Elizabeth Shepherd's Parkdale is a Pleasure
Mixing Jazzy Soul with Techno Miss Shepherd's Parkdale rocks.
Jan 31, 2009
Elizabeth’s profile as an innovative music was never in doubt and this new project only enhances her status in this norm. Her songwriting although coming from the roots of jazz, never ceases to push the envelope, dropping beats between a jazz groove, her honey toned voice floating in and over the rhythms or the horns, keeping a flow to her music that is at home in a dance club or in a sophisticated jazz hall.
She is, of course, a growing cult figure on the Toronto jazz scene and can be caught on many nights when she is not on tour, leading her trio in any of the small venues that would let her.
The Spirit Of Parkdale.
Her CD Parkdale pays tribute to the area of Toronto she calls home.
Highlights include the jazzy soulful 'Higher Ground', she re-works Dizzy Gillespie’s 'Con Alma', freshen it up, but keeping its’ greatness intact., her cover of the great Oscar Brown’s 'Long As You’re Living', could be mistaken for one of her own songs, she so completely re-works and re-invents the song.
Most of the tracks are originals with the groovy 'Shining Tear Of the Sun' starting things off the right way; a slow steady bass groove punctuated by sweet chords.
Parkdale the title track has a quicker pace at the beginning and then slows to quiet softer vibe for a moment as trumpeter William Sperandei blows hot licks over the groove. Her voice floating between the music, her lyrics exposing and exploring the human experience of love, pain, emptiness and as she puts it; “total openness, divulging your innermost humanity”.
Growing Up With Music
Elizabeth grew up with music. Her parents were Salvation Army ministers which led to an early exposure to brass band sound which was soon mixed with a love of many forms of music all combining to make one groove filled musician.
She studied music in France and completed a degree in jazz piano at McGill University in Montreal. Her initial career choice was to pursue a career in music therapy.
Fortunately for her fans she discovered that she had a talent for writing great song and that she also had a beautiful voice to sing them with.
Moving back to Toronto after finishing her degree she worked at a piano bar, quickly moving from her job as server to headline attraction.
Making An Impact On The Toronto Scene.
Elizabeth’s city wide attention came via an all women group called 'Babes in Jazzland' where she shared the vocal spotlight with four other singers, fronting a band of all female musicians. They had one recording, but played many events across the town. She arranged a couple of tunes with the band, but it was on her first CD that she really shone.
Her debut ‘Start To Move” released on Do Right music, was quickly followed up by the DJ friendly B-Sides.
Elizabeth has toured many Jazz spots in the World playing the North Sea Jazz Festival, in July 2008 and has recently returned from a tour of major cities in Japan and included a week long stint at the prestigious Cotton Club in Tokyo.
Start To Move was nominated for a Juno Award and was voted in the Top 3 Jazz albums of 2006 by listeners of Gilles Peterson show on BBC radio in the UK
She made her debut at Massey Hall as part of the 22nd Women’s Blues Review in November 2008
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