Halie Loren: Simply Lovely

Halie Loren's 2008 award winning CD "They Oughta Write a Song" propelled her into an international music career that has grown stronger every year.  Room With No View was not only fortunate enough to catch her performance in Lake Charles, Louisiana in March of this year, but fortunate enough to connect with her for a virtual interview.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: Halie, welcome to Room With No View and thanks for taking this time to sit and chat with us.  You completed a tour of the Southeastern United States earlier this year.  I was fortunate enough to see your wonderful performance here in Lake Charles.  How was the rest of the tour?  

HALIE LOREN: The tour was a wonderful one, through-and-through... it was our first time touring in Alabama and Mississippi, as well as southern Louisiana, so we got to see a lot of country that was brand new to us. Hope we get to go back soon and spend a little more time there!

ROOM WITH NO VIEW:  You mentioned in the concert that you were recently in Japan and that you have become quite popular in that country.  How did that come to be?

HALIE LOREN: The reasons and ways in which my music suddenly emerged and became well-known in Japan is a lovely mystery to me, as I truly don't know the exact origin, but I certainly count my lucky stars that my music has found such a welcome home in Japan! I love having so many opportunities to travel and tour there and to meet fans and hear their stories and take silly photos with them and learn about their children who've recently been inspired to become jazz musicians... it's a beautiful thing.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: I know you did some work with the Red Cross after the 2011 earthquake that devastated Japan.  On Amazon, a fan from Japan wrote this: “I am a Japanese. I lost my house by the Tsunami of the big earthquake last year. For healing of the heart, I heard live of my favorite Halie Loren in Tokyo. And I had her sign a CD. It is my treasure.”  That’s a pretty nice compliment, don’t you think?

HALIE LOREN: That comment both breaks and heals my heart in profound ways... and yes, a very humbling kind of compliment. The kind that really brings me back to the realization of what my role is as a music-maker in this life, which is connecting people to the beautiful and moving things in their own lives by inspiring them through song and the feelings that music can evoke. Music is a deeply human thing that crosses all national and cultural boundaries – we are all music lovers. I am so grateful that my music has been embraced by so many people in Japan.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: Is there any difference between audiences in Japan compared to here in North America?  

HALIE LOREN: I find that there are more similarities than differences among enthusiastic music fans, regardless of where I play. I will say that I've never been so lavished with gifts and chocolates as I've been each and every tour in Japan... I feel like it's my unofficial birthday every time. It's the sweetest thing!

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: I know you like to sing in French, have you tried singing in Japanese?  

HALIE LOREN:  Yes, I do sing a bit in Japanese in addition to French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and bits and pieces of other languages from time to time... it's a guilty pleasure of mine, more than anything, as I just love exploring the sounds of other languages. I guess you could say I'm a linguaphile!

Halie Loren and Matt Treader at McNeese University, March, 2014

ROOM WITH NO VIEW:  There are so many great jazz songs out there to choose from, and considering you are gifted enough to write such wonderful songs as “Thirsty”, “In Time”, and “Danger in Loving You”, I wonder how you ever finalize which songs are going to end up on an album like this?

HALIE LOREN: You are so right – there are so many great jazz songs out there, and it's a bit torturous to have to choose only a few to record or perform at any given time. My bandmates would attest to the fact that writing set lists is akin to agony for me, as I find it nearly impossible to narrow down a list that excludes any of my favorite songs... but when a list of “must-do” songs amounts to the better part of a hundred titles, it's no easy task. So... imagine how hard it is to choose the songs to feature on an ALBUM. I literally stay awake all night, more often than I care to admit, making lists and bargaining with myself over what songs should or should not make the cut when I'm in the album recording process. In which I currently am, by the way. Let's just say I don't get enough sleep these days.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: Do you ever record a classic jazz song and decide it just isn’t working?  Have you ever had to leave one off an album because you just couldn’t get it right?

HALIE LOREN: There are occasions when we record something that feels like the song just doesn't fit with the other songs, or the concept is almost there but not quite, or we just run out of time and energy... I always end up recording more than would fit on an album, so there are always things left “on the cutting room floor”, so to speak. We often perform songs in concert that just didn't make it onto albums for one reason or another, and some of them end up being huge live higHalie Lorenights for us. A couple of those found their moment in the sun on the new album we are working on, in fact, and their timing couldn't be more perfect!

ROOM WITH NO VIEW:  You were brave enough to sing “What a Wonderful World” in Louisiana, which takes moxie, considering here in the birthplace of jazz we sort of think that song belongs to a certain singer/trumpet player by the name of Louis Armstrong.  Now first, let me assure you and our readers that you have no reason to worry.  I feel even Satchmo would have approved of your performance.  The song was great, especially as an encore.  But I wonder, do you ever feel intimidated when you take on a song that was made popular by such classic performers like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, or Dean Martin?

HALIE LOREN: Luckily, I don't think about comparisons too often – otherwise, I'd be terrified to touch the vast majority of the American Songbook, which has been performed by every jazz great in history. Of course, there are times when we are working up an arrangement to a standard and we're all inspired by certain versions of those songs, and want to include certain elements that we feel really serve the song. Overall, though, my perspective on performing any song is to relate to it in a very personal way. Sometimes that means that we feel inspired to completely re-work a song's identity – twisting the rhythm, the chords, melodic shifts. Sometimes that means retaining a lot of a song's classically known style, if it feels unequivocally “right” for us. I'm not trying to be Frank or Ella or Dean, or the more contemporary examples of Diana Krall or Jane Monheit, or even reminiscent – this might sound hackneyed, but I'm at a place in my artistic life, after 16 years of professional musicianship and continuously finding endless inspiration in music from all corners of the globe and great singers from all genres, where I know I can only really find creative satisfaction in being the best me. Comparison and emulation are great teachers, but can only get you so far before you have to find your own voice and know how only you can use it.

(c) 2011, photo by Sally Sheldon (Pink Caterpillar Photography)
Courtesy HalieLoren.com

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: Speaking of songs made popular by other singers, one of your latest tracks was first sung by Audrey Hepburn—“Moon River”. It is such a sad song, how did this end up on an album alongside “On the Sunny Side of the Street” and “Bare Feet”?

HALIE LOREN: “Moon River” is such a gorgeous song, and quite sad in that nostalgic dreams-unrealized way. It's as beautiful for the space as it is for the notes – both melodically and story-wise – so I wanted to really bring that sense of tenuous hope and heartbreak to our rendition.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: You broke my heart when you didn’t perform it in Lake Charles. Do you ever perform it live? 

HALIE LOREN: I do indeed perform it live... so sorry we didn't play it for you! If I'd only known... but, as I mentioned earlier, those set list conundrums are seriously tough!

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: So you change up your song list from performance to performance?

HALIE LOREN: Yes, we change up song lists every time we play.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW:  You started out as more of a pop singer before sliding into jazz.  You could easily build an amazing career in either genre, but you seem to have concentrated mostly now on jazz.  Has jazz always been there as you began to sing or did you come to it late? Are you there to stay?

HALIE LOREN: I've listened to and loved jazz since I was much too young to understand what genres were and why they matter. As for that last bit, I still wonder about that. I was exposed to so much variety in music from day one (thanks, Mom!) that I developed very eclectic tastes quite early in life... when I was 10, my favorite singers were Nat King Cole, Annie Lennox, Jewel, Patsy Cline, and Etta James. That array of influences – jazz, pop, folk/singer-songwriter, classic country, and blues – have really found their way into my musical vocabulary throughout my career. As an artist, the idea of committing indefinitely to one genre classification or another was a paralyzing concept to me, and kept me from making strides into music recording for years. As it was, I released my first album – which you rightly defined as more pop in nature – at age 21. My first foray into recording jazz was a just-for-fun venture, thinking that it would be great to finally have something recorded in the style of music that I'd been performing all my life alongside all the other types of shows I was doing, but it ended up winning international awards and accolades and finding its way to Japan and, well, you know a bit about the rest of that story. Jazz has always been a big part of my personal musical heritage, and has always felt like a really natural fit, but it wasn't until 5 years ago that I thought I could actually have a vibrant career in it. As for building careers in other genres, I rather like the idea of doing away with adhering to any genre, and just make the music I need to and want to make, conveying the stories of old songs and new songs alike.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: I have a confession to make: I have a Spotify list that I created called Modern Torches, which is made up of your music, mixed with the music of Melody Gardot, Carla Bruni, Stacey Kent, Jill Barber, and a few others. Have you ever considered any collaborations, maybe with Harry Connick Jr.?

HALIE LOREN: First of all, that is awesome! Second, yes. If Harry wants to duet with me, I'm all in! Whatever the song is. I don't care if it's a shuffle version of “Macarena”... actually, that might be awesome...

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: When we first talked about this interview in April, you were busy working on something in the studio. Are you able to talk about that yet?

HALIE LOREN: I was indeed! I was busy recording a bonus track of a song to be featured on a new “best of” compilation album that just came out in Japan last week (“Best Collection”). It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart in Japan, too, which I just learned of a few days ago! I'm quite happily surprised about that. In other studio news, I'm busy creating a new album of songs, this time venturing into somewhat new territory. There's a lot more of a soul vibe happening with this project, and more original material... I'm excited to follow it, wherever it leads me, as it keeps growing, and to share it with the world in early 2015.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: Around that same time you were nominated by the Independent Music Awards for two songs:   “Cuando Bailamos”, (Larry Wayne Clark, co-writer), in the Jazz Vocal category and “Simply Love”, (Benita Hill, co-writer), in the Acoustic categories. That’s very impressive! “Simply Love” is a wonderful, dreamy song. But could you talk about how the title and tag line of “Cuando Bailamos” came to be?

HALIE LOREN: “Cuando Bailamos”, which is “when we dance” in Spanish, came from this story idea I had during a chat with my late great friend Larry... I described a scene in which strangers meet on the dance floor, and experience the kind of chemistry that can lead a romantic to start envisioning that the other person could be “the one”, and kind of getting carried away by that notion. Larry started playing the sumptuous bossa rhythm and chords of the verse, and things flowed accordingly... even though it's in the bossa nova tradition, Spanish lyrics were what I heard in my mind for the chorus (rather than Portuguese), so that was what we went with.

Halie Loren and Mark Schneider at McNeese University, March, 2014

ROOM WITH NO VIEW:  I always try to get at least one odd question into an interview, so let me try this:  I had the role of Winthrop in a High School production of The Music Man.  Trust me, it did not lead to bigger and better things.  But if you were given the chance to star in a remake of any musical film, which musical would you choose, and who would you like to see as your co-star?

HALIE LOREN: Oh, wow. That is definitely something I have never ever, ever thought about. I hate to say it, but I'm not very familiar with a lot of musicals. Can I turn it around and say that I think “The Never Ending Story” should be made into a musical? I would want to play the dragon. And Atreyu could be Bruno Mars. And the Empress... oh my, well, I hear Beyonce is the actual global empress, so she's a pretty safe bet.

ROOM WITH NO VIEW: Halie, you’ve been so kind and generous since we first talked about this interview.  Good luck with the new album and may you continue in your much deserved and hard-earned success.  Just one last question.  Where am I going to have to travel to hear you sing “Moon River” live?

HALIE LOREN: Just let me know when you're coming to another concert of mine, and it's a done deal!

For more information on Halie, be sure to read my review of her concert: Halie Loren, a Balcony View.

Also, check out her website at HalieLoren.com or follow her on Facebook.  And we here at Room With No View wish a Halie a happy birthday, which is later this month.

Simply Love is her latest album, which includes the amazing "Moon River".  After Dark is full of excellent standards but the best track on the album is the title track.

Halie Loren: A Balcony View

Halie Loren at McNeese University,
March 14, 2014

Halie Loren, Simply Love

Some time ago, while searching Amazon for favorite jazz singers from long ago (Julie London, Etta James, Billie Holiday, to name a few), I came across new jazz singers.  I discovered that there were modern singers out there who were still able to perform the standards with incredible voices and a genuine feel for the sultry sounds of the brokenhearted.  Melody Gardot, Jill Barber, Madeleine Peyroux, and Halie Loren were the first names to surface.  All of them had recorded many of the same standards, all had unique voices, and they all put their own personal touch into their music.  I always thought Halie Loren's voice stood out as as the most natural and melodic out of this class.  And it just so happened that Halie (pronounced Hay-lee) Loren was the first of these singers that I had the honor of hearing in concert.

Halie Loren sways along as Mark Schneider anchors the rhythm
on bass and the talented Matt Treader tickles the ivories.

Backed by a trio of skilled jazz musicians, Loren filled the theater with such favorites as Sway, C'est Si Bon, On the Sunny Side of the Street, and All of Me.  She switches easily from lighthearted jazzy swing to sultry ballads without skipping a beat.  Mixed in with these standards were her own jazz recreations of non-jazz hits like Procal Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale and Carole King's I Feel the Earth Move.  That last one really caught my attention, and even my wife, a Carole King fan, did not hesitate to point out that Loren's performance was better than the original.

Halie Loren's voice never missed throughout her nearly
two hour concert.

Though there were a few songs that I felt Loren was merely performing, as soon as she began to sing My Funny Valentine it was clear that she was in full possession of the music.  If I hadn't known that it was an iconic song that had been covered by the likes of Chet Baker and Frank Sinatra, I would have easily believed that it had been written by Halie Loren.

And speaking of songs by Halie Loren, she did a number of her own compositions, including a fun, sexy jazz noir piece entitled Danger in Loving You, and Woman's Way, the latter being from her 2011 album Heart First and a favorite of mine.  I was a bit disappointed that she did not perform the title song from her 2010 album After Dark.  But it was the only disappointing part of the evening.

Notice the hand drawn shoe under her signature.  One of a kind!

In order to give her trio a short break, Loren sang one song a capella.  This was a fun little blues number she called The High-Heel Blues.  Sung for the benefit of the ladies in the audience, it highlighted the trouble some women have when they are obsessed with buying high-heels, all the while knowing how painful they are to wear.  It didn't really connect with me, since as a man, I'm too smart to wear high-heels, but I could tell it was well received by women across the auditorium.  When we met Ms. Loren afterwards and asked her to sign the cover of her latest CD, my wife mentioned how much she enjoyed High-Heel Blues.  Loren took the time to draw a high-heel shoe below her autograph for my wife.  That has to be one-of-a-kind.

Simply Love is her latest CD, and it is full of great tracks.  My Funny Valentine and I Feel the Earth Move are there, along with the upbeat On the Sunny Side of the Street.  One other song I wish she would have performed is on this album: Moon River.  This is a difficult song to get right.  I've heard that Henry Mancini, the composer, stated that Audrey Hepburn was the only singer who really understood the song.  He might have added Halie Loren to that list if he were around today.  I often hear this song done as something upbeat, a little whimsical.  It should be nothing of the kind and Loren stays clear of such a mistake.

So if you haven't yet discovered the beautiful voice of Halie Loren, be sure to type her name into Spotify, or grab a CD.  We are too quick to listen to those wonderful classics and say "they don't make music like this anymore."  If you believe that, you'll change your mind once you give Halie Loren a chance.

When Loren and her crew returned to the stage for an encore, I was expecting something loud and swinging to get us on our feet for one last hurrah.  Instead, we were all moved by her choice.  It takes some moxie to attempt to sing one of Louis Armstrong's signature songs in Louisiana.  But with such a wonderful voice and sure instinct for emotional songs, Loren's What a Wonderful World was the perfect way to cap off such a wonderful night.

A Summer's View of the French Quarter

The French Quarter, New Orleans.
A Jazz Band tries to cool things down in Jackson Square.

The French Quarter, New Orleans.  It is known for its Mardi Gras and Halloween celebrations.  Yet, for those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to visit it throughout the year, we know there is more to this very unique city than her festivals.  This week, I took a walk around the Vieux Carré and thought I would highlight a few of the sights you might see if you take a July vacation in the Big Easy.

Right away, when you get to Jackson Square, you're gonna find someone, or some group, playing jazz.  It won't always be Dixie Land jazz, but you can be sure it's cool, hot, sweet, and spicy.  You'll usually find them out in front of the Café du Monde, or between Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral.  In the picture above, I found this group in front of the Cabildo.  That's Café Pontalba behind them, which is one of the best places to eat some gumbo, red beans and rice, fried alligator, and jambalaya.  (That last item is my favorite.)  If you look closely, you'll notice that not all of the bands have traditional instruments.  This one has an honest-to-goodness broom guitarist.  You've got to hear him to believe it.  He'll sweep you away.  He can really kick up some dust with that baby.

Speaking of the Cabildo, here you can see that in July, the flowers are in bloom, including the bougainvillea, shrub roses, and especially those on the crape myrtles, which are a Louisiana specialty.

The Cabildo was built by the Spanish in the 1790's.  Aside from being the home to the Spanish government, it was also the site of the Louisiana Purchase transfer in 1803, once the New Orleans City Hall, the Louisiana State Supreme Court (which saw the landmark Plessy vs. Ferguson decision in 1896), and was used as a prison before it eventually became the Louisiana State Museum in 1908.

Not far from the Cabildo, which is on the right hand side of Saint Louis Cathedral, you'll find Orleans Street, which runs into the backyard of the cathedral, connecting Royal Street, the home of so many art galleries and antique shops, with Bourbon Street, the home of so many bars and strip clubs.

In July, the heat can be pretty rough.  While I was there, it was not bad in the shade.  As you'll notice, even the cigar shop Indian is wise enough to hang back in the shade on the banquette.  (The raised sidewalks in the French Quarter are called this because way back when, the small blocks were called islands, which led the French people in town to call the sidewalks banquettes, as in the banks along a shore.)

Speaking of the heat, if you need a place to get out of the sun, most of the hotels in the Quarter have these little passages that lead to their courtyards.  It is in these courtyards where you'll find respite from the midday sun where there is lots of shade, and more often than not, the cooling presence of a fountain.  

During my walk, it wasn't hot enough to seek out shelter.  Though I must admit those fountains looked terribly inviting.

In July, you'll get to see the splendor and variety of the houses in the Vieux Carré.  So many of the homes in this area are gaily painted to reflect the traditional decor associated with this French-influenced American neighborhood.  And many of them are kept in perfect condition, despite the damaging effects of the sub-tropical heat and the near constant high humidity.  There's also the effects of tropical storms and hurricanes to consider as well.  So with all of these elements attacking the wood, you'll find that there are many shutters and doors which have been mistreated.  However, I am always glad the residents don't repair every one of these at the same time.  They add such a wonderful flavor to the Quarter.  It would be a shame if every home there looked perfect.

My purpose for this day was to keep searching for shots to use for my calendars for 2014.  I am never sure which is better, the older, run-down look of the Quarter, or the fresher, painted, restored sections.  I really couldn't choose one over the other.  They're both inspiring in their own way.

But if you're looking for perfect, or at least something close to it, you'll find plenty of homes that will catch your eye.  Here, on Dumaine Street, just north of Dauphine Street, I was intrigued by the colorful display of paint along with the flags waving in the summer breeze.  How delightful it must be to live in such a colorful and cheerful home.

Not far from here I sat down to rest on a stoop and chatted with Louis, a photographer from New York, who was taking a break in the shade.  Though born and bred in New York City, he was down in New Orleans for the coming Fourth of July festivities.  We shared the shade and a little companionship before I moved on in search of more targets for my camera.

Because it was July, and many of the northern tourists did not realize it was actually a pleasant day (by local standards), many of them felt the best way to see the Quarter was to take a ride in the shade of a carriage awning.  You'll find plenty of carriages awaiting you on the south side of Jackson Square.  The drivers/guides will be more than happy to drive you around, dishing out as many legends and myths as you're willing to swallow.  The indefatigable mules, either a Jack or a Jenny, will pull you along, no matter the heat.  The clip-clop of their hooves is often the only sound you'll hear on the lesser traveled streets at noon.  Everyone else is inside a restaurant eating great food and having a few drinks.  (But easy on the drinks in the hot weather, okay?)

Now if you've seen enough of the Quarter, or you just plan to hit it later in the day, you can always grab a ride on the steamboat Natchez.  

Using steam engines built in 1925, the Natchez, one of only a few steamboats still plying the waters of the Mississippi today, will take you on a two hour trip along the river.  Leaving every day from the Toulouse Street wharf behind the Jax Brewery, the Natchez takes you down around the bend of the river past the Chalmette battleground.  Along the way you'll learn a little bit of history about the Mississippi and enjoy a cool breeze up on the top deck.

And when the cruise is over, you don't even have to walk back to your hotel.  The Toulouse Streetcar station is nearby, and so are a few guys willing to peddle you home in their pedicabs.  But if you can stand to walk just a little, I always suggest heading back to Jackson Square so you can grab a milkshake at Stanley.  Trust me on that one.  They're the best!

I'll leave you with a little tune from the Natchez, as played on their steam-powered calliope.  We filmed this as we were heading back to the car.  Look closely and you'll see the man standing at the organ.  Yes, they really do play it live.  It is not a computer programmed calliope, as I had once thought it was.

Use these links for 2014 calendars featuring my photography from New Orleans:

French Quarter Balconies Calendars by jreeser1

New Orleans' French Quarter Calendar by jreeser1

Also, you might enjoy this wrapped canvas photograph of Central Grocery.



View more gifts at Zazzle.

Paris Quick View (Number Four)



   I had heard about a little cafe at the Hotel d'Aubusson in a little tourist guide book I'd downloaded onto my Kindle.  Cafe Laurent had jazz offerings on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.  I went the first night by myself, and walked in to the great sounds of a trio playing Dancing Cheek to Cheek.  Led by Pierre Christophe, they played standards through the evening, and I could not have been happier.  I took Jennifer back the second night, and they were playing a bit of a more contemporary set, with a guest guitarist whose name I never did catch.  Here is just a brief clip from that night.  I did not capture much of it, except in my memory, which I will treasure for a very long time.







Pierre Christophe at the Piano.

The Cafe was quite comfortable.  I could have stayed all night.  The bartender was polite and helpful, the floor waiter was German, and was just a bit fussy, though he made every attempt to be witty, which was lost on me since I did not understand most of what he said.  A retired American couple sat a few tables over from us.  She was obviously not a jazz fan, and was only there for her husband.  He was a huge jazz fan, and could hardly sit still as he swayed back and forth to the music, occasionally shouting out an encouragement.  It was a great atmosphere.

I have a video clip of what I did capture and I hope you enjoy it.  And if you get to Paris, stop in at the Cafe Laurent on Rue Dauphine.