Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-09-06
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  NIGHTSPOTS

DANCING ABOUT ARCHITECTURE: THRILLED ABOUT THE DAME
by Marc 'Moose' Moder
2014-11-12

This article shared 4355 times since Wed Nov 12, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


With almost two decades as a jazz vocalist, the great Elaine Dame is set to premiere her third CD, You're My Thrill on Dec. 1. Nightspots recently sat down with the sultry songbird ( and flautist ) to talk about what goes into a jazz recording artist in the new millennium.

Nightspots: You're known around Chicago as a very hardworking performer with a full roster, yet this is your first album in almost a decade. Tell me about what goes into the decision to make an album and the process of getting there.

Elaine Dame: That is a great question! You mention that I am "known around Chicago as a very hardworking performer" and the "hardworking" part of that is certainly true. Any person that is making their living as a musician has to work very hard to stay gainfully employed. It takes years of effort to establish yourself in the industry and then you have to work hard to stay there and keep moving forward, both creatively and professionally. I decided to make my first record, Comes Love, because it seemed like a logical step after performing in and around Chicago for a few years, and a recording sort of legitimizes you as an artist. Also, I wanted to document where I was, vocally, at that particular moment. I produced it myself and it cost about $20,000. I would have loved to have recorded another CD after that ( who wouldn't?! ), but I simply didn't have the funds and I didn't want to go into debt again. I got the opportunity to record You're My Thrill because a very generous friend gave me $14,000, with the instructions, "I know you want to make another CD and it would make me really happy if you made one." Isn't that amazing?! Then, I used a crowd-funding platform ( Indiegogo ) to raise another $11,000. I'm going to be spending over $6,000 of my own money for the CD as well. There are so many expenses that go into the production and promotion of a recording.

NS: I want to discuss song selection a bit. There are quite a few showtunes on it from No, No Nanette, Annie Get Your Gun, and The King and I. As a jazz vocalist, do you come at these songs from their original genesis on stage or through the ears of previous jazz singers who may have brought them to your attention?

ED: I performed in musicals all throughout high school and college and was exposed to much of the music this way. However, since I began singing jazz in 1996, I have listened to vocal jazz incessantly and that is how I am introduced to this repertoire. I also get it by way of my colleagues and instrumental versions of these classic jazz standards. I am constantly learning new tunes to add to my repertoire. Often times, audience members will make good suggestions as well.

NS: Like your last album, You're My Thrill has a good deal of modern pop as well ( Joni Mitchell, Richard Thompson ) that blends very well with the classics. Do you see these selections as jazz songs or modern pop songs that could be standards in your head when considering doing them?

ED: Both! Especially the Joni Mitchell tunes. Her compositions are so well constructed and interesting—lyrically, rhythmically and harmonically—that they can be endlessly reinterpreted, just like all the songs from The Great American Songbook, which is why jazz musicians keep recording and performing these tunes. They are deceptively simple tunes that have an underlying harmonic, melodic, and lyrical sophistication. I chose to sing the Richard Thompson tune, "The Dimming of the Day," for my mom. I got an arrangement for the song because I heard Bonnie Raitt sing it on one of her records and I perform some of her ballads and blues tunes at performances. When my mom would come to see me sing, she would always request it. It's not a jazz standard by any stretch of the imagination, but it did lend itself to a gospel feel and I think it's a nice ending to the record.

NS: You're also known as a great flautist, which is a bit unusual for a singer, but I think it informs your style of singing in the way that you use your voice as an instrument, complimenting your accompanying band. Is this accurate, or do you have different mindsets when playing flute vs. singing?

ED: I don't have different mindsets when playing one or the other ... playing the flute does not inform my singing in any particular way, except that ( Chicago writer ) Neil Tesser, who wrote the liner notes for my CD, says that my voice sometimes sounds like a flute. I do use my voice as an instrument, though, and all the classical training I had growing up ( voice, piano and flute ), has helped me to do so, as well as years and years and years of practice developing a style of my own. I get bored easily and would not want to sing a song the same way over and over again. That's the great thing about jazz. If you listen to what's going on around you, the other people that you are playing with will lead you in different directions and vice versa, so you never really know exactly what is going to happen and that is where I'm comfortable now, but it took a long time for me to be comfortable in that space.

You can find out more about Elaine, hear her music, or pick up her CDs at ElaineDame.com . You can catch Elaine live weekly at Macku Signature, monthly at Taverna 750 or Dec. 1 at The Jazz Showcase for her CD release party.


This article shared 4355 times since Wed Nov 12, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

SHOWBIZ John Waters, Madonna, Miriam Margoyles, Angelica Ross, 'Cassandro'
2023-09-21
Openly gay film director John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Serial Mom, Cry-Baby) received his star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, The Hollywood Reporter noted. (Actors Ricki Lake and Mink Stole as well as photographer Greg Gorman were ...


Gay News

Chicago musician, producer and DJ Don Crescendo killed in Avondale stabbing
2023-09-20
Chicago's LGBTQ+ nightlife community and allies have rallied around the family and close friends of local longtime musician, producer and DJ Rodney Donovan Taylor, a.k.a. Don Crescendo, in the wake of his death by stabbing last ...


Gay News

Jann Wenner comments on women and Black musicians, later apologizes
2023-09-18
Openly gay Rolling Stone magazine founder Jann Wenner apologized for telling The New York Times that, for his book The Masters, he chose interviews with white male musicians who he called the "philosophers of rock" because ...


Gay News

Marge Summit's life to be celebrated Oct. 15
2023-09-15
--From a press release - A celebration of the extraordinary life of Marge Summit, the legendary Chicago bar owner, promoter of live music artists, political advocate and much more who passed away on May 16, 2023. Born Sept. 3, 1935 in ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Kim Petras, LGBTQ+ movies, TIFF, canceled shows, yachts
2023-09-15
Video below - Ahead of her Feed the Beast world tour, Grammy-winning international trans pop singer/songwriter Kim Petras has shared reimagined, symphonic, seven-piece string-ensemble performances of fan favorites from her debut album Feed ...


Gay News

THEATER Queer actor Kyle Patrick reflects on leading 'American Psycho: The Musical'
2023-09-14
American Psycho—both the Bret Easton Ellis novel and the Mary Harron-directed film led by Christian Bale—would seem ripe for a musical treatment, given the omnipresent campy elements (despite, or maybe because of, the gore). And, in ...


Gay News

Chicago Opera Theater starts 50th-anniv. season with 'Soldier Songs'
2023-09-13
Chicago Opera Theater (COT) is kicking off its 50th-anniversary season with David T. Little's Grammy-nominated Soldier Songs—described as "a haunting, heavy-metal infused theatrical cantata about the psychological impact of war." ...


Gay News

Porchlight Music Theatre's announces 29th season
2023-09-12
--From a press release - This past Friday at our special event, Porchlight ICONS: Celebrating Ben Vereen, we shared the exclusive announcement of our 29th Season! The new season launches with The Cole Porter Festival - A Celebration of the Man ...


Gay News

Billy Masters: Russell Tovey and the new Superman both go to the dogs
2023-09-11
"I just can't believe I will be 80 at some point, sooner than I wish. And I will still be wearing my jeans. And I will still be wearing long hair. And I will still be doing the same stuff I've ...


Gay News

Protest action to be held at site of Sept. 9 Jason Aldean concert in Tinley Park
2023-09-08
The Revolution Club Chicago has announced a protest action against 46- year-old country music star and Nashville resident Jason Aldean outside of his Highway Desperado Tour appearance Sept. 9 at Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre. The protest ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ 'Sex Education' star, Rotten Tomatoes, Jessica Lange, Queer/Art
2023-09-08
Video below - Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa officially came out during an interview with Elle UK, according to Out. "I remember being at Manchester Pride, going through the streets with all my boys, shaking my cha-chas, living it ...


Gay News

Theater Review: A Taste of Soul brings music and food center stage
2023-09-08
By Brian Kirst - We all know the sluggish quagmire of weekday work mornings. Often the only thing that gets us moving and able to face the day is our favorite songs. While all of the Black Ensemble Theater productions ...


Gay News

'Saltburn,' 'Rustin' to be shown at Chicago International Film Festival
2023-09-06
The 59th Chicago International Film Festival announced select highlights of this year's festival, running Oct. 11-22. Films will be presented at venues throughout the city, including the AMC NEWCITY 14, the Music Box Theatre, the Gene ...


Gay News

Painting Chi-town P!nk at Wrigley Field
2023-09-01
P!nk got the party started on a Saturday night at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Aug. 12—and it didn't stop for almost two hours. Thanks to leftover outfits from Barbie movie screenings, much of the crowd knew ...


Gay News

Ricky Martin to be guest at Sept. 14 gala in Chicago
2023-08-31
Singer/actor Ricky Martin will be the guest of honor at a fundraiser for the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture. The 10th Raices Gala will take place at Galleria Marchetti, ...


 


Copyright © 2023 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives. Single copies of back issues in print form are
available for $4 per issue, older than one month for $6 if available,
by check to the mailing address listed below.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.
All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transegender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.