Chatting with Heidi Vogel about Ronnie Scott’s and new music

Welcome to the latest episode of Harmonious World, where I interview musicians about how their music helps make the world more harmonious.

Vocalist Heidi Vogel joins me ahead of her 23 July show upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s and talks about her forthcoming album (review to follow in due course!)

Thanks to Heidi for allowing me to play extracts from her music alongside our conversation.

Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.

Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."

Transcript

Hilary 0:08

Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Harmonious World. My name is Hilary Seabrook. For this episode, I am joined by vocalist Heidi Vogel, and this is her singing Invitation. Heidi's got one of those voices you will have definitely heard on other people's tracks at some point, and it's really exciting to hear her on things of her own. My conversation with Heidi Vogel is in advance of her appearance upstairs at Ronnie Scott's on the 24th of July. It'll be great to talk to her about her music, what she's going to be doing at that gig, and what else she's up to. So I hope you enjoy listening into our conversation.

Lyrics 0:59

Somehow it seems we shed our dreams. But when time after time in a room full of strange dress out of the blue.

Hilary 1:28

So let's talk. We've got lots to talk about. So I particularly want to talk about your upcoming appearance at Upstairs at Ronnie's.

Heidi 1:38

Yeah.

Hilary 1:39

That's very exciting.

Heidi 1:41

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. I think I did one of the very first ones when they just opened. Um might have even been the first one for the Jazz series, and it was amazing, and everybody was so excited to sort of see the new space and things like that. And it was so um quickly sold out though. I think there were lots of people that still wanted tickets. So um yeah, I'm excited to have another one this year.

Hilary 2:07

Yeah, you're yeah, I think you're very lucky, but uh people are obviously wanting to see you up there, so that's great.

Heidi 2:14

Yeah.

Hilary 2:15

And what band are you planning to have with you? That's what I'm always interested in.

Heidi 2:19

Yeah, I've got um uh Menlick Claffey on the double bass, um, Bruno Heinen on the piano, uh Noah Aduma on the drums, and um Semi Timoa on the guitar.

Hilary 2:36

Nice.

Heidi 2:37

Yeah, I'm not sure if you're familiar with all of those guys. Are you gonna be able to make it?

Hilary 2:42

I A, I am familiar with some of them, yeah, and I'm I'm aware of some of them, but yes, I'm really hoping that I can make it.

Heidi 2:50

So brilliant.

Hilary 2:51

Yeah. It sounds like a really nice, so it's got a Brazilian tinge to it.

Heidi 2:57

Yeah, I um but my last album, which is you know a good 10 years old now, um, was had a lot of Brazilian tunes on it and a Brazilian influence. And the new record that I'm releasing in July and should have copies for um for sale at Ronnie's, has got a little bit of a Brazilian feel to it as well. That's sort of my my tinge is like jazz with a little bit of Brazilian, um sort of some some um Afro-grooves, but all sort of based in the jazz genre but with little tinges of Afro-Brazilian, yeah.

Hilary 3:38

Fantastic. I think the best jazz, anyway, well, the best music has lots of different influences from all over the world, really.

Heidi 3:45

Yeah, yeah. I think it's such an interesting sort of space to bring all of your different sort of spiritual and musical roots into. And I think that it's such an interesting thing, sort of thinking about the originated, the originators of jazz and where they were coming from with their sort of different roots, African roots and classical composers' roots and um blues' roots and African American music combining with this sort of European classical composers and showtunes, and it's such a specific thing, and sort of trying to emulate and um recreate something that's already um lived is a beautiful thing, and obviously, like it's our sort of life's devotion to dedicate to that tradition, but it also sometimes we forget is a space to um bring your own spiritual and musical roots into at this moment and your own history into. So I think that that's a that's a really beautiful space to do that with. Um, and um, yeah, it's something that I'm really passionate about, passionate about, and um hopefully when the people that will come and see me will will hear and see some of that.

Hilary 5:06

Yeah, fantastic. Uh, one of the things that I really like about jazz, uh jazz particularly, but also any contemporary music, is how much it is the best uh when it's done at its best, is like a moment in time, and quite often it reflects what's going on, uh, you know, in terms of even if it's even if you're playing other people's tracks or old tracks or tunes that you wrote 10 years ago or whatever it is, there's something about this moment that that gets into the music because it has to, because it comes from you.

Heidi 5:44

So true, yeah. It's a very sort of um present moment feeling right now and being in the present time music that's created. So true. So we're sort of feeling where the world's at and how we feel about the world and how we feel the feel about ourselves and about others. And it's it is like a snapshot in time music, so it's different every time. A lot of times when I play shows that people come to see it, might people that might not know too much about jazz. I I make a point of saying to them, everything we're playing here is improvised. So we're basing it on a tune or a piece or a motif. But we are improvising right here with you, and we're feeling your energy, we're feeling the space of the room, and I think that's it's really special because it is, as you say, just a one moment snapshot in time, what's happening in the world, what's happening in that room, what's happening on that stage, and it's never going to be the same again, you know.

Hilary 6:40

No, absolutely, uh you know, so much uh so much of what we listen to, and it you know, you you take everything in, don't you? And and I think one of the things that we realized during lockdown was you could still be an improvising musician, but it just wasn't the same if you weren't doing it around other people, even when you're in the studio, you're around other people.

Heidi 7:05

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Hilary 7:07

And if you can't do that, that's hard.

Heidi 7:10

Yeah, well, that's the thing, it's about it's exactly that. It's the relationship you have with the musicians and having those conversations in that moment with those people and the feeling of what it feels like. And it's also it's also quite risky as well because you're doing things um and saying things musically saying things over the top of each other and trying different grooves and trying different melodies and trying different phrases in in interaction, and so it can be quite risky. So you sort of like going in flight together and hoping that you'll land together. And I think that um it's exciting to watch and to listen to, you know. So for people that haven't had a chance to listen to too much jazz, um, I definitely recommend it. Yeah, very good.

Hilary 8:00

Well, I should be obviously I should be recommending your show.

Heidi 8:04

Yeah, thank you.

Hilary 8:05

Because you know, I think that's really it's a it's a very interesting concept, and I love your voice anyway. And you know, so yeah. Can you tell me a little bit about your new album?

Heidi 8:17

Yeah, so it's a it's a jazz record um with some beautiful arrangements of some of my favourite songs. I really consider myself as an interpreter. Um, so I'm very proud to be doing songs um of you know cover versions of the Great American Songbook and great Brazilian tunes that I've loved and sang. So it is um it is an album of of songs from the Great American Songbook and some Brazilian, actually got a Cuban song on there as well, and nice arrangements that I've worked on with my friends, um, and a space for me to really showcase um the style of jazz vocal that is so sort of dear to me. People that I'm influenced by, like Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, and um Antonio Carlos Jobim, and um, you know, the greats in the genres that I'm influenced by. And I'm I'm sort of unashamedly just um doing something quite traditional, but with a little bit of um my own twist to it, and I consider it to have elements of traditional but very raw and raucous in its own way, and very rootsy, um, but still very traditional. Hamas. Yeah, yeah.

Hilary 9:40

Yeah, and I think your voice is really interesting because I think that your style is very British.

Heidi 9:47

Yeah, I like that.

Hilary 9:49

You know, you're almost like a sort of um you know Pauline Black from the specials.

Heidi 9:55

I don't know Pauline Black.

Hilary 9:57

Oh, you need to listen to the specials, right? Because her, you're very different people, yeah. You're very different voices and everything, but she's got uh there's a gutsy uh British, um, I mean, she's she's very much kind of scar.

Heidi 10:15

Yeah.

Hilary 10:16

But but I think Queen of Scar.

Heidi 10:18

I'm just looking her up now. Oh, you're looking at the Googly.

Hilary 10:21

Yeah, she is an incredible musician. She's very I think she's very underrated. She is one of those people that is sort of put in a box of scar, but I think she's actually like such a good singer. And you you are almost like the jazz version.

Heidi 10:37

Oh, amazing. I love that.

Hilary 10:38

Yeah, yeah, you need to check her out. I will do, I will do.

Heidi 10:42

No, I I definitely love that that we we here in the UK have got our own sort of sound, and it's so it's so soulful in its own way. Like I love Joan Armor Trading, and you know, lots of the British artists that we sort of forget how much they've influenced everybody, Sardet. All of them, yeah. Um, and and it's um when you speak to American people that really, really know their soul in jazz, they rate the Brits so highly, you know, they really do because we bring exactly that. We're it's what we're doing is we're aiming not to copy, but to pay homage but bring our own special flavor. Yeah, definitely.

Hilary 11:24

I saw I saw Emily Sande a couple of weeks ago, and she's another one who I think is she couldn't she could not be American. Yeah, you know, exactly, exactly.

Heidi 11:34

Same like Laura and Vula. Yes, uh, you know, all of them, yeah. It's the same.

Hilary 11:40

Emma Smith. Emma Emma Smith, she's she's a perfect example of somebody who is like, you know, the great American songbook, and she's a diva, and she does all of that, but she is very, very British.

Heidi 11:52

Absolutely, absolutely, and I love all of those women, you know, they're like people that I really admire, and I'm so proud to be from this British scene because we have so much going for us. And even even historically, like if you move it out of the jazz genre, I mean, look at all the rock bands and all the great singer-songwriters. You know, there's such a tradition coming from here. So we have a lot to be proud of, that's for sure.

Hilary 12:17

Yeah, definitely. Well, I am really, really looking forward to seeing you uh at upstairs at Ronnie's. That'd be really good.

Heidi 12:24

Thank you. I'm really looking forward to seeing you there as well.

Hilary 12:28

Yeah. Um, before we finish, actually, one of the things I do want to do is I do want to give my listeners a sense of where you've come from because you've done some really interesting things as a singer. So, so give me a little bit of background for my listeners.

Heidi 12:44

So I started in the um acid jazz scene when I was a teenager, singing in acid jazz bands and working with people that were all like from bands like Jamaricui and Stereo MCs and Incognito um and playing in different formations, bands like that. Um, and it was a really interesting time actually for like UK jazz and soul fusing into that sort of whole acid jazz thing. And then I started to go to the jazz jam sessions. Um, this is like I'm talking about when I say teenager, I'm talking about like from age 15, you know. And then I got a chance to start doing actual things like going on different tours and um being featured in different bands and playing in shows and doing a lot of different things. I worked with um Suck De Soleil, the brand new heavies, Eska, Soweto Kinch, all of these different people. And then I joined, oh, and then I was doing a lot of like UK Soulful House and drum and bass and things like that. All uh all at the same time, I was um studying Brazilian music with like British-based Brazilian musicians that sort of took me under their wing and taught me how to speak Portuguese and all these different things, and how to sing the songs and learning repertoire. So I was doing that in conjunction, and then I joined the cinematic orchestra in 2006 and have recorded and toured with them. And you know, we're still doing that. So that's 20 years now that I've been with them, and that's been incredible, you know, playing all those shows with all those iconic songs and touring about the whole world, like Australia, Japan, everywhere we've been everywhere. Um Jimmy Kimmel show in the States, like really, really, really amazing opportunities um to play that album, um, which is Ma Fleur that has that song to build a home, which I think everybody knows. It's such a beautiful song. Yeah. So I did that, and then um I've had a lot of opportunity to really like um feature on lots of different jazz albums like Bruno Heinen, Mark Lewandowski, Sosa Cole, um performed live with Thundercat and and recorded on a record um with him and Flying Lotus. So, yeah, loads and loads of different collaborations and features, and hopefully, still going, hopefully, still going strong with plans coming up for the next for the next year, you know. Fantastic. Oh, that's have the energy and life in me. I want to try and make as much music as I can.

Hilary 15:33

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Takes a lot to keep us down, doesn't it?

Heidi 15:37

Yeah, exactly. That's exactly it. That's exactly brilliant.

Hilary 15:43

Right. Well, thank you so much, Heidi. It's been absolutely a joy to talk to you, and I look forward to seeing you in July.

Heidi 15:49

Thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to seeing you in person, Hilary.

Hilary 16:02

I hope you enjoyed listening to that conversation with Heidi Vogel. It was a real pleasure to speak to her just a few days ago. I have lots of interviews booked, so there are some great episodes of Harmonious World coming up. Please do like, share, review, all those things, and make sure that you subscribe so that you can always get the episodes as soon as they come out, usually on a Monday. This week I'm heading to Ronnie Scott's upstairs, so uh not quite in time to see Heidi. I'll see her later in July. But uh I've got lots of gigs coming up that I'll be reviewing on my website as well. So check out those reviews of albums and live gigs. And thank you for joining me once more for Harmonious World. What you're listening to is Heidi Vogel's Beyo Partido. She's got some amazing music coming out, so do take a listen. All the links are in the show notes. Have a great week.

Lyrics 17:13

Nessa minha locura. Eu não gosto de quem é ruim in pedaços e de quem sabe diana, sou um beijo partido. Na passo de um dia perdido no tempo, y fico longe de tudo que sai. Não se fala mais nisso. Eu sei. Eu serei pra você. Que não me importa saber. Na pasta de un vaso, quebrado no peito. Olha o beijo partido. Onde estás? Quello se desesconder. Não faço fé. Nesta minha loucura. E digo, non gosto de quem há wing in pedaços d'espoir. É quem sabe dichiar. Eu não mereço partido.