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Brenda Carol
Jazz / Progressive / Rock

Absolutely no limit this time.



Toronto, Ontario
Canada

Profile Views:  20170




Last Login:  11/9/2009
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   Brenda Carol: General Info
Member Since5/11/2006
Band Websitehttp://www.brendacarol.com
Band MembersBrenda Carol - vox/percussion
Stephen Gardner - piano/keyboards/backing vox
Bill McBirnie - flute
Igor Romanyk - violin
Nathan Hiltz - guitar
Lorne Lofsy - guitar
Ted Quinlan - guitar
Rob Christian
Michael Gresko - bass/backing vox
Steve Wallace - bass
Dave Langguth - drums
Wilson Laurentian - drums
Daniel Barnes - drum
Chris Burrell - drums
Emile d'Eon - guitar
Jack Zorawski - bass
Armando Borg - percussion
Orin Isaacs - bass
Gino Del Sole - guitar
various con't...
InfluencesProgressive & Rock Influences:
Early Genesis, YES, Peter Gabriel, Tony Levin, Heart, ELP, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Magma, Steely Dan, Jethro Tull, Grateful Dead, Renaissance, Hawkwind, Phish, The Strawbs, Todd Rundgren, Joni Mitchell, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Simon and Garfunkle, etc...

Jazz Influences:
Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Oscar Peterson, Jon Hendricks, Carmen McRae, Annie Ross, Meredith d'Ambrosio, Kurt Elling, Chris Connor, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Henderson, Bill Evans, Mark Murphy, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Gould, Tony Bennett, Al Jarreau, Suzanna McCorkle, Andre Previn, Joanne Brackeen, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Flora Purim, Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Lorne Lofsky, Bobby McFerrin, Max Roach...

Favourite female singers:
Judy Garland, Doris Day

Favourite male singers:
Jon Anderson, Bill Henderson, Jon Hendricks

Favourite bass players:
Steve Wallace, Chris Squire, Eddie Gomez, Tony Levin

Biggest influences in Jazz:
Max Roach and Jon Hendricks

Favourite Lyricist:
Pete Sinfield

Island Pick if I could only have 1: Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette "TOKYO '96" ECM 1666

Sounds Like

Contemporary Progressive Jazz Rock

"Jazz musicians who also have roots in progressive rock, especially the music of Yes, seem a very unlikely prospect, but with vocalist Brenda Carol, pianist Stephen Gardner, and their group ClaireVoyance, this is what we have, and it works beautifully. Make no mistake, this is a "real" jazz group, using acoustic instruments,... and not playing fusion or any of that watered-down "cool" stuff." - Bill Martin, associate professor of philosophy, DePaul University, Chicago author of Music of Yes and Listening to the future

"Carol has a well-rounded set of pipes.... [her] feathery croon wraps the lyrics in a warm caress. Carol's contributions on ["Lucky Seven"] respectfully recall shades of Joni Mitchell." - Derek Taylor, Cadence Magazine

"Brenda Carol is one of the finest jazz vocalists singing today." - Lee Prosser, Jazz Review

"This bright new singer is a welcome addition to the Canadian jazz scene and carries on the tradition of such luminaries as Chris Connor and June Christy. The young lady is a pure jazz singer in every sense of the word." - Richard Bourcier, Jazz Review

"[Brenda Carol] refreshingly makes the lyrics of a tune become like seeds flowering into a new life, vision, vitality and dimension. Whether wistful or joyous, she relays the many moods of each song directly, powerfully, yet beautifully." - Joanne Brackeen, jazz pianist/educator

“With her beautiful voice, creative explorations, and joyful desire to continue stretching the boundaries of jazz, Brenda Carol promises to be a major force in modern music for many years to come.” - [Brenda Carol] - a very talented jazz singer" - Scott Yanow, author of The Jazz Singers - The Ultimate Guide

Record LabelDARWYN RECORDS
Type of LabelIndie


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   Upcoming Shows ( view all )
Nov 13 2009 8:00P
Private Function Toronto, Ontario
Nov 22 2009 8:00P
Private Function Toronto, Ontario
Dec 22 2009 8:00P
Private Function Toronto, Ontario
Jan 6 2010 8:00P
Private Function Toronto, Ontario
Feb 6 2010 8:00P
The Children’s Peace Theatre Toronto, Ontario

Brenda Carol's Latest Blog Entry  [Subscribe to this Blog]

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Brenda Carol Newsletter: SEP - MAR 2010  (view more)

2010 Brenda Carol Renaissance Jazz Fair: Singing For Your Supper  (view more)

Brenda Carol Jazz Master Class: Choosing Repertoire For Auditions  (view more)

3rd Annual Brenda Carol Renaissance Jazz Fair  (view more)

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   About Brenda Carol
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A major jazz singer and educator based in Toronto, Brenda Carol has built an important career that has touched the ears and hearts of a countless number of listeners and young singers. Her open-minded approach has found her often interpreting songs drawn from the rock, pop and folk music worlds, transforming them through improvisations and arrangements into jazz without losing their essence, while also performing her own highly personal versions of jazz standards.

Born in Sudbury (a small town in Ontario), she grew up in nearby Brantford, which is in a very rural area. “I had a lot of time to listen,” she remembers. “ Toronto was the big city that I would visit to go see concerts.” Brenda sang often as a child, took piano lessons from age nine, and played saxophone in school. She switched her focus from tenor sax to voice when one of her high school music teachers began to offer singing ensemble lessons. “The teacher regularly introduced jazz songs to me. I did not appreciate them that much then but I learned them and later on it really helped me because I knew so many songs.”

Brenda at the time was much more into progressive rock, including the music of Genesis and Yes. At 17 she began singing with a rock band and was soon performing all across Ontario, often singing backup in rock and folk groups. At York University she earned a degree in psychology (working with the handicapped) while minoring in music. She sang with the Moors, which she describes as a bit like “Peter, Paul and Mary meets the Stranglers.” She also had a progressive folk trio, CinderBloc Garden, that had unusual instrumentation including bassoon and Moog. An important turning point in her career occurred when she met Max Roach. She took a long bus trip with friends to Chicago to attend a blues festival only to find it rained out. At Joe Segal’s jazz club, she caught Roach’s quartet for two nights and met the great drummer. “After asking me to sing for him, he suggested that I sing jazz, saying that he thought I could be a jazz singer.”

Eventually Brenda took Roach’s advice. She had always been drawn to jazz a bit due to its spontaneity, improvising and openness. In the mid-1990s she co-organized ClaireVoyance, a progressive jazz ensemble that, in addition to standards, sometimes takes its material from unlikely sources (such as the songbooks of Joni Mitchell and Stephen Stills) and turns the songs into jazz. ClaireVoyance has featured many top Canadian players through the years including Brenda’s husband pianist Stephen Gardner and, for the past decade, flutist Bill McBirnie. In 2005, Brenda performed a few special concerts with ClaireVoyance that featured the group performing the music of Yes. “We gave the Yes songs jazz solos, altering some of the pieces to become jazzier, and jamming them out pretty far.” She also performs duets with Stephen Gardner as Oui. The duo has gained attention for its ability to perform very difficult compositions.

In 1998 Brenda Carol released her self-titled debut, a memorable studio album that includes her fresh renditions of such songs as “Nefertiti” (which had rarely been recorded previously as a vocal), “You Must Believe in Spring,” “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “The Man I Love” and other fresh renditions of standards. Among the key soloists are Stephen Gardner, guitarists Ted Quinlan and Lorne Lofsky, trumpeter Steve Crowe and violinist Igor Romanyk.

Brenda and ClaireVoyance have played a yearly engagement at Toronto’s HotHouse Cafe for 13 years as part of the TD Canada Trust Jazz Festival. 2000’s Live At HotHouse Cafe documents some of that year’s music in exciting fashion. In addition to inventive revivals of some jazz standards, the group performs Stephen Still’s “Everydays,” Chris Squire’s “Lucky Seven,” Chick Corea’s “You’re Everything” and Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower” which has Brenda’s lyrics. Both of her CDs are available on the Darwyn label.

In addition to her performances, Brenda Carol has been an influential educator since 1994 who teaches privately and gives master classes. “I love to learn from my students,” she says enthusiastically. “Learning their repertoire helps one hone their own skills and I am very proud of my students.”

Currently Brenda Carol is working on her third jazz album which includes some original songs, and a solo folk jazz CD in which she plays guitar in addition to singing. She looks forward to further collaborations with stimulating musicians, to exploring songs from a variety of sources, and to future performances. With her beautiful voice, creative explorations, and joyful desire to continue stretching the boundaries of jazz, Brenda Carol promises to be a major force in modern music for many years to come. ..

Brenda Carol is currently a private vocal instructor in Toronto,
ON Canada. Email: darwynrecords@yahoo.com with your question about singing.

Purchase brenda carol cd's from these online stores:

darwynrecords.com l amazon.com l indiepool.com

Bomarzo from chris jemmett on Vimeo.

Brenda Carol: Little Sunflower - F. Hubbard


   Brenda Carol's Friend Space (Top 40)
Brenda Carol has 1326 friends.
 Stephen Gardner 


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 Jack DeJohnette 


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 Bill McBirnie - Extreme Flute! 


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 Dave Cousins 


 Todd Rundgren 


 Peter Gabriel 


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 Blues Element 


 Betty Carter 


 Max Roach 


 Edi 


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 Scott Yanow 





Brenda Carol's Friends Comments
Displaying 25 of 225 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
Monica Chapman

Monica Chapman



Nov 14 2009 3:58 PM

Hi Brenda,

Its' been a while. You were requesting to hear me and let you know when my CD was recorded and I'm happy to announce that my debut jazz CD,"Heart's Desire" is finally here! Please go to www.myspace.com/monicachaman to listen to some tracks and add me a comment to let me know what you think. A jazz and blues radio station in the Netherlands heard me and has requested to play my CD! I am overwhelmed my this and all the positive feedback I've been receiving so far. I would love to meet you and would be honored if you could come to my CD Release Party on Sat. Jan. 23rd, 2010 at The Annex Live, 296 Brunswick Ave. in Toronto. Please let me know what you think and if you can make it. You can reserve by calling 416-929-3999.

All my best,
Monica Chaman,jazz vocalist.
Hasse Fröberg and the Musical Companion

Hasse Fröberg and the Musical Companion



Nov 6 2009 2:48 PM

Hi Brenda, I hope everything's fine with you. I just wanted to wish you a "killer" weekend. Take care. Hasse (HFMC, The Flower Kings)
Fiona Hammond

Fiona Hammond



Oct 31 2009 1:08 AM

Wow, very nice to come across another woman whose influences are Prog Rock and Jazz! We're a rare breed I tell ya . . .

Gorgeous voice :-)

Fiona
Hasse Fröberg and the Musical Companion

Hasse Fröberg and the Musical Companion



Oct 30 2009 11:45 AM

Hi Brenda, Jesus what a nice sounding voice you got, beautiful! Anyway, I'm really glad to have you as a MySpace friend. If you have the time, remember to check out the "HFMC raw and fresh, taken from rehearsal" video and blogs. Enjoy the weekend and take care. Hasse (HFMC, The Flower Kings)
PARADISE VALLEY Davilmar Pianist Composer

PARADISE VALLEY Davilmar Pianist Composer



Oct 28 2009 11:02 PM

I LOVE YOU!
Marc Ceccotti

Marc Ceccotti



Oct 5 2009 8:07 PM

Brenda,
Thanks for the Friendship,very much appreciated !
Pleased to discover your myspace page & work!
Marc
Tim Cheatle

Tim Cheatle



Sep 3 2009 7:49 PM

Hiya Brenda!
Musical greetings from Portsmouth,England!
God Bless,
Tim.
Achim Schreiner Official MySpace

Achim Schreiner Official MySpace



Aug 21 2009 10:03 AM

Hi there! Im sending you some good vibrations and hope you're doing just fine:)
xoxo,
Achim
ROBERT

robert higgins



Jul 4 2009 4:33 PM

Thank You for Your Friendship...PEACE..Robert..
Edi

Edi



Jul 2 2009 11:35 PM

So glad you have those two Mel Collins-es in the band. The younger one, who I know from BCRJF '08, and the more choreographic one. Do you also happen to know an elder drummer, Ron Rully? He's been married for about 40 years to the greatest Romanian jazz singer ever, Aura Urziceanu (we had Anca Parghel too, about my age, but RIP now).

They live in Alliston. She performed at the first New Year's Eve party I attended in Toronto, '01-'02. The bassist had slipped on ice and broken his leg so Ron, in frustration, would drum in glasses and bottles at the table. I think even their son, Elijah Rully is into (jazz) music.
Tarkus®

David Presley



Jul 1 2009 8:02 PM

So, are ya proud of me?

After endlessly putting-it-off, this morning I got both ears squirted with the gel to make custom musician's plugs. Mine should be here in a couple of weeks.

I know, I know... shoulda done it a long time ago. Better late than never - right?

Hope you and S are well - ttyl! :)
Armenian Jazz Band

Armenian Jazz Band



Jun 22 2009 1:15 PM

Hi!

I created a new hit "You Will Not Be Alone"
Check it out!
You'll enjoy it for sure!!!

iTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=310451801&id=310451778&s=143441

or

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/You-Will-Not-Be-Alone/dp/B0025TPJY6/ref=sr_f3_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1239651021&sr=103-1

Love & Peace,
Armen Martirosian
A Fula’s Call

A Fula’s Call



Jun 22 2009 9:50 AM

nice tracks here. jarama!
Cheryl Hodge

Cheryl Hodge



Jun 18 2009 6:32 PM

It is; thanks, Brenda... and thanks for all your help! I sent off the cheque yesterday.

Cheers, Cheryl
Crystal Lake

Crystal Lake



Jun 18 2009 1:26 PM

Hello!
Thanks for adding us , greetings from Poland.
Welcome to our profile!

Crystal Lake (prog rock band from Poland)


chris

chris jemmett



Jun 12 2009 10:20 PM

A giant Thank You to you and Stephen for your set at you know where...
I hope you get to use that song for ever. It is a fun song. Suzanne had a real blast. Hey, so did I. You guys were great!
Edi

Edi



Jun 8 2009 10:22 AM

So in that song you and Susan dispute Bruford or tell each other to not look into each other's mailboxes (where what else than Bill-s arrive?)? :) Anyway, it must have been a real surprise for Chris on his 50th. Good to see you and Stephen again last night. Took a look at what I missed this year, in the BCRJF blog and was intrigued by a guitarist's name: Tom Ionescu.
HELIA

HELIA



May 15 2009 11:04 PM

Hello Brenda,

Just popping in to say Hello and see what's going on.
Wishing all is OK with you!!
Take care my friend, God bless you and your loved ones.
Have yourself a wonderfully calm / relaxing LONG Weekend.

Stay well, safe and always happy!!
PS. Talk to you real soon.
Glenn

Glenn



May 12 2009 10:51 PM

Thank you Brenda! I'm very pleased to be one of your MySpace friends!
Cross and Keeling

Cross and Keeling



Apr 15 2009 5:47 PM

...with thanks.
Vb, C&K
Achim Schreiner Official MySpace

Achim Schreiner Official MySpace



Apr 8 2009 3:11 PM

Happy Easter, my dear friend! Sending you loads of good vibes.<br />xoxo, Achim
Ron Batdorf SR

Ron Batdorf SR



Mar 24 2009 8:15 PM

So nice to have you as a friend...hope to hear from you soon
HELIA

HELIA



Mar 20 2009 9:58 AM

Good Morning Carol,

How are you doing my friend?
Just thought I would stop by and wish you a.......

~H A P P Y ~ S P R I N G~!!

ENJOY, HAVE AN AWESOME DAY!!
HELIA

HELIA



Mar 7 2009 2:27 AM

Dearest Brenda,

Just popping in to say a long overdue hello
and see how are you doing?
Wishing everything is alright in your neck of the woods.
I also want to take a moment to tell you how much
I respect your Music and Value your Friendship!!
Take care my friend and may God bless you and yours.
Have yourself an excellent evening
and a calm/relaxing weekend ahead.

Stay well, warm and always happy!
With Respect and Admiration.
Rick Stone

Rick Stone



Feb 20 2009 1:52 AM

Thanks for your kind words and your friendship.

Musically Yours,
~ Rick Stone
www.rickstone.com
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