Next Sept. 19 starting at 7:00 p.m. is set for a new and unmissable concert by Molise-born jazz singer Chiara Izzi, a singer-songwriter and composer now an adopted New Yorker in her own right. The appointment is at the Zerilli-Marinò House and registration is mandatory. Ahead of this important performance, let’s get to know her better.
You were born in Campobasso but your career took off in New York. It sounds like you also lived an American dream, but how did that happen?
In truth starting in my school years I was always “exposed” to music, and I began playing as a classical pianist. But my curiosity was growing and I wanted to study more, so much so that I enrolled in a private school in my hometown, Thelonious Monk, and embraced jazz, doing my “gavetta” in Italy until I won the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival Voice Competition in Switzerland in 2011. Also on the jury was Quincy Jones, who advised me to go to the U.S. So I thought bigger: by 2014 I was in New York.
How was the impact in the States professionally?
I immediately began working in the city’s venues. New York, for a musician who loves to play live and wants to make a living out of it, is in its own right an “American dream.” It is still possible to think about doing that here, despite the economic difficulties and high rents, because there are so many opportunities and the entertainment and concert culture is very structured.
Since Montreux, your career has taken off and you have released three records, but with the digital market, how are you doing?
In 2013 I debuted as a soloist right after the award with “Motifs,” recorded with Dot Time, but it was in 2019 that I released “Across the Sea” for Jando Music/Via Veneto Jazz together with pianist Kevin Hays and many other great international musicians from the jazz scene. The latest release is my third album “Live in Bremen” from 2022, again with Dot Time, recorded during a performance with pianist Andrea Rea. Although I don’t come out on the market very often with singles or albums, I am also quite followed on Spotify, although I don’t count big numbers. This is probably due to my constant live concert activity.
If you had to sum up the work done over the years what would you say?
I consider myself very fortunate to have met along the way very attentive and knowledgeable teachers, musicians, and insiders in the music business, who supported and inspired me in my artistic and career choices. The first record I recorded after Montreux really represented an opportunity for me, but now I am thinking about what to do for the next one: whether to produce it independently or hook up with a new label. I’m certainly in no hurry: the new record will come when I feel inspired and ready; when I have something to say. I like to take care of projects down to the smallest detail and follow the creative process, which often does not go hand in hand with the algorithms and demands of the record market, which pushes to release singles and records quickly: in short, I don’t want to release “just in case”: this has always been my record conduct until now.
What should the audience expect from your concert on Thursday night?
A peculiarity of mine is that, in addition to singing in English, I am very keen on bringing Italy with me by singing in my native language. As is often the case, I have come to appreciate singing in Italian much more since living abroad. Following the invitation from Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò to prepare a musical project with elements of Italian culture, I thought I would complete an idea I had for some time: to include American Pop hits from the 1960s later taken up by many Italian artists in both lyrics and music, such as “You Can’t Hurry Love” by The Supremes or “Blowin’ In The Wind” by Bob Dylan. I will also perform my own songs including “Circles Of The Mind,” which won the prestigious Independent Music Awards in 2020 for Best Vocal Jazz, and I will sing in Portuguese a version of Pino Daniele’s “E pò che fà” that is much loved in Brazil. For me, the evening at Casa Zerilli-Marinò will be a premiere and I look forward to performing in this very important venue for the Italian and Italian-American community in New York.
The article Interview with Jazz singer Chiara Izzi, live today at Zerilli-Marimò House comes from TheNewyorkese.
