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BEST "REVIEW" EVER!
September 2007 ~ GRANGE "LADY HAIG" RUTAN (AUTHOR OF "DEATH OF A BEBOP WIFE" and FORMER WIFE OF PIANIST AL HAIG) wrote about BRENDA'S VOICE:
"When I listen to you sing: "I Cover The Waterfront" I feel a deep percussive groove moving things along, slowly, in a haunting almost reverie, which allows my ears to suspend and stay in the voicings of the beautiful guitar intro. We don't have a feminine quality voice like yours in the tri-state area. When my ears did a somersault because of your lovely voice, full of a sadness, a longing, a bitter-sweet lament over a number of minor keys, you called out to me as your audience and I became a dangling participle...you connected me to yesterday when the world was young and so was I. ~ ~ ~ You softly intoned a realm of yesterday's duets with greats that are now on The Big Gig in The Sky and I was inspired."
Brenda feels very honoured to share this wonderful, lyrical comment from "Lady Haig" (a pet name for her coined by Dizzy Gillespie). Lady Haig, who was the second wife and survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of celebrated BEBOP pianist AL HAIG - is now the author of a brand new NON-fiction book: "DEATH OF A BEBOP WIFE". She captures the mood and magic of that musical era, while recounting the chilling story of Mr. Haig's third wife's untimely death, for which he went unpunished. Learn about this fascinating book by visiting her in the FRIENDS section below. More from Lady Haig:
"One of the mistakes many people make is trying to eliminate our past. I know I come from a rich history of musical excitement and was fascinated, early on, by the incomparable Anita O'Day and how she dared to be her own instrument up in the minor keys; she was a master at creating excitement on standards as she stretched and scatted into the full quintet with her very own solo. ~ ~ ~ Brenda has a musical talent and imagination that is definitely connected to that history and is open to smoothly establishing herself on the forefront of now. As Honeysuckle Rose begins I see an airplane start to fly me back to when I couldn't stay away from the place as a voice came out onto the street; her voice is an invitation that I automatically responded to...with joy. And why not? That tune connected me to thinking about a lot of people I love...she is a musical dream and I'm ready to allow her to make it happen because she is going to show me that she knows how to take me not to a specific place but anywhere...it's a place for now and a dream of a surprise. Yes, Brenda Lewis needs to be heard in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and while I'm at it, let me throw in Connecticut."
A BIT OF HISTORY
In 1991 she quickly garnered a loyal following, belting out gospel-inflected R&B at MEL BROWN's blues jams and singing emotive a capella songs at The Guelph Folk Club. Through much of the 90's until 1997, she was known for her soulful vocals and songwriting with acoustic/eclectic duo: "LEWIS & MOLESWORTH"(aka HURT & RUN).
VERSATILE VOCALIST Brenda Lewis has over the past decade since, made a seamless transition into the world of vintage jazz and torch.
She currently performs from duo to full-band with many renowned Toronto and southern Ontario jazz musicians including guitarists: MARGARET STOWE (Two of the above audio samples feature her amazing playing!), TONY QUARRINGTON, JOHN TONIN and the MURCH brothers; pianists: JOHN ZADRO, JOHN McLELLAND, CHRIS WILSON; acoustic bassists: JEFF BIRD (tours with Cowboy Junkies), MARK McINTYRE (tours with Remy Shand), DENNIS RONDEAU, JESSE TURTON; and drummer/percussionists: TOM McLELLAND, MICHELE JOSEF.
Lewis has maintained her connection to folk music through warm, textured vocal harmony performances with NONIE CRETE, DENNIS GOMO, IAN MOLESWORTH, EDDIE DOUGLAS and others, covering the world map with her powerful interpretations of country blues, cajun, R&B and celtic - and adeptness at singing in foreign languages (french, spanish, latin, yiddish, hebrew; currently working on learning ladino/sefardic).
HAVE VOICE; WILL TRAVEL :-)
I will be more than happy to sing in JAZZ FESTIVALS, CONCERT SERIES and PERFORMANCE VENUES almost anywhere (especially in warm climates ie: The CARIBBEAN, CRUISE SHIPS etc) during Canada's winter months!!! Also very glad to hear from event planners.
ANY time of year, let my voice be my passport to see as much of this wondrous WORLD as I possibly can ......