Laura Anglade is 27 years old. She is still at the dawn of her career, but for the past few months, everything has changed for her, with the release of her second album, So come to my house, a jazz song exercise recorded with Montreal guitarist Sam Kirmayer. The charming album caught the attention of Melody Gardot, who invited her to tour with her in recent months; Anglade returns to Montreal, where she studied, for a major concert with the Orchester national de jazz de Montréal (ONJ) which discusses the work of composer Jerome Kern.
“I have never sung with such an orchestra before! launches, excited, Laura Anglade, affirming in the same breath that singing with the simple accompaniment of a guitar “is also difficult, because more in the intimacy. But the important thing is to pay homage to the song, regardless of the accompaniment”, and that of Jerome Kern deserves this kind of tribute.
Considered one of the greatest composers of popular music and stage music, Kern is the author of several titles listed in the Great American Songbook and covered by the greats of jazz, starting with Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (1933), The Way You Look Tonight (1936) and A Fine Romance (1936). A repertoire loved by Anglade, who had the honor of choosing the list of works on the concert program. “It goes so well with an orchestra”, says the musician, inspired by the album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Song Book (1963). “His arrangements are magical and known, we recognize ourselves in the tunes, the lyrics of the songs”, many of which are written by the famous librettist Dorothy Fields.
Shortly after our interview, Laura took the plane to England, invited by the London Jazz Festival to sing last Saturday in the first part of Melody Gardot, with whom she shares this affinity for the jazzy and unifying song. “She found me on the Internet. The day she relayed one of my videos on Instagram, I couldn’t believe it — I’ve always listened to it, when I was little in the car, when my parents took me to school. And on top of that, she’s adorable, she gave me the chance for the first time to do an international tour! »
I have never sung with such an orchestra before!
Funny coincidence, these two musicians had a similar trajectory, but in reverse: the American Gardot now lives in Paris, the French Anglade, born in Montpellier, now lives in Toronto, after having lived in the United States. United, then in Montreal. “I grew up in Connecticut and went to Montreal to study translation,” she says. That’s how I started hanging out with jam sessions and get to know the musicians of the jazz scene. “After seven years with us, heading to Toronto, where she continues her career – in both languages, a bit like Gardot does.
“I want to express these identities, it’s the two worlds that shaped me, and between English and French, I make a lot of parallels,” says the musician.