Venus in transit in the press
“Like a sunset: In a new CD, West County vocalist finds self expression in improvisational jazz,” Shelburne Falls Independent, February 17-March 2, 2005
By Jeff Potter
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ASHFIELD—Musical improvisation, says Jill Connolly, is like a sunset.
“Every sunset is different. The image changes, each one conveys a different mood. I really feel that's what's going on when I'm singing,” says Connolly, whose first album, Venus in Transit, will be released in late February.
The term “Venus in Transit” refers to the planet's path across the face of the sun, a state that took place in June as Connolly and a group of friends recorded the album. With a nod to the “great shifts in human consciousness” that have accompanied the rare celestial occurrence through the ages — the previous occurrence was in 1882 — Connolly said the album is the result of an unprecedented one-day recording session, a blitz of creativity.
Connolly sings the songs on the album improvisationally. “I don't sing the melody line as written,” she explains. “I infer it, I run with it. I convey the song in a way that's mine. You borrow the melody and let the music guide you through the sheer love of what you're doing.”
The songs on the album are “all beautiful,” she says. “Most of them are pretty well known songs by just unstoppable composers.”
“They all touch on a different part of my life experience,” says Connolly, who hopes an intensely personal relationship with the songs will resonate with and evoke similar memories for listeners.
For example, she describes her interpretation of “All the Things You Are,” the 1939 song by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern. “It's my parents' love song. With one take, just piano and vocals, its elegance and simplicity comes right through. It's pure, simple, and as unembellished as possible.”
“I intentionally chose songs that could bring out different aspects of my voice,” Connolly says. “I changed the feeling and energy deliberately.” As a result, Connolly says the album demonstrates a range of mood, tone and feeling.
Connolly, who has lived on the Ashfield≠Buckland line for almost eight years and maintains a frequent presence in Shelburne Falls, is from a musical family. “I've known all my life that I've wanted to be a musician,” she says. “I found music to be the perfect way to express what I feel and see in the world. I pretty much literally become the song. I transport into a place that actually is the song.”
By day a self-employed voiceover artist, each year Connolly commits to a total jazz immersion in the annual summer program of the Vermont Jazz Center in Brattleboro, where she met the three musicians who accompanied her on the album. Claire Arenius plays the drums; Jamie MacDonald is on bass. Eugene Uman, who accompanies Connolly on piano, is the Jazz Center's director.
“They're all educators and very highly respected musicians,” Connolly says. “Jamie and Claire and Eugene play together in a trio and know each other so well. They were the perfect trio to play with.”
Connolly has produced the album herself, mostly with local services, including a cover by Buckland graphic designer Lisa Clark. “It's taken me almost a year to see this process completed,” Connolly says.
The CD will be marketed nationally, including distribution through Barnes & Noble Booksellers, and through Internet sales and distribution. Connolly will also look for local venues. Jumping through the hoops of producing, creating and marketing her work was at times a difficult process, Connolly admits.
But every step of the way was infused with a sense of love, says Connolly, who says she was initially drawn to the project to reconnect with friends and acquaintances who have fallen out of touch over the years.
“I just wanted to create something beautiful,” she says.
For more information, contact Connolly at (413) 625-8609.
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