’m a way better listener now, so I can interact and play off them more and vice versa. It has become a real collaborative and wonderfully creative process.”

The new album is an intelligent blend of lesser-known songs from The Great American Songbook (tunes by Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer) and more contemporary songs from the likes of Joni Mitchell (“Be Cool”), Bruce Springsteen (“I’m On Fire”) and Paul Simon (an interesting take on “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”).

When we ask if she’s ever considered songwriting, Milman replies, “I sense it is not my forte. To be honest, I haven’t given it a try. If it doesn’t come, I’m not driven to do it. Unlike math, you can’t sit yourself down and force yourself to get it. It has to come from deep within. For now, I feel comfortable to sing songs other people write, songs that really connect with me. I’ve said in the past that the songs I record are the songs I’d have written if I could write songs! They reflect my personality, they reflect the way I feel.” 

Take Love Easy is now out on Linus. Sophie Milman plays Massey Hall on Dec. 4.

Publication Date: 2009-11-29
Story Location: Tandemnews.com

SOPHIE MILMAN

“Take Love Easy” (E1/Koch)

There’s always a place in the world for another chic, sure-footed jazz chanteuse, and Sophie Milman has spent the last five years securing hers. A Russian-born Canadian with an approachably husky alto, Ms. Milman entered the game in 2004 with a callow but intriguing self-titled debut, boldly alluding to Nina Simone, Édith Piaf and Doris Day.

She’s shrewder with her evocations on “Take Love Easy,” her third album, and more strategic with her repertory. Produced by Steven MacKinnon, who also worked on Ms. Milman’s sophomore effort, “Make Someone Happy,” the new album strikes a balance of songbook standards and rearranged adult pop. There’s mixed success in that last regard: Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” works surprisingly well, while Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” is a predictable dud. “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” best known as a hit for Bonnie Raitt, comes off as a naked bid for easy-listening radio play.

The truth is that Ms. Milman applies a nostalgic gloss to everything she touches: she could remake a T-Pain come-on into a Carmen McRae entreaty. But she practices her style with flexibility and control, and most of the album casts her in flattering light. The opener, “Beautiful Love,” combines a crisply swinging tempo with a sultry minor key; “Where Do You Start?” closes things on a subtly dramatic note. Brazilian rhythm turns up not only on Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Triste” but also on a few jazz staples, effectively.

Throughout the album Ms. Milman enjoys the support of a house combo attuned to her smoldering restraint. At times she gets comfortable enough to fly off on a tangent. But Ms. Milman’s core philosophy might best be summed up by the Joni Mitchell tune she covers here: “Be Cool.” (Ms. Milman appears on June 15 at the Blue Note; for information, bluenote.net.) 

NATE CHINEN