Hilary Gardner - ProfilesArchive

About Me

"The present in New York is so powerful that the past is lost."
--John Jay Chapman

"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead."
--Oscar Wilde

I share my August 22 birthday with Dorothy Parker, Claude Debussy, and John Lee Hooker.

I believe New York to be the greatest city on earth; I am thankful every day for the opportunity to live here and collaborate with so many wonderful musicians.

&utm This layout was handmade with love by the folks at My space or yours? Go get one!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 11/12/2006
Band Website: hilarygardner.com
Band Members: I've been incredibly fortunate to work with many amazing musicians, including:

Mike Longo, Valery Ponomarev, Arturo O'Farrill, Bob Dorough, Joel Frahm, Joe Cohn, Joshua Wolff, Larry Fuller, Bill Anschell, Adam Rafferty, Peter Brainin, Don Braden, Pat O'Leary, the list goes on...

I just finished a record called "A Song About Forever: Songs by Kurt Weill" with pianist and producer Frank Ponzio, bassist Peter Donovan, and drummer Vito Lesczak.
Influences: Musical Influences:
Carmen McRae, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, Hank Williams, Tom Waits, Patsy Cline, Irene Kral, Lee Morgan, Dizzy Gillespie, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Sarah Vaughan, Rufus Wainwright, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Francis Poulenc, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill, W.A. Mozart, Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Wilson, Annie Ross, Aaron Copland...and a whole lot of others that I can't call to mind right this second.

Other Influences:
NEW YORK CITY, baby! And I suppose I have to also cite a childhood in Alaska as pretty friggin formative...early Catholicism and adulthood Buddhism...I've learned a lot from Dorothy Parker, J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Ruth Reichl, Frances Mayes, MFK Fisher (YES, I LIVE for food and travel writing; in another life I want THAT job), Oprah (yeah, I said it--and I'm not taking it back!), When Harry Met Sally, and much of Woody Allen's early work.

Most of all:
ANYONE brave enough to express him- or herself with integrity and joy...especially my family, my friends, and the amazing musicians I am privileged to call collaborators.
Sounds Like: Warm Vanilla Sugar
Record Label: CAP
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Grayer Than Clay Available NOW on CD!

I've had a lot of you ask me when and where you can find the song "Grayer Than Clay" that I've got posted here on my profile. Amiel wrote and produced a wonderful album called "Figures Seeking Groun...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:12:00 PST

The Kurt Weill Project is now on Myspace!

Hi, Friends--Just wanted to invite you all to swing by the brand spankin' new myspace page for the Kurt Weill Project. Our CD, A Song About Forever, has dominated my time and attention for over a yea...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:22:00 PST

Kurt Weill CD Release Party!

Hello, Friends,I am blogging to invite you to two upcoming gigs, both of whichcelebrate the release of The Kurt Weill Project's debut CD: A Song AboutForever.http://cdbaby.com/cd/kurtweillprojecthttp:...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 08:10:00 PST

New CD is finally available!

I’m really happy to announce that the new CD by The Kurt Weill Project, "A Song About Forever: Songs by Kurt Weill," is finally available. Being the voice of the Kurt Weill project has been an ...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:43:00 PST

You cant go home again (or, the Pacific NW, revisited)

Well, friends, I am writing you from an impossibly hip little hotel in the impossibly hip little burg of Portland, OR. I'm here to perform with a big band and have spent the last few days revisiting ...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:52:00 PST

The Good Fight

I returned to college two and a half years ago after an eight-year absence. I've been really tired ever since, working full time, attending classes full time, and performing jazz on top of everything...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 09:42:00 PST

Just the facts, maam.

who would you have narrate your life? - I'd do it myself, in a sardonic, deadpan, and (I hope) really well-paid voice-over.favorite band - Totally unfair question. How am I supposed to narrow this do...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:10:00 PST

My new lovers! (yes, plural!)

I am blushing...this is all so sudden, so new. I wasn't looking for love; it found me. That's what they always say, isn't it? Love finds you when you least expect it. I met Ben and Jerry at the gr...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 10:10:00 PST

Fate is funny.

I have tried and tried and tried to make a trip to the west coast. I haven't ever spent time in the city of angels, so I figured it was high time I make the trek and see what all the fuss is about. ...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:14:00 PST

Power tools. I mean that literally.

I am a do-it-yourself kind of girl. I'm an "Oh-no-thank-you-very-much-I-can-carry-it-myself" kind of girl. I am fiercely independent and unrepentant in my love of autonomy. Imagine, then, my FRUSTR...
Posted by Hilary Gardner on Thu, 13 Sep 2007 08:33:00 PST