Joyce Cooling: frets, smooth vocals
Jay Wagner: keys, production Each track features some of the most talented cats available.
Influences
Wes Montgomery, C.K. Ladzekpo, Jay Wagner, Ornette Coleman, João Bosco, Bill Evans, James Brown, Maurice Ravel, Jimi Hendrix, Abbey Lincoln, Aerosmith & many, many more
A few short years ago, guitarist and songwriter Joyce Cooling took a good, hard look
at her life. Glued to the TV like the rest of us, Cooling remembers the days after 9/11 and found her perspective on life jolted. "I asked myself," she recalls,
"Is what I'm doing as a musician meaningful?" After lengthy, ardent talks
with her long-time collaborator and partner Jay Wagner about a potential life without
a career in music, Cooling proclaimed, "I don't know about you, but this girl's
got to play."
Cooling has always wanted to make music.
Growing up in New Jersey and New York, she absorbed a wide variety of music and amassed
a huge record collection. "My collection contains Ornette Coleman, João
Bosco, and Bill Evans, but it also includes James Brown, Maurice Ravel, Jimi Hendrix,
Abbey Lincoln and Aerosmith as well music from all over the world," she notes.
"I like R&B. I like folk. I like heavy metal and headbanger stuff. I like
punk. I like rap. I just like good music. There are no boundaries with me."
Cooling's penchant for the eclectic continued when she moved to the San Francisco
Bay Area in the early 1980s and began dabbling in keyboards and percussion. Music
had long been the most passionate part of her life, but an actual career as a musician
started taking shape only after she began hanging around an African drumming class
taught by C.K. Ladzekpo, a renowned Ghanaian percussionist. Integrating the polyrhythmic
sophistication of West African music with her passion for melody and harmony, Cooling
focused her attention on playing, singing, and songwriting. "Everything crystallized
when I heard Wes Montgomery's solo on If You Could See Me Now. From then on,
it was as if guitar had chosen me."
Teaching herself to play guitar by ear, she developed a personal style of finger
picking that has given her playing its unique sound and feel.
Her
introduction to producer Jay Wagner, a keyboardist on San Francisco's Brazilian circuit,
gave her the energy that her self-taught chops needed. Before long, she was playing
that same circuit and working with Jay on a full-time basis. Becoming a top attraction,
Cooling appeared at many of the major West Coast jazz
festivals and expanded her reach by playing in the Philippines, Mexico, and Colombia,
performing with such jazz giants as Joe Henderson, Stan Getz, and Charlie Byrd.
Bay Area and festival jazz fans knew and loved Joyce Cooling as one of the region's
most dynamic and popular contemporary jazz guitarists when, in 1997, her San Francisco-inspired
chart-topping single, South of Market, took the jazz world by storm. Since then,
Cooling has thrilled audiences around the world with her fluid, swinging style, garnering
critical praise and a bevy of industry awards along the way. The single and her Heads
Up debut album, Playing It Cool
soared to ..1 on the Gavin Report and R&R's NAC/smooth
jazz charts where it remained there for five consecutive weeks. Cooling was a nominee
for Gavin's Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year, named Best New Talent in the Jazziz
Reader's Poll, and was an easy choice for Artist of the Year by the nationally-syndicated
radio program, Jazz Trax. Her 1999 follow-up, Keeping Cool , likewise dominated the
charts and boasted a ..1 hit, Callie, and earned Joyce the Gibson Guitar Award
as Best Jazz Guitarist Of the Year.
The accolades continued streaming in with Cooling's 2001 release on GRP, Third Wish,
which features a stellar performance by Al Jarreau and produced two more top ten
radio hits. She then went on to record a track for a holiday release with the legendary
guitarist, Lee Ritenour. When Cooling and Wagner entered the studio to record the
CD Cooling knew exactly what they were going for. She wanted to provide contemporary-jazz
that was accessible and groove-oriented but chock full of substance and creativity
- a characteristic that has become a trademark for Cooling's and Wagner's imaginative
compositions.
"Writing has always been an integral part of who I am as a musician. Both Jay
and I absolutely love composing and it is impossible to imagine our lives without
it. When we start putting songs together, it is very much a collaborative process
- a back and forth ping pong game." This held true as Cooling and Wagner began
preparing all the original tunes for her Narada Jazz debut, THIS GIRL'S GOT TO PLAY.
"The time leading up to the album was, musically speaking, a very restless one
for me. I was anxious to experiment with new ideas." Shirking complacency, Cooling
enjoys testing her comfort level. "For me, it's a good thing to be on the edge.
It keeps me focused and looking forward to the next project." With straight-ahead
roots and a Brazilian jazz background, she boldly branches out on THIS GIRL'S GOT
TO PLAY with harmonies, sophisticated melodies, and - for the first time - a stronger
emphasis on vocals. "I love to sing and lyrics can sometimes reach people in
completely different ways than an instrumental melody can."
Cooling's tendency to drift outside the mainstream is reflected in the album's title
track - a virtual narrative of her zest to be on the edge. "This song is loosely
autobiographical," she confides. "As a kid, I just had to play music. All
I wanted was to be in a band." She adds, with a slight grin, "No, I wasn't
a cheerleader in high school." A microcosm of Cooling's creativity is the song,
Camelback. "Jay and I were experimenting with sounds and this quirky
little groove inspired the whole track. The loping feel conjured up what it might
be like to ride a camel." The Wizard draws upon Cooling's passion for
Brazilian music." We love Hermeto Pascoal and, just as we started to write this
tune, we had gone to one of his shows and done a workshop with him. He looks like
a wizard with long white hair and musically....well, it just goes without saying
that he is one. The song seemed a natural fit with his spirit."
THIS GIRL'S GOT TO PLAY is a powerful statement by an artist at the top of her game.
"This is a cross-roads album and I really wanted to go for it without any regrets."
Giving it an edge that's strong, sexy, and savvy, Cooling boldly declares who she
is and what she can do...and man, oh man, can she play.
JOYCE COOLING REVOLVING DOOR Now available in your neighborhood and other places in the universe.
A portion of the sales of REVOLVING DOOR will go directly to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Just by buying a copy of the CD, you've donated! We thank you deeply for that. www.nami.org
Joyce, thanks for the ADD. I just love your music. This is some of the smoooothest guitar work on the planet. I am humbled and am honored to share LimboSpace with you. Stop by my site if you ever need to GET DOWN with some genuine Limbo music. Your new friend, The LimboManBand, Buckeye Ocean, Ohio. PEACE/LOVE/HOPE
Hola!Joyce,it's a pleasure for me in you selecting me as one of your Jazz Cat friends"This Girl got to Play"i might add to this comment,love all your c.d.'s that i have at home,is so cool and fresh.Your style of Wes and Emily are so a like,it's cool. The best to you amiga(Friend)from your numero uno(Number One)Fan/Musician/Merchant Mariner.Keep the licks of your quitar flying always. Greetings from the city/port of La Ceiba,Honduras.Central America.
Thanks for the add! Check out our Summer Festival especially the opening concert, the Terence Blanchard Quintet, coming up on June 27th at 8:00pm. Hope to see you there!
Joyce, thanks so much for the add. Your playing is both fun and smart. I Look forward to seeing you in So.Cal. whenever you can make it down. God bless, Harold
Hi Joyce Nice energy in your music. New songs now at Myspace! Wishing you all the best. David Rice Liston to my song for peace in this world "Where are we going to" at cdbaby.com/all/collection
Hi Joyce, Great pleasure to make your acquaintance. I love the individual timbre you have. Obviously I love the note, choice, phrasing etc but in particular I like the timbre. am I repeating myself? Peace.
Hello Joyce. Thank you so very much for allowing me to be a friend. Girlfriend, you can hit!! I really dig your sound, and have always admired the way you play. Would love to hit witcha one day. One Love.
Hi A warm hello and kind regards 2 U. Thank U 4 your friendship. Music has a way of bringing creativity together Hope U have a great day and an awesome year. May the coming months bring kind Blessings 2 u. Love. Enjoy the music. . Thank U 4 sharing your creativity.
Her
introduction to producer Jay Wagner, a keyboardist on San Francisco's Brazilian circuit,
gave her the energy that her self-taught chops needed. Before long, she was playing
that same circuit and working with Jay on a full-time basis. Becoming a top attraction,
Cooling appeared at many of the major West Coast jazz
