FOR jazz singer Clare Teal, going on tour is nothing new.
As the proud northerner explains, “you will find that most jazz and folk singers are always on the road. The tour may be given a new name but you are still very much on the same tour with pretty much for the same material — I’ve probably been on a non-stop tour now for about 15 years.”
The exciting news for Derby theatre-goers is that this will be Clare’s first time in the city.
“This will be our debut in Derby. We have never played in Derby before. For people who have never seen us before, we play quite a wide range of music — mainly jazz — but music from all decades.
“There is a lot of humour and we like to keep it real and close to the audience.
“I’m always surprised with how much interaction there is with the audience at the shows. It’s nice when people feel so relaxed at one of your shows that they are confident enough to interact with you.”
Alongside the tour — named ‘The Diva’s and Me!’, Clare has just finished recording a new album — which proves new methods are not always the best. Clare said: “It was a bit of an experiment in many ways.
“I have always wanted to make a record in the way Ella Fitzgerald would have done. Where you go into a studio with a microphone without a safety net.
“We found a nice little studio and I went along with my musical director Grant Windsor.
“There was an old piano, a old fashioned microphone and we had a bag full of music.
“One of the pieces of music we managed to record was given to us by Sir Tim Rice.
“He has written a new musical due for release later this year called ‘From Here to Eternity’ and we recorded one of the brand new tracks from it. It has never been recorded before and was really only a demo version so we had nothing to work on or base our ideas on but he really liked it.
“During the entire recording session we never had to have more than three attempts and there was something quite wonderful about recording in this way.
“The trouble with modern methods is that there is a tendency to over-dub things and over-polish them.
“Yes you come out with a perfect product but ut takes a lot of fun out of the process as you are endlessly re-recording and going over them same bits over and over again.
“There was a lot more pressure doing it our way but it was more fun — during our recording, if either of us messed up, that was it, you had to start again at the beginning.
“I wouldn’t mind trying this again with a full band but the problems arise with space as you have to have distance between the instruments. Plus the more people you involve, the harder it becomes as everyone has to be right first time.”
BBC Radio 2 fans will know Clare for her twice weekly broadcasts — but there are going to be a few changes in-store.
“At the moment it’s two shows a week but they are pre-recorded.
“But very soon the Sunday night show is going live.
“I’m looking forward to the prospect of a live show but the reason I currently pre-record them during the week is because I left weekends free for touring but this is likely to have to change a bit so that I can fit them both in.
“The thing I love the most is the live work. It’s a lovely job being able to hook up to a venue and go out and explore and have a laugh and then go out in the evening and play some great music to people who clearly want to be there.”
You can catch Clare live at Derby Assembly Rooms on Friday March 22. Telephone 01332 255800 for tickets.
