Audrey

Before Audrey's stretch into the jazz genre, most of her experience was singing with friends at local Chicago parties and aftersets. She would just get on the mic and improv something. "We used to do live PA's at rave parties in old Chicago warehouses... it was something really unrehearsed...we just made music....I'd like to put something together soon... maybe something electronic." For that we will have to wait... Now Audrey is in an element most refer to as old-school jazz.... After many musical projects and original bands, Audrey started singing jazz in 1997 with a young band out of Columbia College in Chicago called Unit Seven. Then, just new to the jazz scene entirely, Audrey walked into a north side restaurant, Fly Me to the Moon on Clark, known for it’s late night jazz bands and Greek mandolin players after hours.Fly Me to the Moon was her first break in Chicago, albeit small, but integral to her budding development as a vocalist. And it was a steady gig that helped her pay the bills every weekend. Unit Seven became a kind of cocoon for her where she developed a particular style for most of the current standards she has grown to love.**********************Mostly, Audrey studied jazz singers like Billy Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Peggy Lee. She would listen to Otis Redding, Sade, Badu, and Sinatra. When asked about her influences or how she interprets the tunes for her own, she simply says that she is “mostly interested in playing the tune for what it’s worth - in that moment.” She could sing something like Foggy Day one night and the “same song could mean something entirely different the next. It all has to do with the vibe of energy that surrounds you at the time – you pick up on it if you allow yourself to be venerable enough – and that’s when the music you make has the power to transcend into something connecting – art really.”*****************Audrey’s current jazz endeavor is a throw back to the old standards that many of us are familiar with today. “I am playing with some really talented musicians right now….I wanted a pretty open minded group of musicians to work with….musicians that enjoy working and re-working a tune to give just the right vibe.” She found those qualities in a few Chicago musicians that make up her new trio - Mike Frisch ..s, Jeffery Kipnis on upright bass and Jose Ormaza on drums – the trio has a great low key vibe that is easy to listen to and great to dance to. The band plays homage to the days when you walked into a jazz joint and the smoky sounds of the era enveloped your mood and embodied everything that you were, knew, and felt. She says, “It’s like listening to the journeys of those who came before us – yeah, that old jazz kind of has that beautiful sadness about it that connects you to your own …a kind of wonderful nostalgia – the music just let’s you feel.” ****************The band sets out to update the classics...and just what they do. They've put new twists on all of the old songs in their repertoire - fitting a bit of Latin influences; with songs like "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "What a Difference A Day Makes," you can detect a little Cuban influence, some mambo - rumba, or perhaps a bit of bossa. What ever your references are - there is one thing for certain, the music is interesting to listen to. Audrey’s tone soothes over the notes; poignant and emotional, ethereal at times. ********** What are Audrey's plans for the future? For now she says she's "just having fun with the process it’s taken her to get where she’s at and the one that will take her to the next phase - an album soon - I mean I've got some original stuff coming out.... I'll be sure to let you all know."

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