Jane Drake: News

As of today, my "Brand New Woman" CD is making its way slowly around the world on radio. It's now getting airplay on 75 plus jazz stations including Canada, The Netherlands, Australia and Luxembourg. If you listen to any of the following stations, I'd love it if you'd call and request a tune off my CD.

The stations include WSHA 99.9 FM - Raleigh NC, (also offered CD as an on-air promotion); WUMR - Memphis; WBZC & WUMR - Philadelphia, PA/Pemberton NJ; WPRB - Trenton, NJ; KUER - Salt Lake City, UT; KASU - Arkansas State Univ.; WCLV/WRMR - The Netherlands; CJAM - Windsor, ON; CHRW - London, ON; CJSR - Edmonton, Canada; KCME - Colorado Springs; KUNV & KCME- Las Vegas; WRTC & WWUH - Hartford, CT; WESM -Maryland; WFHU - Henderson, TN; WDNA FM - Miami; KBUT - Crested Butte, CO; KLBC - Long Beach, CA; WRFR - Rockland, ME; KAJX - Aspen, CO; KCHO - Chico, CA; KEDM - Monroe LA; KSFR - Santa Fe, NM; KSUT - Ignacio, CO; KVNF - Paonia, CO; KXCV - Maryville, MO; KUSD, Vermillion, SD; WAER - Syracuse, NY; WESM - Princess Anne, MD; WFHU - Henderson, TN; WICN - Worchester, MA; WWVU - Morgantown, WV; KEOL - La Grande, OR; KGLT - Boseman, MT; KMXT - Kodiac, AK; KRFC - Ft. Collins, CO; WBUL - Tampa, FL; CFRE - Mississauga, ON; CHUO - Ottawa, ON; KNDS - Fargo, ND; KSTO - Northfield, MN; WMPG - Portland, ME; WPVM - Ashville, NC; WRFR - Rockland, ME; WUPJ - Johnstown, PA; KEUL - Gridwood, AK; WDET - Detroit, MI; WICR - Indianapolis, IN; ABF - Little Rock, AR; WDPS - Dayton OH; WCBE - Columbus, OH; WBLZ - Hoover, AL and 14 of Georgia's jazz radio stations.

In Nov. '06, "Brand New Woman" was the #1 jazz CD of the Week at WCFM in Williamstown, MA. It was one of the Top Ten jazz CDs played at stations WBZC - Pemberton NJ for 3 weeks in a row and CHMR - St. Johns, Canada for 5 straight weeks. It was also a Top Ten for 3 weeks at KAMP - Tucson, AZ and 1 week at CHUO - Ottawa, Canada; WDPS - Dayton, OH and WUPJ - Johnstown, PA.

In Dec. '06, "Brand New Woman" was ranked #6 in the Top Ten at Station CHRW - London, ON, Canada. In Feb. '07 it was the #1 jazz CD of the Week at KRFP in Moscow, ID. Three more radio stations began giving it airplay: WRPI, Troy/Albany, NY; WGLT - Normal, IL; and KPFA-Berkely, San Francisco, CA.

Peter Kuller, Host of Radio Adelaide - Sellicks Beach, Australia had this to say:
"Jane Drake has a great voice and the backing trio is excellent.
Choice of songs has universal appeal."

Jeannie Becker, Jazz host of at Station WBZC and WPRB in Philadelphia, PA says, "When Jane sings, it's personal, pure and reminiscent of times gone by. Nice to hear that vintage sound in today's music; a welcoming and soothing reassurance that all is not lost!"

Greg Hughes, jazz & blues director of KRFP Radio Free Moscow, Moscow, ID said, "A very enjoyable CD of jazz standards and a couple of great originals. Drake is an engaging singer with a warm voice and a touch of that quirkiness and fun you find in singers like Blossom Dearie, Dave Frishberg & Bob Dorough. She has the ability to change the mood of a song with subtle changes in her timbre & phrasing. This is especially true in her original title song, "Brand New Woman." But she also shows her versatility on this album with two "torchy" ballads, a dreamy bossa nova treatment of "My Funny Valentine and a romping jazz samba version of "Secret Love." Enjoyable music from an accomplished singer who sounds like she's having a lot of fun."

The SuperJazz Concert in Birmingham, AL on November, 19, '06 was a lot of fun for me. This was my second appearance with the band after a gap of several years, and the weather that day was anything but welcoming; it was very cold and windy. Besides the dropping temperature, other big events in town were competing for our audience, nonetheless, we had a good turnout. And the chilly weather, if anything, only ushered in a hot musical experience.

This 21-piece big band is made up of some of the finest musicians you will find anywhere in the world. As SuperJazz promotional literature puts it, they are "21 of Birmingham's top professional jazz musicians." Birmingham should be very proud of such a spectacular asset.

The rhythm section chairs are filled by Chris Wendle (bass), Sonny Harris, (drums), Bob Taylor (piano), Tom Wolfe (guitar)

The saxes include Kim Bain (tenor), John Anderson (alto), Sallie White (alto), Jon Remley (tenor), Grady Chandler (bari)

The trombone section is Ryan Black, Mark Foster, Bob Black, Steve Pryor, Mike Lingo (bass)

Trumpets are Bo Berry, Rick White Chip Crotts, Brad Sargent, Mallory Pierce

And last, but not least, the conductors are Mike Lingo and Everett Lawler, a fellow Auburn Knights alum and also a very talented writer/arranger.

Many of these fine players are band directors or former band directors, at both the high school and college level, who play professionally as often as they can. The rest are well-experienced jazz players. It was an absolute pleasure for me to perform with such an outstanding group of musicians backing me.

The band played some ambitious charts on their part of the show, including John Coltrane's "Impressions." From the barn burners to the sultry ballads, they rivet their audiences to their seats...or blow them out. True to their name, they ARE indeed SUPERjazz.

After a brief intermission, it was my turn on stage. Mike Lingo, who does such a good job rehearsing and as front man, brought up my connection to the Auburn Knights Orchestra (AKO) and noted that many Knights have been and are a part of SuperJazz. I would talk even more about that connection when I introduced my tunes and talked about my new CD, "Brand New Woman." Sonny Harris, a long time friend and AKO alum, and Chris Wendle were backing me on that project.

My first two numbers were big band charts. A bright jazz samba called "The Meaning of the Blues" was up first. It was written by the famous Bobby Troup. Normally it's done as a ballad, which makes this hot arrangement by Jay H. Owen (A fellow Auburn Knight and now a professional arranger) so unusual. The highlight for me is a single-line vocalese section in which I'm "trioing" with trumpet and saxophone. Bo Berry (trumpet) and Kim Bain (sax) were right on the money through this challenging section, and it came off without a hitch.

Next up was a swinging/singing arrangement of the well-known Bobby Troup tune, "Route 66." I say this is a singing arrangement because the band gets to flex their vocal muscles too. It's crowd-pleasing fun.This arrangement was by another good friend, and Auburn Knights' writer/arranger, J. Hatch, who is presently living in Germany. Hatch was a guest artist with SuperJazz just last year when the band played several of his original charts.

To close out my set, I performed two numbers with only the rhythm section. The first was "Angel Eyes," one of my all-time favorites, again from the pen of Bobby Troup, but this time with the amazing lyrics of Matt Dennis. Honestly folks, I didn't plan to do three Bobby Troup numbers. I realized it after the concert. Bobby must have been dealing with me from up above. Anyway, I do not mind at all because they are all such great tunes.

Next was the title song — my own original — off my new CD "Brand New Woman." It's a sassy blues that I describe as my "Desperate Housewives" number. Dr. Tom Wolfe, guitarist, Director of Jazz Studies and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Alabama, played the jazz solos beautifully and bluesily on these last two tunes.

As I exited stage left, I had a genuine smile on my face because the audience had given me a very warm sendoff and because everything had gone so well. Without missing a beat, the band came back with "Sing, Sing Sing." This gave Sonny Harris a chance to work out. He really cut loose and had everybody laughing because he tapped out the beginning of the Auburn War Eagle song in the middle of his chorus. It was apropos because Auburn had just won their final game of the season the day before by upsetting Alabama for the fifth time in five years. Maybe that's why Sonny sounded so inspired. Naah! Sonny's always inspired. I tell you folks, you should have been there. Pardon me Bama fans, but WAR EAGLE!

"One O'Clock Jump" was a fitting end to such a fine concert, and for me, it completed the Auburn Knights' circle of influence on this occasion, because the arrangement was by another AKO alum, Neil McLean. It is always the last and signature tune for each SuperJazz concert. And that reminds me, I can't sign off without saying a big thank you to my good friend, Mary Kate Gach for manning my CD table and putting me up for the weekend. We all need friends like that.

If you're within a reasonable travel distance from Birmingham, and you like great big band music, you'll want to check out SuperJazz and get on their email list. I enjoyed it so much that I'm hoping to be asked back again. If you sign up for my email list, I'll let you know.

Dean Fran Kochan of the AU College of Education set up our group of music makers under a big white tent beside the new Ag Heritage Pavilion. It looks like a cute red barn and it was a great place to perform outdoors.

Our group was called the Auburn Knights Orchestra Alumni Group. (And we have a pix to prove it ...look in my photo section.) The nucleus was Steve Means, alternate drummer, long time Mayor of Gadsden and one of the best front men every year at the AK Reunion; John Norton on keyboard; Richard Garrett on bass; Patrick Bruce on guitar; David Zuwiyaa on drums; Cecil Welch and Daniel Tidwell on Sax. Cecil was there during the first half and Daniel, who is in his last year on the current Knights, came on board during the second half of the gig.

Daniel told me he is from a small town in Alabama with no high school jazz program. Amazingly he didn’t get interested in playing jazz until he arrived at college. You certainly wouldn’t know it by hearing his inventive playing. We really appreciated the support from one of the current Knights.

Another delightful surprise was when Steve took to the drums (he seldom does) with his old trio The Winehead--inactive for the last few years. John, Richard and Steve performed a beautiful Beetles medley ending with one of my favorites "Norweigian Wood." And believe me, they didn't miss a lick. They sounded like they'd been rehearsing all week, but I know they couldn't have been.

I held down the vocal duties and had a blast singing through some of my favorites. Dean Kochan -- a long time supporter of the Auburn Knights -- was all smiles. The crowd was appreciative (No, I don’t think it was the wonderful barbecue...surely not!), and we were heard as well by hundreds of passersby. The tent was set up right by the roadway. The weather was very sunny and warm with a brisk cooling breeze. It was great to be in the "action" of game day in Auburn. You just might see anything. I drove past one group of college students twice...both times I honked my horn at their sign..."You honk, we drink." I suppose I shouldn't be encouraging them, but it all seemed like just game day fun.

One thing for certain, there was a mass of orange and blue covering just about every inch of campus and much of the main roadways for as far as one could see. I think I heard that 87,000 people were in the stands for the Auburn/Florida game that day.

The icing on the Aubie-flavored cake that day was the spectacular win over Florida...Sorry if you're reading this and support Florida. My sympathy. But after our bitter loss the weekend before, we all enjoyed this win to the max. It doesn’t get much sweeter than that 2nd half. And we certainly enjoyed entertaining the people passing by and through the College of Education Tent before the big game. War Eagle!

My new CD, "Brand New Woman" will soon be heard on jazz approximatly 300 radio stations around the United States and perhaps internationally. I am now working to circulate my CD within a wider range of radio stations playing jazz. I hope to also merit some reviews from radio hosts and personalities and print media.

Stay tuned. I will update you when there is more definite news to report on this subject.

Guest artist Rick Bell:
I'm happy to report that the concert went well, in fact, VERY well.
With Atlanta's own Rick Bell as our guest artist, everyone would expect
such glowing remarks. And Rick was certainly up to his usual standards.
Yes, I did say standards. Rick wanted to play standards that he had
played with Bob and that worked out great. He did a fine job of keeping
Bob's memory out front as he announced each tune. And he wowed the
audience, as usual, and won some new fans. We had several young high
schoolers in attendance, which delighted all of us. They certainly
attended "class" listening to Rick and, for that matter, the rest of the
guys.

About the rhythm section:
They were all wonderful, but I'll start with the piano player. J. Hatch was
his usual charismatic self on stage. I had several people ask me about him
and I heard repeated remarks that he was "fun" to watch as well as listen to.
He quips that it's only because he looks like he's dying while he's playing.
I think he exaggerates.....a bit. (I know him well. I can kid with him like that.) Hatch, as most of you know, now lives in Germany. He used this trip to the
States not only to play this concert, but to work on his own CD of original
tunes at Polymusic Studios in B'ham. Believe me, Folks, it's sounding mighty
good and will be available to purchase in a few months. We'll be sure to let
you know about that. And as soon as we can, we'll get him over again in the
guest artist spot for a show featuring him and his original compositions.

Concert a first for Robert Dickson:
Robert is currently living and working in Atlanta since he became a
Hurricane Katrina victim. He comes with a very strong reputation for
excellence in bass playing and for possessing a prized bass. He hates to
leave it out of his sight for long, and I don't blame him. It's hard to find
the right instrument for yourself most of the time. Robert has found it
and he doesn't want to lose it. If you have dinner with Robert, he's going
to leave the table at least once to check on his baby. I was amazed at how
many Auburn Knights friends had played with Robert, or "Dig" as he
is also known. I was asked to deliver hellos from several people. I told
him on stage that we're adopting him...he's just that good. And he has a
special relationship with Sonny Harris whom he workedwith in B'ham for
many years before going to New Orleans.

Sonny Harris awed the crowd:
Sonny is well deserving of the reputation as the first call drummer in
Birmingham and points North, South, East and West. He is well known in
many directions. And he is "getting around" these days more than
ever...playing a lot. We couldn't have asked for a finer drummer. He is
sensitive when he's supposed to be and dynamic when necessary. And
Sonny got plenty of solo room on one of Rick's selections where
he transfixed the crowd. He is amazing...but anyone who's heard him
play knows that.

A surprise or three:
Rick gave Robert a rather unique solo opportunity as well. J. and Sonny
left the two of them on stage for a sax and bass number appropriately
titled "Alone Together." It was a nice change of pace for the show.

Rick gave the audience another surprise by calling Bill Van Dyke,
another Atlanta musician, out of the audience to do a couple of sax duets
with him. It turned out to be only one. Bill played while Rick had to seek
some help off stage repairing his horn. But that was, thankfully, a temporary
glitch and Rick joined Bill for a rousing duo version of "Tenor Madness"
to end our first set. But, to be accurate, it was Tenor/Alto Madness.

Bill started off studying with Bob Richardson and later studied with Rick
and others. He now has one of thelongest running gigs in Atlanta with his
own group at Five Seasons Restaurant and Brewing. You ought to check
him out on the patio there during the summer and fall if you're in Atlanta
on a Sunday afternoon. And now you can also find him on Wednesday
nights at Shillings on the Square in Marietta.

Another wonderful surprise was having Ms. Kate Higgins, former Knight's
vocalist and "Bob" student, in the audience. She just happened to be in
town to visit her family. I tried to get her up on stage, however she
preferred to just listen this time. But I promise, I will get her back
here to be a guest artist on her own as soon as humanly possible. Kate
has resided in LA since she graduated from Auburn. She writes her own
songs, works with a fine jazz influenced group called Upper Structure
and does a lot of voice over studio work.

Alphonso Thomas, one of Bob's lab band saxo-phonists also surprised
by driving over from Warner Robbins, Georgia where he is stationed in
the Air Force. We also had people who drove from Anniston, Atlanta, and Birmingham to be there for the show despite the threat of bad weather
that day. We are grateful for their efforts to be there with us.

Jane Drake was emcee:
I couldn't let the occasion pass without singing a few with this stellar group
of musicians. I did a couple of numbers at the first of the show which also
served to introduce the trio and to bring Rick on stage with the appropriate
show biz flourish. I came back sporadically through the show and closed
it out with the trio and Rick on "I'll Remember April. I haven't enjoyed
myself so much in a long time. What a pleasure to be on stage with these wonderful musicians. The audience gave us two standing ovations and we
enjoyed performing a couple of encore numbers for them: "Angel Eyes"
and "Teach Me Tonight."

Just about perfect, but not quite:
All and all, this was just about perfect for a jazz event. The only down
side is that when everyone was leaving the Recital Hall (AU Goodwin Music Building) Sonny's wife Ann accidentally tripped and fell backwards on the
stairs. She landed so hard she broke a bone that goes into her shoulder
socket. It had to be extremely painful. An ambulance came and the medics
working on her were "exceptionally good," so Dr. Bob Greenleaf of the
music department faculty told me. They worked to carefully stabilize
her for about 45 minutes so she could be moved to the East Alabama
Medical Center emergency room. The doctors there prepared Ann so
she could travel and they finally arrived home exhausted around 3AM.
Ann saw her local orthopedic surgeon in B'ham the next day, and surgery
was done asap. The good news is that the operation went well and Ann
is recovering at home as of this date. I know everyone wishes her a quick recovery, as all of us concert performers do, but it will probably seem
very long to her. However both Ann and Sonny kept such positive attitudes during this whole ordeal. They were remarkable.

Many thanks to all who contributed to the concert this year. In no
certain order, these are our contributors:

Dick and Harriet Bishop of Maryland

Jim Shands of Birmingham, AL

Sandra Moody Sullivan of Franklin, TN

Dr. Dick Johnson of Atlanta, GA

Riner Scivally of California

Keith McPheeters of Auburn

Charlie Dennard, traveling somewhere in Europe

Without such generous support, this event would not have taken place.
And I have to say a grateful word to all those who came out on a Sunday
night to support these wonderful players and to support live jazz. There's
nothing like it. Those ticket sales also support the cause. I deeply appreciate every one who contributed in any way. With continued support, we can
bring more fine Auburn Jazz players back home for these special concerts.
In my mind, that's a project worth doing. -Jane-

The Jazz Spot on GA Public radio played one of my originals, "Nobody Touches My Heart" on Friday, Feb. 17th. My thanks to the host, Masani, who has also asked me and my band for a performance/interview date at GPB studios sometime soon. It's very exciting and I will definitely let you know when the arrangements have been finalized. By the way, Masani told me she loved my voice and my CD and would keep me in the rotation. So I hope you can catch me there sometime. The show starts at 8pm on Fridays...Central time.

Hello Friends and fans,
It’s my pleasure to share with you the outcome of our recent two-week tour promoting my new CD, “Brand New Woman.” As it turned out, an exciting part of the last week had to do with my great friend and pianist/conductor/arranger J. Hatch. So, I’ll share that part of the story later in another posting because it WAS fun!

Hatch flew into Atlanta from his home in Germany on the afternoon of Monday the 12th of September and was brought to Auburn by shuttle bus where I picked him up. J. was a little jet lagged, so that night was just for resting up although he was still working on some charts.

We rehearsed in Auburn at the AU Music Department practice rooms the next day in preparation for our first public performance on Wednesday the 14th. Our set list contained some of the songs from the CD and some others that we just wanted to play. Wednesday afternoon, we made the 2 hour drive to Birmingham and arrived at the Moonlight Music Café in good time. This venue is very cool and you can check it out thoroughly from Keith Harrelson’s (owner) clever website: www.moonlightmusic.com.

The entire rhythm section on my CD was able to accompany me that night: Sonny Harris, drums, and Chris Wendle, bass, both 1st call players in Birmingham formed the nucleus of the group and J. Hatch rounded it out on Piano…well, this night he was playing an electronic keyboard. He still sounded terrific. And I must say, the band played magnificently. I wish more of you could have been there to hear them.

Leading up to this gig, we had some wonderful press provided by Keith Harrelson on his Moonlight Music E-newsletter and Bart Grooms, a regular columnist for the Black and White, Birmingham’s entertainment magazine. (You can read them both here under Press/Reviews.) In fact, Bart showed up before the evening was finished and we all considered it a great compliment. He is a guy who is deeply immersed in jazz and knows just about everyone who is anyone playing jazz today. His review was more meaningful because of that and so was his presence in our audience that night. Bart, if you’re reading this, we really appreciated your dropping by. And perhaps our good press pulled in our appreciate audience that night as well. It was not a full house, but those who were there really showed us their love. They spurred us on to do our best for them and we really had fun. Some of our friends from Auburn whom we hadn’t seen in a long time showed up. I’m not going to name names because I’m afraid I’ll leave someone out and you know who you are. But how wonderful to see them again and reflect on good old times at Auburn. Our dear friend and one of the best friends jazz ever had, Mary Kate Gach was also in the audience. It was the first time she had gotten to see us perform live although she sat in on some studio sessions. We were so glad she was there.

And some force pulled in a very talented saxophone player, Gary Wheat, who sat in with us to our great delight. He certainly was a plus to our show and thank you Gary, wherever you are. Gary plays a lot with different groups around the area and you should look out for him. He is great!

J. and I drove back to the lake (my home) that night discussing what a productive first outing. Birmingham and Moonlight Music were. We’d love to try it again some time.