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 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Not Just Another 'Day': Ute Lemper
by Gregg Shapiro
2003-04-09

This article shared 2179 times since Wed Apr 9, 2003
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


** Ute Lemper at the Athenaeum

( 773-935-6860 ) on April 13

One of the first things you will hear when you put But One Day … ( Decca ) , the new album by international chanteuse Ute Lemper, in your CD player is the song 'I Surrender.' What makes this song distinctive is that it is one of a handful of songs written by the singer. After years of interpreting the work of other composers, from Kurt Weill to Tom Waits to Elvis Costello, Lemper generously shares some of her English-language compositions. The album also includes Lemper's dazzling interpretations of songs by Astor Piazzolla, Jacques Brel and, of course, Kurt Weill.

Gregg Shapiro: One of the most notable things about your new CD But One Day … is that you wrote five of the songs. What does it mean to you to be able to record your own work on one of your albums?

Ute Lemper: It was a wonderful thing. I had written words and lyrics for a long time and I had already done the two French albums with my own lyrics. There were fragments of poetry all over the place in my house, collected and gathered mostly on journeys and tours. I sat down at the piano and hit the chords that I wanted to hit and created the universe I wanted to create to sing this poetry into. Suddenly I had a lot of songs. I went with a friend into a studio in downtown Manhattan and we made demos. The demos were fantastic because they were so immediately recorded after I'd create a song. I'd say, 'Let's go, I have a new one.' I played the piano and he played the drums and the bass. Then we got some great musicians to play on it and also to replay my horrible piano playing ( laughs ) . We had almost 20 songs. What you hear on the record is based on the 16-track analog recording made in the studio in downtown Manhattan. We dumped everything into Pro-Tools and made choices, such as creating transparencies and tweaking. Sometimes the drums sound like programming, but they aren't. Everything is played by musicians. We just experimented with different filters and other sounds. Once we made a lot of space, we put a string quartet on or a small orchestra. Suddenly we had these pieces that are between contemporary songs with a groove-y vibe-y element and string arrangements inspired by Satie and Debussy and this intimacy that sounds jazzy. We had what we wanted to have—to bring life to music which was inspired by a century of composers from the classical and non-classical world and bring it into today's time. We were very surprised that it worked.

GS: Do you prefer to keep your songwriting process solitary or are there songwriters with whom you would like to collaborate?

UL: Both. I would say that I will keep writing because it was so much fun. I certainly want to keep collaborating. These experiences that I had with Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, and other writers. Laurie Anderson ( violin on the song 'Lena' ) is on the album and it's wonderful to have her. She just jumped into the room and said, 'Let me play something,' and then she improvised over the song, which was great. I definitely want to sing songs from the theatrical repertoire —there's still a lot out there that I didn't record yet that I am singing in the concerts. I want to collaborate with contemporary writers as well. It's all brewing, but it's too early to talk about anything now. I want to keep all the dimensions open.

GS: I'm glad that you brought that up, because with the combination of the style and the arrangements of the songs, But One Day … serves as a bridge between the more traditional material that people are familiar with you performing and the experimental approach you took on Punishing Kiss. Do you feel like you are caught between the two worlds?

UL: I don't feel caught at all. That's something which wouldn't co-exist with my life ( laughs ) . I'm a free person and I love following my instincts and impulses and being creative. I don't like being anywhere where I have to follow too many rules ( laughs ) . I find it very inspiring. The traditional world always has a touch of nostalgia to it and I never wanted to see it that way. For me, whether I sang a Jacques Brel or a Kurt Weill, I sang it as if it would be a contemporary song, with the spirit and anarchy and anger and the desperation of a contemporary person. Only in a very specific show would I treat it in a nostalgic performance way. Otherwise—go for it, straight from the heart and straight into today's time. I didn't put myself into a historical corner because of that. I don't know what the identity of today's music really is. There are these great dinosaurs that have survived over 25 years—Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Randy Newman, Billy Joel, Santana, but maybe not Joni Mitchell. Maybe she didn't survive. People like that, who can still bring everything to today's world. There is still an audience for—people who have a necessity and a hunger for music which is coming from a real personality with history and experience.

GS: It's interesting that you should bring up Joni Mitchell, because I don't think people appreciate the history and experience that she brings to the table in her work.

UL: Yes! And how much she inspired other people at the same time. Really high-class music. If you compare what she wrote to some other female artists of today or on the charts or who sell a lot of records, it's ( full of ) highly, wonderfully complicated, multi-layered performances and arrangements. She is a genius!

GS: Since we're talking about other musical styles, you perform two songs by Astor Piazzolla, 'Buenos Aires' and 'Oblivion.' What is most appealing to you about performing his compositions?

UL: I was singing them for a while onstage. I never dared to touch the tango world of Astor Piazzolla because my Spanish is not the Buenos Aires/Argentina tango-specific dialect necessary to master it and sing it in Spanish. I kind of gave up on it for a few years, then I sat down one day and said, 'This is it.' I was with an Argentine friend who said, 'You must sing this.' The next day I was sitting in my apartment and I adapted the songs into English in a way that they hadn't been adapted before. I said, 'This is going to work.' It's very poetic and colorful and deeply passionate. It has a lot to do with the French chanson and the German tradition and it has very powerful words. I sang it onstage and people loved it. The same with ( Jacques ) Brel ( 'Ne me quitte pas' and 'Amsterdam' ) . I was singing it for a while, but had never recorded it. People were asking me, 'Where are the recordings of these songs?' So I was due to finally record these songs.

GS: Are there other musical genres, such as country or electroclash, which you would consider exploring on CD?

UL: ( Regarding ) country, I come from a very different cultural background. It's not what I would be able to do ( laughs ) . I don't have the mentality for that. Jazz, beautiful standards, or new songs. I also love Brazilian music so much. At the moment I am studying very interesting stuff for a show called Nomad that I am doing in Paris in May ( 2003 ) . I'm studying songs out of the oppression and the exile. Deep, beautiful songs about survival in Russian, Hungarian, Yiddish and Arabic. It's a multicultural project which will bring this world of nomads and cultural identity together.

GS: As an actress who performed in the musical Chicago on stage, I was wondering if you had seen the movie version, and if so, what you thought of it.

UL: I didn't see the movie version, but I hope to see it. I'm sure it's fantastic because the medium of film, through editing and spicy cinematography, can make the greatest thing out of something that is not intended to be a movie, because it was a stage show. It's a little weird because I played it for a year in London and a year on Broadway, and after two years I definitely was overdosed. I probably will see it on an airplane.

GS: Perhaps on an airplane bound for Chicago.

UL: Yes ( laughs ) .


This article shared 2179 times since Wed Apr 9, 2003
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Local queer opera composer premiering her first show, a coming-of-age tale with LGBTQ+ themes 2024-04-23
- A Lake View woman is debuting her first opera as a composer, a coming-of-age story with LGBTQ+ themes. Gillian Rae Perry, a fellow with the Chicago Opera Theater's Vanguard program for emerging artists, composed The Weight ...


Gay News

Cher, Dionne among Rock & Roll HoF honorees; Mariah snubbed 2024-04-22
- On April 21, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation announced its 2024 inductees, per an ABC press release. In the performer category, the inductees are Mary J. Blige, Cher, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Peter ...


Gay News

The importance of becoming Ernest: Out actor Christopher Sieber dishes about the Death Becomes Her musical 2024-04-20
- Out and proud actor Christopher Sieber is part of the team bringing Death Becomes Her to life as a stage musical in the Windy City this spring. Sieber plays Ernest Menville, who was originally portrayed by ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Celine Dion, 'The People's Joker,' Billy Porter, Patti LuPone, 'Strange Way' 2024-04-19
- I Am: Celine Dion will stream on Prime Video starting June 25, according to a press release. The film is described as follows: "Directed by Academy Award nominee Irene Taylor, I Am: Celine Dion gives us ...


Gay News

Kokandy Productions now accepting submissions for Chicago Musical Theater Fest returning Aug. 8-11 2024-04-18
--From a press release - CHICAGO (April 18, 2024) — Kokandy Productions is pleased to open submissions for the 2024 Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, returning this summer following a four-year hiatus. Kokandy is thrilled to ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jerrod Carmichael, '9-1-1' actor, Kayne the Lovechild, STARZ shows, Cynthia Erivo 2024-04-12
- Gay comedian/filmmaker Jerrod Carmichael criticized Dave Chappelle, opening up about the pair's ongoing feud and calling out Chappelle's opinions on the LGBTQ+ community, PinkNews noted, citing an Esquire article. Carmichael ...


Gay News

Judith Butler focuses on perceptions of gender at Chicago Humanities Festival talk 2024-04-10
- In an hour-long program filled with dry humor—not to mention lots of audience laughter—philosopher, scholar and activist Judith Butler (they/them) spoke in depth on their new book at Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Ave., on ...


Gay News

Andersonville Chamber announces Andersonville Midsommarfest entertainment lineup 2024-04-09
--From a press release - CHICAGO (April 8, 2024) — The Andersonville Chamber of Commerce (ACC) is pleased to announce the full entertainment line-up for Andersonville Midsommarfest, one of Chicago's oldest and most beloved summer ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Outfest, Chita Rivera, figure skaters, letter, playwright dies 2024-04-05
- For more than four decades, Outfest has been telling LGBTQ+ stories through the thousands of films screened during its annual Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival—but that event may have a different look this year because ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Dionne Warwick, OUTshine, Ariana DeBose, 'Showgirls,' 'Harlem' 2024-03-29
Video below - Iconic singer Dionne Warwick was honored for her decades-long advocacy work for people living with HIV/AIDS at a star-studded amfAR fundraising gala in Palm Beach, per the Palm Beach Daily News. Warwick received the "Award of ...


Gay News

'Rumors' performers create alternative drag playground 2024-03-24
- At first glance, Dorian's Through The Record Shop (1939 W. North Ave.) looks like a brightly-lit shop with a handful of records on the wall, but there's a secret world behind those unassuming shelves. Visitors are ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

THEATER Chicago's City Lit has anxiety on tap with 'Two Hours in a Bar' 2024-03-21
- Two Hours in a Bar Waiting for Tina Meyer by Kristine Thatcher with material by Larry Shue Text Me by Kingsley Day (Book, Music and Lyrics). At: City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.. Tickets: ...


Gay News

Lollapalooza announces lineup; SZA, Skrillex among headliners 2024-03-19
- Lollapalooza has released its line-up for the event that's taking place Aug. 1-4 at Grant Park. Headliners include SZA, Blink-182, Skrillex, The Killers, Hozier, Melanie Martinez and Stray Kids, among others. Some of the other acts ...


Gay News

Jamie Barton brings nuances of identity to her Lyric Opera 'Aida' performance 2024-03-18
- Chicago's Lyric Opera is currently featuring a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida starring Michelle Bradley as Aida, Jamie Barton as Amneris and Russell Thomas as Radamès. The opera runs through April 7, 2024, with Francesca Zambello ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

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 Transgender 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
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.