It was nice to do something a bit different on Sat night, its not jazz baby but those of you who know me well know I'm a long time fan of Vera Lynn (oh yes, its true - ever since I was a kid in the musical Blitz by Lionel Bart which features her singing 'The Day After Tomorrow' I've had a huge admiration for her flawless vocal technique - check out her version of 'My Way' on Spotify if you're a doubter).  So anyway, I played her fronting the New Foxtrot Serenaders in a show at Norden Farm Arts Centre in Maidenhead.  I just posted video evidence on the original facebook event page if you'd like a butchers - http://www.facebook.com/jeaniebartonofficial

A nice addition to the evening was meeting a guy called Bill Rennells who is a long time BBC radio DJ who co-compered the show, he's a lovely fella and took one of my cd's back with him saying he'd play it on his show; he did as promised last night and you can listen on the iPlayer for another week or so I think - I'm on 1h 27mins in: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p003nd60/Harmony_Night_12_07_2009/

So that was a nice plug for the forthcoming album   Just to let you know if you're keen to buy tracks before the official release; this song and 2 other originals as well as 6 well known jazz choons we recorded are on itunes already, so do look me up!....

Thanks as always for your interest in all this - I feel blessed x....

We had a nice hot and sunny day in Birmingham on Saturday; playing to the lunch time throng in the Picardilly Arcade, right in the middle of the city centre.  With me are John 'its Amazing' China on piano, Mick 'the sticks' Parker on drums and Tony 'Wawa' Reeves on double bass - we did lots of old favourites and some of my originals too...

Here's a couple of angles on the action:

'Scared of the Keys'


a punter filmed us 'Caravaning' from the other end, check the moves + the scateboarders getting with it:


We went down like a good'n and sold quite a few cds too so thank you to the nice people of Brum - the Big Bear gang told me on the phone earlier they've had a great response and they definately want us back next year!  :)









 

 

Last Friday 'I took a trip on a train and I thought about you' - it was for a nice gig to say the least, so I tried to document it.... 

We were booked to play a duo gig (me singing and Chris Berry aka CJ on guitar) at a cocktail reception on the deck of a boat on the Seine for, The Korean Royal Family amongst other VVIP guests.  The do was a welcome dinner for a hospitality weekend at Le Mans [a Korean company has signed a deal with the Ferrari team to make the tyres for their race cars] and we kicked off the celebrations of this union.

Below is a run down of our wacky whistle stop tour:

We had an early start and took the Eurostar from swanky St Pancras, only slight downside was our train was just after a Disney Land one so the departure lounge had a mildly irritating trad jazz ensemble blasting out tuba and trumpet heavy versions of when you wish upon a star etc.  Anyway, when we arrived we were really happy with our hotel 'Luticia' - seen behind me here swinging




It reminded us slightly of the Shining with all its deco details but we didn't see any ghosts






there was loads of surreal art and statues in there which we loved too.  The French seem to have a way of appreciating the now - creating mind expanding art - no practical purpose, only pleasure - they take time to just sit in parks and appreciate the surroundings - a slow paced and contemplative existence - CJ and I felt inspired.



This is the park opposite the hotel where we ate salad and took a leaf out of the locals' book.  "Slow down, ya goin too fast - ya got to make the moment last..."

Then we went to our rooms and got organised.  This is my bedroom:



and my ensuite



it was a fine set up - I stupidly drank a bottle of water from the mini bar but quickly went to the shop with the empty bottle to replace it when Chris pointed out it cost 7 Euros!!

We got dolled up and met in the foyer where a car was laid on to pick us up for technical rehearsals at 6pm, then we were on the boat



The sound system was all sorted by a technical team - 4 massive speakers on each corner of the boat, mic and stand for me and fender twin for CJ, we were spoiled :) There was a professional photographer who took a bunch of pics of us playing - I'll try to get hold of them... we played for an hour from 8-9pm and then grooved about on the deck as the guests had gone inside for dinner, here's some of our tom foolery



we saw all the sights - had a guided tour and a 3 course meal just like the guests, We ate way too much.







We went past the Eiffel tower at 10pm when they turn on these mad twinkley strobe lights all over it which was a shock- that lasted for 5 mins.

We were back on land at about 11pm and back to the hotel by midnight, we hunted for a bar to get a glass of wine but no luck as the cafe's only served you if you had a meal as well and NO WAY could we eat any more... Also Chris was frustrated as all the shops had run out of cigarettes - it seems friday night is the night people clean out le tabac's.  I got a can of Leffe and we sat opposite the hotel smoking my Vogue menthol.  By about 1 we were knackered and went to bed.

The next morning we had the gormet breakfast all laid on (what a waste - we were still full!) but I had a little egg, bacon and mushrooms and an earl grey tea.  Chris had a whole pot of coffee and tried to have cereal but made a milk error and unwittingly chose sheep's milk so that went to waste.  He went for the safe option of bread and cheese instead mmmm.

We checked out and funnily they tried to charge me for the bottle of water I replaced (turns out the mini bar has magnetic sensors in it! Crazy huh, like something out of the Thomas Crown Affair) I wriggled out of it luckily and we got a taxi back to the Gare du Nord at about half 10.  We flew past some more sights including the hugely opulent Academy of music -




it seems to reinforce just how much respect they have for musicians, we were treated so well it was quite jarring; shames some of the UK venues where you have to practically beg for a glass of water or a bowl of chips to keep you going.

And so we sped our way home...




back on the train - top speed




A final glimpse of france




It was a lovely trip and a taste of the high life, CJ wants to move there, it is vibrant and places real value on creativity; where as there might be a pre-conditioned assupmtion that musicians in Britain are somehow considered underlings (unless they are famous or a 'celebrity') it was refreshing to feel that jazzers can be VVIP's too.
 

Amazing Radio has just been launched!

It is the brainchild of Amazingtunes.com and is a new national DAB station broadcasting throughout the UK - it is the world's first radio station where all the music is brand new and the first interactive station where the audience will choose the playlists...

I'm chuffed that they've chosen to open their UK wide broadcast playlisting my song 'Cruel Competition', you can also hear tunes by my good friends Belle Humble and Ella Jones on there too!

Listen now on DAB radio (scroll one up from BBC radio 1) or listen on the net by following this link http://amazingradio.co.uk/playlists (on the top right of the page click 'Or listen live (iTunes link)...' you need to open the file using iTunes or Winamp)

To get more airplay I need people to tag and rate my songs ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ! Go to http://www.amazingtunes.com/users/jeaniebarton (I lost a load of ratings when I had to redo my profile and upload my remastered tracks)

I do hope you can oblige and get me back up there - PLEASE spread the word and the new jazz! Merci xj

A nice audient sent a dvd he took of me with the Al Wynette band at the 606 back in March.  I've tried to take clips out of it for youtube etc but for some reason the synchronisation of sound and image has gone a little askew - if anyone can tell me how to fix this I would be much appreciative!  In the mean time here's my monkey magic versions of 'Sunny Side of the Street' and 'My foolish Heart'

Yesterday I met the nice folk at PRS for the above campaign's launch.  It was rather an eventful occasion. [Waterman...] 

There is a lot of industry panic out there as the music we create is now being deemed worthless by some of the biggest companies on the net. Check out these articles:

http://musically.com/blog/2009/04/08/songwriters-gang-up-on-google-at-prs-for-music-event-liveblog/

Billy Bragg is very eloquent:

http://musically.com/blog/2009/04/08/billy-bragg-talks-google-myspace-and-creator-rights-in-the-digital-era/

I'm in the middle on the floor:

Ok, this has been quite hard to collate but digging in the depths of my motives, this blog should help explain how the album was conceived…

Firstly I should explain that the title track; ‘The Magical Mirror’ is about my dad who sadly died in September 2004.  He has been my biggest influence and was a magnetic personality; kind yet stern, silly and serious, respected and loved.  He had a dominant presence both on stage as an actor and in person and was able to befriend anyone.  He might have become a professional actor had his life not dictated that he became qualified as a chartered accountant and acting remained a serious hobby.

The mirror is Georgian with a gold gilt surround and still sits over the mantle shelf in my mother’s drawing room.  My father maintained that with the help of this ‘magic’ mirror, any of life’s problems could be solved.  I think that this mirror knew him better than anyone, and my account of their relationship came to me while on holiday in Antigua in April 2008.  I was sun bathing and listening to my MP3 player on random when a particular version of ‘The Man I Love’ played by Wardell Gray came on - the lyrics flowed from his saxophone solo almost seamlessly - I think it took me less than a couple of hours to write this vocalese.  I hope he would have liked it.



All of my songs are observations, both of my own behaviour and of those around me.  ‘I Won’t Ask’ and ‘Can I think of Love?’ are the opposite of angst songs – my outlook probably stems from my upbringing; my parents were so happy together and had a very measured relationship, my mother seamed to be particularly good at maintaining a contented home.  I never thought that I would find a partner with whom I could be as happy as they were…

I have found ‘Cruel Competition’ to be a song that a lot of people identify with!  I wrote it whilst managing a local fair trade furniture and gift store.  I listened to the owners’ mostly Brazilian music CDs, and based it on the melody of “Meu Mundo e Hoje” By Wilson Batista.  It is a story of hesitation and the obstacles of romance (which I know both my friends and I have encountered…!)  ‘I Try too Hard’ is a similar sentiment from the same period (I have written English lyrics to “Banho Cheiroso” by Antonio Vieira) and although I was probably writing autobiographically at the time, I would like to dedicate it to my friend ‘Di’ who was always too keen to find ‘the one’ although now thankfully she has found him (in Australia - not Crouch End) and I am to be her bridesmaid next January!

Also while working there, I wrote ‘Without You Tonight’.  This is in fact the first song I wrote to be included in the album.  I don’t know where it came from – the sky I suppose - but I just started singing it and I was so anxious not to forget it that I sang it into my voicemail so I could write it out when I got home.  It is a Christmas song, probably because my friend, drummer and composer Lennie Breslaw and I decided that to have a Christmas hit would be most lucrative…  It reflects my feelings over the festive season towards my then rather illusive lover.

‘Don't Assume that I'm Blue’ is about the same said lover who inevitably left me.
 
‘Scared of the Keys’ is a story about the fear of success – I have found this condition to be quite common among musicians I have met.

‘Kinder’ is unashamedly and gushingly about my current partner, who has given me the contented relationship I thought it was not possible to find (in London in this day and age!).  He loves the Caribbean and took me to Antigua where I found myself inspired to compose – one day perhaps we will make it our home for six months of the year? We can but dream…

Finally ‘Looonatic’ I had better not elaborate on! – Lets just say I’ve come across some very strange people and I am sure I am not alone in my assessment of them.   It was recorded as a bit of fun to end the album and I should point out that the voice samples featured are not related to the subject matter - they are good friends of mine! NB. Maria McLardy is the 'Jazz Lady' she was the 'first bar maid in Ronnie Scotts' and is an excellent musical mentor; I must thank her for introducing me to vocalese.

I made the last minute decision to include a cover track and have always liked ‘Missing You’ by Chris De Burgh, I think it makes a beautiful ballad and I very much admire his sensitive and wise lyrics.  I have merged it with the Jazz standard ‘My One and Only Love’ by Robert Mellin and Guy Wood, I hope you like the arrangement.  

We are about to record some bonus interlude music, then we will re-master the tracks, design the artwork and print up the CDs…! phew
 
Peace and out xj

Ok, after much reticence I have taken the plunge and created an artist page on the 'facebook' where people, like yourselves, can (if you wish) choose to be a 'fan'...

http://www.facebook.com/jeaniebartonofficial

Naturally I would love it if you do, and will be mortified if noone does!  As 'Antony and the Johnsons' Antony Hegarty recently said, "I think that’s what separates the wheat from the chaff - one’s tolerance for humiliation."

Opening up to such public scrutiny makes me feel a little icky but I know it is a necessary evil in this information age - for the promotion of my music...  Consequently I have been crawling all over the web and you can now find me on iLike, Twitter and The Jazz Network, so we can no doubt deepen the global recession by socially networking our working days away...

Still, I take confidence in the kind words that came my way today from Katie Napper aka 'Pinecone' at We7.com who said, "Good luck then Jeanie, we think your music is fantastic here at We7 so I'm sure it will do really well!!"  I can only hope...

Strength xj

Hi Everyone,

Its still going well this end!  Following their kind appreciation and promotion of 'Cruel Competition' last month; MeMusic are now also featuring 'Kinder' as one of the 'Songs We Love' at http://memusic.metro.co.uk/ so thanks again to them!!!

All the album's tracks are now on sale on their site [prior to official release] visit http://memusic.metro.co.uk/users/jeaniebarton now to hear all the tracks in full and PLEASE click the ♥ next to the songs you like - they will be boosted up the Metro Chart and hopefully feature in that famous London Commuter Paper 

I'm gonna give you an insight into the individual songs soon and we are busy organising dates where you will be able to catch us playing this new material live around London and beyond!

Thanks for your continued support...  xj