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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2016 30 This Week Evergreen sounds of Jazz vocalist Nadine Axisa will be performing her debut album Velvet in its entirety on March 11 and 12 at the Robert Samut Hall, Floriana. She speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about her musical evolution How did you first get started on the musical path, and what would you say were some of your most significant early experienc- es in music – both as a student and as a practitioner? I was a music lover from a young age... I remember recording radio tunes on cassette tapes and trying to find the chords on my guitar, while experimenting with harmo- nies. When I was 7, I started vocal coaching with Irene Dillon, who I remember very fondly. She dis- covered me from the school choir, gave me my first solo and soon af- ter I started performing for school events such as musicals and con- certs. The musical 'Oliver Twist' was one of my very first performances as a student. I spent most of my early years working on backing vocals for other artists, something which I learnt a lot from and enjoy doing even up to this day. Posi- tive experiences which happened quite early in my career are my contribution to Vinny Vella's al- bum and concerts 'The Beatles' Works' (2003) and my first per- formance in the Malta Jazz and Rock Festival (2008) and later in the Malta Jazz Festival (2011). Just like any other discipline, it is a continuous learning process, so I have attended a number of vocal workshops and masterclasses with internationally renowned artists such as Tina May, Iain Mackenzie, Guillermo Rozenthuler, Donna Mc Elroy, Dennis Montgomery III and Anne Peckham, among oth- ers. And I look forward to more of this! How did you find yourself drifting towards jazz? Did you set your eyes on that genre since the beginning, or did it happen gradually? I discovered my inclination to- wards jazz when I started per- forming in clubs and hotels. I started building my repertoire and interpreting American jazz stand- ards and immediately felt com- fortable and interested in further exploring this genre. A number of musicians also encouraged me by saying that my vocal timbre fits well with this style. So I continued learning standards while listening to a number of jazz vocalists. The great thing about these tunes is that they are evergreen: you get to sing them with all musicians who are familiar with these standard tunes, so you feel like speaking the same language, even if this would have been the first gig. Like most musical styles, jazz has various sub-sets and sub- genres within it. Is there a par- ticular style of jazz that appeals to you, and how would you say you approach the genre? As you say, jazz is quite vast. I mostly stick to interpreting smooth jazz, and I have a soft spot for Latin jazz (namely Brazilian bossa nova tunes) and swing. I lis- ten to everything which falls with- in the cool and West Coast jazz forms. My inspirations are Ella Fitzgerald, Diane Reeves, Nat King Cole and the artists of today... Di- ana Krall, Al Jerreau, Elaine Elias, Kurt Elling and Gregory Porter. I do my best to give my own inter- pretation, allowing space for vari- ations and improvisation. While as an artist it is vital to be satisfied with one's performance, I also give due importance to how the audience feels about my mu- sic. I feel great when I see that those who are listening are on board my musical journey. You continue to perform abroad quite often. How did you first establish contacts abroad, and what would you say is the key difference between perform- ing in Malta and abroad? My experiences abroad have been quite different, performing in small jazz clubs to large ven- ues; with the accompaniment of one pianist up to an eight-piece band. Contacts and opportuni- ties came up from other gigs and performances. For example the Italian Jazz Festival in Berlin came up from my contacts and previ- ous work with fellow Italian musi- cians, the trip to Bulgaria was with Trania (I am the lead singer of that band) while the latest perfor- mance in Frankfurt was with the Dominic Galea Jazztet; Dominic being an artist with whom I work with quite frequently on a local level. The key difference in per- forming abroad would be the im- portance to leave a good impres- sion with people who are being exposed to my work, most prob- ably for the first time. How would you describe your debut album, Velvet? Velvet is my debut album, which I launched in 2014. It includes twelve original compositions in the smooth jazz style involving 38 musicians; most of them are peo- ple who I work with frequently, with whom I shared achievements and memorable experiences. When I thought about what I re- ally wanted to do, I decided that my first album would not be an in- terpretation of jazz standards, but would include original composi- tions and this would be the work of composers, authors and musi- cians with whom I worked during the past decade. While my previ- ous work was oriented around singing tunes which a number of artists had already covered, this al- bum would consist of newly made compositions, taking into consid- eration my vocal qualities, and the style which suits me best. What do you make of the local music scene? What would you change about it? I believe that the local music scene has grown and matured. There is an increasing number of bands forming in every mu- sical genre; these young people are so promising and talented, and the work they produce is ad- mirable! What amazes me even more is that some of them are self-taught, and they are able to Velvet is my debut album, including 12 original compositions in the smooth jazz style involving 38 musicians Nadine Axisa