From Swedish Cruise Ships to Prairie Vistas: The Johanna Sillanpaa Interview

From Swedish Cruise Ships to Prairie Vistas:

The Johanna Sillanpaa Interview

by Jim Dupuis

Pre-teen Johanna Sillanpaa (pronounced Yohanna) was singing professionally in Northern Europe before she moved to Alberta. Attending Grant MacEwan in Edmonton opened up the world of jazz to her and she has not looked back. She has still maintained contacts from those school days and she has teamed up with some of them and other well- known musicians from Toronto and New York to put together her new album From This Side for Chronograph Records. This album contains both re-arranged covers and compositions she wrote or co-wrote with fellow composer Chris Andrew. I sometimes find that the compositions of young artists are the weakest tracks on their releases. This is not the case with Johanna. I found I was happily playing her new compositions as often as I was playing the standards off From This Side on my show Jazz Notes. The album has been quite successful, topping both the iTunes jazz album charts and the earshot Canadian National Jazz Chart! Recently we chatted about her first musical career in Sweden and her current career in Edmonton, Alberta, along with the process of making From This Side. After exchanging pleasantries, we started our conversation.

JD: Johanna, I’m going to take you way back to your childhood, I believe in Sweden?

JS: I am. Born and raised. 

JD: When did you come to Canada?

JS: I came over in ’92. I spent my adult life here.

JD: As a child in Sweden, were you exposed to jazz?

JS: No. Music, absolutely, when I was a pre-teen and you teenager I sang on cruise ships between Sweden-Denmark, Sweden-Germany, Sweden-Finland. So, I did perform at a young age, but not jazz. Jazz came to me. When I moved to Canada I got accepted at Grant MacEwan in the music program in Edmonton. That’s kind of where this new jazz and funk stuff was introduced to me at school.

JD: As a child did you study music at all or were you just naturally a good singer?

JS: In school, ya, for sure. I did have a voice coach for a few years, when I was younger. Of course, when I was in Canada at the music program it was full on, right--coaching and learning.

JD: What was it like letting loose on a cruise ship. That must have been fun.

JS: They were day time cruises, because I was under age, but it was fun. It was great. I always joke that I think I made more money when I was fifteen than I do now. (laughs).

JD: Sad but true (laughs).

JS: Ya it was good.

JD: I noticed that you have a new album out called From This Side on Chronograph Records. It has a mix of songs from the Great American Songbook and some that you wrote or co-wrote. Now composing—what state of mind do you need to be in to compose?

JS: It’s like anything if you don’t do it for a while--it’s like exercise and you have to exercise that part of your brain to get into it. So, for me, I love it. The process can take a while before it kind of kicks in. I had a couple of years where I hadn’t written anything. I think my last project was 2012. So, I hadn’t really written a lot since. I found that I had to press myself for it. We have a studio at home and I would go in there every night and start messing around on the piano. Some tunes were created that way and I co-wrote with Chris Andrew. He arranged some of it and Tyler Hornby arranged some as well.

JD: Obviously you like writing both lyrics and music. Which do you prefer to write?

JS: Woo, that’s a good question. I think music and melody come to me before lyrics. Maybe because English isn’t my first language, but however that being said I don’t know I would write great lyrics in Swedish. For me, I’m more of a melody girl.

Youtube video of “Thing Called Love”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICRpetyIxMc

JD: Ok. Now, I noticed the band that you have on From This Side and I’m totally impressed. I am a fan  of every one of these musicians. Great Albertans, a Toronto musician, a New York musician—all Canadians by birth, I guess. How did you get this all-star band together? I mean, wow!

JS: The bulk of them I’ve know for a long time—Tyler Hornby and the same thing for Chris Andrew. We go back to Grant MacEwan days. So, I’ve know him for my entire musical life. Those were no-brainers. I worked with Kody Hutchinson as a bass player and I got him in a producer role this time—co-producer. I wanted to switch it up a little bit this time and I had worked with George Koller a few years back at a festival. I loved him and was also a fan of his from back in Holly Cole days. It took a bit of time to get it together scheduling wise. It wasn’t easy to get everyone in the same place for three days. Ingrid (Jensen) is the one I know the least. I know her through Tyler (Hornby) and he’s the one who worked with her in the past. The communication happened through him. She was not in the studio with us. It was a remote recording. She recorded her part in her studio in New York. 

The team that put together and played on From This Side.                                                  Ingrid Jensen.

Paul Johnston, Chris Andrew, Tyler Hornby, Johanna Sillanpaa, George Koller, Kodi Hutchinson.

JD: I was wondering about that. Just the logistics would be so difficult and expensive. Ya, I had the pleasure of seeing the Jensen sisters at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and have seen Ingrid a couple of times before. Oh, you have a good one on your CD. You have a good trumpet player on your CD. She’s an excellent musician. Like I said before, everybody is good on your CD. I mentioned before that you wrote or co-wrote many of the songs on From This Side. You picked a few from the Great American Songbook. Are these your favourites? Why did these ones make the cut?

JS: No, I have many favourites. It was really hard for me to pick standards. I knew I wanted some on there with maybe some different arrangements—more contemporary arrangements. So, it was really a tough call. I was sitting with Chris Andrew, the piano player, one day. We were doing a writing session. I gave him a bunch of titles. I said, “Here’s three of four tunes I enjoy singing” and he took “Time After Time” and said this will be cool and we started with that.  “Everything I Got Belongs to You”—I’ve always enjoyed singing that song as well. I asked Tyler (Hornby if he could come up with a neat arrangement. What else do we have? We have “Blue Skies.” That is also one of Chris Andrew’s arrangements. That one, he arranged a number of years ago for me. That was a song that was a given to put on From This Side. What am I missing?

See Youtube video of “Time After Time”:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSLxoJbv2cY 

JD: Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.” It isn’t out of the Great American Songbook but it’s just a great, great tune.

JS: It’s a fantastic tune. I also sung that one for a couple of years prior to recording it, and I just totally enjoy singing it.

JD: I must commend you on your choices. I just love every choice. Some of my favourite composer are here and obviously the arrangements by Chris (Andrew)—he just does a great job on that. He, to me, is a hidden gem. More people should know about Chris Andrew than do. A lot of people know about him, but he should just be famous. He’s awesome. He’s a wonderful, wonderful musician. I don’t have to tell you that.

JS: Ya, they are all wonderful.

JD: What is the significance of the title of your new CD From This Side?

JS: I’m trying to think about that, because that is something I kind of came up with, with my graphic designer. We were kind of playing with concepts. Just because it’s a side shot (album cover). There’s my two lives: my years in Sweden and my years in Canada are pretty equal now and just how life is from this side I guess you could say.

JD: Do you have any recent or upcoming gigs?

JS: I didn’t do a ton for jazz fests because the album wasn’t released until March and usually for jazz festivals you apply the previous fall. I’m hoping for next year for the Edmonton Jazz Festival. I mean, I gig all the time. I’m currently in Banff at the Banff Centre for two nights out here. I’m hoping to get a little more festival work next year because the album has done so good with radio and placements and things.

JD: That’s good to hear. Speaking of your new album, which is From This Side by Johanna Sillanpaa, how do we get a copy?

JS: If you like digital you can just go to iTunes and just download it. If you like hardcopy you can go to my website johannamusic.com and I have an ordering system there. You can also order it from Chronograph Records website as well. There aren’t as many outlets for hardcopies these days.

JD: Good. I’d like to thank you for taking the time to speak with me.

JS: Thanks for having me.

JD: Good luck with From This Side and we’ll speak again when you have the next one out.

JS: Thank you Jim.

WEB:  http://www.johannamusic.com

FB: @johannamusicpage

TW: @johannasillan

INSTAGRAM: @sillanpaaj

http://www.chronographrecords.com/

Jazz Notes with Jim can be heard every Wednesday from 5-7 PM at thex.ca and at 92.5 FM in the Kamloops area. It is one of longest running jazz radio shows with the same host and same title in Canada.

Did Audrey Hepburn Really Play the Trombone, or is Audrey Ochoa Just Messing With Us?

Did Audrey Hepburn Really Play the Trombone,

 or is Audrey Ochoa Just Messing With Us?

By Jim Dupuis

A hot trio, great engineers and a new label equals a hot, new sound for trombonist Audrey Ochoa.

This is the second time I’ve interviewed Audrey Ochoa. She is the trombone player/composer/educator from Edmonton. I enjoy talking with Audrey. She has a wonderful sense of humour and is quick to laugh. She tells us that her alleged attempt to compose Katy Perry’s next hit morphed into a very good contemporary jazz album that includes fusion and electronics. Katy’s loss is our gain. The new album Afterthought relies on less musicians than her previous album, as this is a trio album, but some remarkable engineers round out the talent. I recently caught up with her and we talked about her new album Afterthought; women named Audrey, and the future of music.

JD: This is Jim with Jazz Notes on 92.5 the X and tonight I’m speaking with Audrey Ochoa from Edmonton, who has a brand-new CD out called Afterthought. How are you doing Audrey?

AO: How are you doing, Jim?

JD: Good, good. I talked to you in July of 2014 when you had Trombone and Other Delights out. This is your follow-up to that. How did this one go?

AO: For this time, it was a trio; bass and drums and trombone, which was really, different from the last time. It was a quartet with extra guests and a piano and it was a real Latin feel. I decided to do something different with the guys on this album. (Laughs) That was the worst answer ever, “How’s it going—you did really well.”

JD: Ok, you did mention you have just a trio this time. You have Mike Lent on bass, who was on the last album. You also have one of my favourite drummers anywhere—Sandro Dominelli. I thought he was living in New York. Is he back in Edmonton?

AO: He was doing some recording in New York. He did his last two albums with New York guys, but he is living in Edmonton. He’s got a wife and two beautiful daughters, so I think he is there to stay.

JD: That’s good for Edmonton, for sure.

AO: Oh ya, it’s great for me. That was the best part of this album. We developed a thing together, where personality was essential to the record. I sort of wrote the tunes for these guys.

JD: That’s good. I went through the album, Afterthought, a number of times, before speaking to you and right off the bat—the first song, “Low Interest Rate,” I got the Weather Report feel. Was that on purpose?

AO: No, actually, that’s a good call. That was not on purpose. I assume you are referring to the treatment and the filters on the trombone and the sort of electric sound.

JD: Ya.

AO: We kind of did a little bit of that in post-production. If you listen further on the album, we did a lot more of that later. That was the product of working with Stew Kirkwood, the guy who mixed it. He comes from the old pop/rock/electronic background, not a huge jazz background, so I guess it was a real mash of fusion.

JD: That’s what I got out of that song. I like the fact that you have different subgenres of jazz throughout it. It’s a very enjoyable CD. Then, with “Ant Grasshopper,” I got a Duke Ellington feel. It sort of went from a little bit of fusion to Ellington. The trombone in that one, could be in an Ellington band at any time. Was that somewhat in your mind when you were composing it?

AO: You know, all these songs, I sort of wrote with voice and guitar, really and then I developed them for a jazz trio. None of that was on my mind. I was trying to write a pop album (laughs). I was trying to just write singable pop songs and that’s what popped out. I don’t know if I was successful in my original mission (laughs) but, no, I wasn’t thinking of Ellington. I wasn’t thinking of Weather Report, I was thinking of Martin Sexton and friggin’ Katy Perry (both laugh).

JD: (Laughing) From my point of view you and you are going to hate me, I think you are a failure at pop—no just joking. In all seriousness, it’s jazz to me and has a nice feel. Like you said the first album had that Latin feel. I was opening this one up and thinking that I’m going to get some nice Latin tunes here and see what’s going on. I wasn’t disappointed in the least. It just was different from what I expected. Now, the song “De Mi.” What does that mean?

AO: From me.

JD: Ok, duh, that’s pretty simple. With that one, I sort of got a Mid East feel in places and some interesting echo. That’s probably your producer again?

AO: Actually, that’s a fellow from Victoria, Dallas Budd, who goes by the stage name of Battery Poacher, who did mixing on “De Mi” and “Afterthought.” What originally was a Latin jazz tune, he turned it into that electronic, sort of Middle Eastern thing. He changed the whole thing. It was great (laughs). It was nice to have another take on that tune.

JD: I like the variety on Afterthought. You have a song called “Dopplegangers.” Have you ever met your doppleganger?

AO: (Laughs) I have a doppleganger. I am a twin.

JD: Are you?

AO: Ya.

JD: You blew that question, gee (laughs). No, just kidding. I did not know that. That’s interesting. I think you must have got tired of hearing questions about the cover on Trombone and Other Delights (cover is a rip-off of Herb Alpert’s iconic album Whipped Cream and Other Delights). The cover on Afterthought is quite subdued. There are pretty photos of you. Is that a beehive hairdo from the 1960s?

AO: I was trying to rip-off Audrey Hepburn. Because after the first one, which was so well received, and I’m not sick of questions about it. Frankly, I made an outrageous cover, so I should expect it. I wanted attention for it and I didn’t know how I was going to follow it up. (Laughs) So I thought that I’d just rip-off Audrey Hepburn and maybe somebody will think, “Oh, I didn’t know Audrey Hepburn released a trombone album.” (Both laugh).

JD: The black and white picture on the cover—I thought, wow that’s Audrey Hepburn. I kind of thought you were aiming for that, but I wasn’t totally sure. I like your sense of humour. You look really good in that era’s clothing and hair. That’s pretty nice.

AO: Thank you (laughs).

JD: What is the significance of the title Afterthought?

AO: The track “Afterthought” was not originally going to be on the album. I had recorded eight tunes and one of them I didn’t like. It’s not on there. Sandro and I were in the studio and he said, “You know what you should do Audrey, you should record a track that’s just trombone.” And so I did. Five tracks of just trombone that sounded like a chorale—no drums, no bass. While I liked it, (laughs) I thought that nobody’s going to like this. I sent it off to be remixed and it got electronified by Dallas. The whole song was an afterthought. The more I thought of it, this album was kind of an afterthought. I didn’t get a grant to do it. It was something I decided to record on a whim. After Mike (Lent) and Sandro (Dominelli) and I did a gig, we high-fived at the end of it and decided it was really fun. Let’s make an album. Why not? So, the whole thing was an afterthought. That’s why I called it that (laughs).

JD: Ok, the last time I talked to you, you were teaching music in the school system.

AO: Yes, I’m still doing that.

JD: Any budding stars that we might hear in the next ten years?

AO: I’m working with really, young children. They are in elementary school. How shall I say, maybe in ten years there will be budding stars, but it won’t look like what we think, because they are doing so many different things with music now, that it is going to have to look different in ten years.

JD: Indeed, I think you are right about that. It’s always interesting to see the young ones and how many will continue with it, etc. It’s nice that they are being exposed to music at a young age. I think that’s all anybody can ask for in an education that includes music.

AO: You hear your Jacob Colliers and Donny McCaslins and all of that is electronic and about different musical values and it is also, largely about performance. I think it will look a lot different.

JD: I think you have a good point. How does someone get your new album, Afterthought  by the Audrey Ochoa Trio?

AO: You can buy it online. It is on iTunes, CD Baby and this album is on Chronograph Records. They are now both of Chronograph Records. You can purchase it through Chronograph, as well.

JD: Cool. That’s the small label out of Calgary. We really enjoy the music that they send us.

AO: It’s nice to have them handling that part of the business and I can concentrate on playing trombone.

JD: That’s what you should be doing anyway. It’s tough to have ten hats on at once and get albums together. You did get it together and Afterthought is quite enjoyable and is getting lots of airplay here on The X. That’s about it, and thanks for telling us about Afterthought.

AO: Ok.

JD: Thank you for taking the time and I will talk to you when we put the next one out.

AO: You know, funny, I just started recording Tuesday. So, it should be out—I don’t know—give me a year.

JD. I’ll hold you to that.

AO: (Laughs) ‘Bye.

http://www.chronographrecords.com/artists.php?artist=29

http://audreyochoa.com/

Previous interview with Audrey Ochoa http://www.earshot-online.com/features/2014/July/audreyochoa.cfm

Album cover https://www.discogs.com/Audrey-Ochoa-Trio-Afterthought/release/10323586