Amy London
AMY LONDON
WHEN I LOOK IN YOUR EYES
New York based Amy London is among the foremost first call vocalists in New York City in a variety of settings - jazz club, studio, on stage with big bands and on Broadway. While not yet well known for her work as a leader, her newest release, When I Look In Your Eyes, will certainly serve to announce the arrival of a powerful new jazz diva on the international scene. Even before its release, this CD garnered rare kudos from top-talent peers: "It's a delight, I would recommend it to anybody," is the comment from vocalese pioneer Annie Ross. "Amy London, where have you been hiding? Don't leave us so long without another CD," remarks Grammy award-winning vocalist Mark Murphy. And, from internationally renowned pianist Fred Hersch comes the praise: "Amy London is a world-class singer possessing a beautiful and expressive vocal instrument, and always musical."
When I Look In Your Eyes was recorded at Bennett Studios with a New York City jazz dream team led by producer Suzi Reynolds, known for her productions with Teri Thornton, Jerome Richardson, Rufus Reid and many other top jazz artists. The CD's line-up includes Rufus Reid, Roni Ben-Hur, Lee Musiker, Leroy Williams, Steve Kroon, Chris Byars (leading a burning horn section,) and the late-great pianist John Hicks in what was one of his last studio projects. Liner notes by WBGO radio host and author, Sheila Anderson, tell the whole story. When I Look In Your Eyes reveals London to have a vast emotional and musical range. As Anderson comments in her liner notes, "Amy belongs to an elite group of female stylists, including Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Nina Simone and Shirley Horn, in that she is simultaneously an expert story teller, accomplished musician who plays piano and composes, and she is also expert at using her voice as an instrument within, as opposed to on top of a jazz ensemble."
Born into a culturally active, Ohio-based Jewish family filled with mirth and talent, performing was quite literally in Amy's DNA. At the ripe old age of seven, she announced to her mother that she was going to be an entertainer. This career decision was spurred by seeing 'Fiddler on the Roof' at the Cincinnati Shubert Theater. As a suburban baby-boomer, Amy's musical tastes also incorporated a diet of American 60s and 70s pop and folk music. "I consider Laura Nyro to have been my first vocal coach- I spent hours at the piano learning all of her songs. (In fact, Nyro's "Lazy Susan" is covered on this release.) "Laura, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor definitely got me through my years of teenage angst", chuckles Amy with a usually present touch of self-deprecation. Jazz only began to officially enter her orbit when she began studying jazz piano as a high-school senior, and then had an opportunity to take voice lessons with Milt Weiner, who had coached Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney. "Milt was the first one to bring my attention to jazz phrasing and putting across the story, he was a huge influence," says Amy, who has since gone on to become a premier vocal coach in her own right and was an initial founder of the popular vocal jazz department at the New School University BFA Jazz program in NYC.
Though Amy earned her B.A. degree from Syracuse University in opera, her true passion, and most of her college musical experience, was singing in big bands, small bands and in musicals. After graduation, she immediately took herself to New York City to "check out the career climate." Auditioning for everything that she could, she soon landed a professional job singing in the choir of the historic Trinity Church on Wall Street. "Being a nice Jewish girl who had only been in a church one time, it felt odd at first, but it turned out to be a very fruitful engagement for me," says Amy. The choir made several recordings in her three-year tenure, and led her to hook up with singers Judy Niemack and Alexandra Ivanoff, with whom she formed the vocal trio, Jazz Babies. Seven years with the Jazz Babies along with experience gained in Vocal Jazz, Inc., a five-voice group that toured the New York City elementary schools, honed Amy's jazz harmony chops to a high polish, a sheen that would eventually land her the lead vocal part in the 1989 hit Broadway musical, City of Angels.
Once in NY, Amy quickly made inroads into the city's vibrant jazz scene. Legendary for her cooking and for the parties she would throw at her Upper West Side apartment, Amy came to know and gain the musical respect of many of Manhattan's key players. In 1982 she auditioned for jazz trumpeter Tom Browne, whose Mo' Jamaica Funk had gone double-gold that year. Leery that Amy could fit in with his band, Browne reluctantly listened to her demo tape, but then responded with the comment, "Wow, a white chick who sounds black!" He hired her on the spot, and in the year that followed Amy recorded and toured internationally with Browne and became friends with George Benson, Ronnie Cuber, Billy May and Dr. Lonnie Smith. After that, opportunities kept coming her way. A stint with Charles Aznavour exposed her to Akira Tana, Harvie S and Jack Wilkins, with whom she recorded, along with the aforementioned Smith, once their tour had ended.
A three year engagement in an Afro-Cuban band led by the NYC leader, Alfredito, gave her a chance to jam with such Latin jazz stars as Charlie Palmieri, Barry Rogers and Jimmy Sabatier while developing her "cool Latin vamp", (evidenced on this disc with the song 'Wouldn't You?'), and led her to add mastery on a variety of percussion toys to her growing arsenal of musical talents. Work with the New York Singer's Orchestra in the late 80's led to jobs singing for commercials and film, and to an opportunity to record with Darmon Meader, and the New York Voices, as the fifth singer on their CD, Ancient Tower. That engagement then brought Amy to the attention of the legendary Broadway composer Cy Coleman, who cast her in a plum role as the lead singer in the Angel City 4, the vocalese group that was the musical engine of his musical, City of Angels. As an original cast member of this six-time Tony-winning and Grammy-nominated Broadway hit, Amy had the time of her life. "It was such a thrill to be in a hit show with such a high caliber creative team - Cy Coleman, David Zippel, Billy Byers, Larry Gelbart and Michael Blakemore - but the biggest thrill of all was going to work for eight shows a week, for three years, to sing such gorgeous swinging music to packed houses," says Amy of her experience. That job also allowed her and her recently-wed husband, guitarist Roni Ben-Hur, to finally buy their dream house in New Jersey, where Amy now manages her musical career and very expertly keeps house as she and her husband, and often musical partner, Roni raise the two beautiful daughters that have come along in the ensuing years.
After City of Angels closed, and before taking a bit of time off to answer the call of motherhood, Amy enjoyed a three year stint at the Rainbow Room. Clear about her priorities upon the birth of her first born, Sofia, Amy chose to make teaching and motherhood her two major focuses. She helped establish the vocal program at the New School, (now one of the strongest such programs in the country) and she also worked and taught with her husband Roni, who is a key music educator in his own right.
Amy's story, as told in the tracks of When I Look In Your Eyes is sure to resonate with many Americans. It is a 'mid-westerner makes good in the big town story' (reflected in the leading track as well as in the medley 'Ohio/Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home,'); it is a working mother and working lover and wife's story, (check out the lyrics she penned on 'It Could Be So Nice'); it is a baby boomer's story that shows up in Amy's pop infused phrasing and fresh music choices, (check out her renditions of Laura Nyro's 'Lazy Susan' and the moving ballad 'When I Look In Your Eyes'- pulled from the film Dr. Dolittle,); and last but very far from least, Amy's story is a fabulous NY jazz story full of hilarious anecdotes, big breaks, and heartbreaking losses, all set to a glorious score of hip, heartfelt, highly sophisticated, and deeply swinging music that is this singer's very personal expression of the American melting pot's home grown music called jazz.