Female voices (pt.4) - Jem

Almost by accident (thanks to Last.FM), I bumped into Jemma Griffiths (a.k.a. Jem) and she instantly caught my attention. From her own website:

Jem was born in Wales, a misty and oddly shaped UK peninsula also responsible for bringing the world Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey among other things. From the age of thirteen she was singing and writing songs, basic recording equipment was ever-present and she decided that one day she would be a singer. Keeping her dreams of this future career mostly to herself however, after finishing school she headed to Sussex University.

Whilst in Brighton, Jem's great passion for music drew her into the music industry, but at this point it was the behind-the-scenes side that attracted her. She hurled her energies into club and festival promotion, became a DJ agent and finally helped set-up and run the specialist breaks label 'Marine Parade'. After a time however, it became clear something was missing. She realized that she'd been circling her own artistic instincts and it was time to take a leap of faith. But that great leap forward first required a small step back.

In November of 1999 Jem surprised her colleagues by leaving everything behind and retreating to the creatively inspired air of Wales and a lifestyle of sofa surfing. Moving from the limits of her dictaphone, she assembled a mobile studio and got cracking on her songwriting and music production craft. This turned out to be a fruitful time. She completed a strong collection of 4 demos and things began to move quickly from there.

Jem moved to London where she continued her nomadic existence and started collaborating with other writers/producers. Two days into her first writing session with acclaimed electronic producer Guy Sigsworth (Bjork, Frou Frou), the song 'Nothing Fails' was born. This collaboration between Guy, Jem and subsequently Madonna, appears as track 6 on Madonna's 'American Life' album. Her love of beats and bass also lead her to Brooklyn where she teamed up with NY hip-hop producer Ge-ology (Mos Def, Talib Kweli) and in autumn 2002 she met her now co-producer Yoad Nevo. Together they have succeeded in fusing her many musical influences to create a fresh and distinctive new sound. Jem's music is a combination of bright melodies, soul searching lyrics and diverse rhythms that grab you from the first listen. Her seemingly innocent lyrics contain those closely observed details that are as much about optimism as they are about discovery.

The aptly titled song 'Finally Woken' found its way to influential Los Angeles radio station KCRW 89.9 FM. Music Director Nic Harcourt began spinning Jem's demo on the nationally acclaimed program "Morning Becomes Eclectic" and it created a proper stir. “As soon as I heard the demo from this Welsh songstress I had no choice but to put her on our playlist,” said Nic Harcourt, “the beautiful ‘Finally Woken’ first made its way across our airwaves in March 2002 and ‘Flying High’ has become one of my favorites.” With each play causing an assault on the station's telephones, her demo tracks quickly made her one of the most listener-requested artists at the station and landed her in their coveted top 5 played artists, and all prior to any record label being attached.

As fate would have it, A&R Bruce Flohr was one of those listeners and he wooed her to sign onto Dave Matthews' ATO record label, which has enjoyed successes with David Gray, My Morning Jacket and Ben Kweller. Jem's EP 'It All Starts Here...' was released by ATO Records in Autumn 2003 and her full-length debut CD ‘Finally Woken’ followed in March 2004. After a long and winding road to becoming a full-fledged and working artist, Jem has finally woken, indeed.

Female voices (pt.3) - Mary Black

"If life is a river and your heart is a boat
And just like a water baby, baby born to float
And if life is a wild wind that blows way on high
Then your heart is Amelia dying to fly
Heaven knows no frontiers
And I've seen heaven in your eyes"

One morning is London, I was visiting an audiophile's basement (my father is an healthy addict to good sound) and I heard Mary Black for the very first time.

That same afternoon, I had bought "No Frontiers". A few years later, I travelled to Cork to watch her perform. Her music was definitely worth it.

From her website:
Mary Black's distinguished career has spanned over 25 years from her early days in Dublin folk clubs through ever-escalating success with seven platinum solo albums one of which - No Frontiers - spent fifty- six weeks in the Irish Top 30. Needless to say Mary Black is a seminal figure in Irish musical history and one of the artists responsible for it's blossoming on a global level.

Mary released her first eponymous solo album in 1983. It reached No. 4 in the Irish Charts and is ranked among the best Irish albums of the early 1980's. It won for her the Irish Independent Arts Award for Music, the first in a staggering list of Music Awards that have continued to the present day.

After a successful period working with traditional band "De Dannan", she reunited with producer/guitarist Declan Sinnott to record her second solo album " Without the Fanfare" in 1985. This established what has become a Mary Black trademark - her ability to discover some of Ireland's finest contemporary song-writing talent and through her remarkable voice project the songs onto a world stage. The San Francisco Chronicle later called her "One of the best interpretative singers around".

"By The Time It Get's Dark" in 1987 saw Mary extending her repertoire, adding songs by the likes of Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny to the wealth of Irish song writing talent. Yet to all of the material Mary Black brought her own unique Irish combination of the ethereal and the earthy. The Telegraph described her voice as "Serene and achingly beautiful".

"No Frontiers" followed and proved to be one of Ireland's best selling albums of 1989. It also established Mary in new markets in Europe the US and Japan. "Babes in the Wood" in 1991 went straight to No.1 in the Irish charts and led to two sell-out shows at the Royal Albert Hall. Touring the UK for the first time Mary received superlative reviews from The Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph.

"The Holy Ground" in 1993 went platinum on the day of its release. Subsequently Mary played 5 sell-out shows at the Point Theatre in Dublin to an audience of 20,000 in one week. "Circus" in 1995 went straight to No.16 in the British charts, becoming her biggest selling UK album to date.

Perhaps more gratifying than the habitual awards and recognition bestowed on her is the respect and admiration of fellow artists. Mary has recorded and performed live with Emmy Lou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Joan Baez and Van Morrison.

Her ’97 release, “Shine”, saw Mary taking something of a new direction. She asked renowned American producer Larry Klien to produce the album. Recorded in Los Angeles in late 1996, many have judged it one of her finest works.

“Speaking with the Angel” followed in 1999. On this she continued to bring some of Ireland’s best songwriters into the spotlight, once again interpreting the songs of her personal favorites such as Shane Howard, Noel Brazil and Steve Cooney. Summing up its review of this album Ireland’s leading music magazine, Hot Press, said: “If it is a benchmark in excellence that you seek, a life-affirming statement, then this is the album for you . Staggering stuff”.

“Still Believing” is a documentary filmed in 2002 celebrating Mary’s life in music. In this film Mary tells her story and takes us from her birthplace in Dublin’s inner city on a musical journey through her career. The documentary is followed by a live recording of Mary and the Band filmed on the final night of a week long run at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin – one of Mary’s favourite venues. Both the documentary and the live recording at the Olympia make up "Mary Black Live, the DVD" which is accompanied by a live audio CD recorded at various venues around the world.

In Feb 2005 Mary and her band started work in West Kerry recording new material – songs from, Noel Brazil, Sandy Denny, Bob Dylan, Shane Howard and Mary herself. The fruits of their labour, a brand new album entitled “Full Tide”, was released in Ireland on October 28th. It was Mary’s first studio album in 6 years.