Welcome to Philadelphia Jazz Project
Jazz In Them There Hills
Oct 28, 2015
Arlene Hilton is a lifelong Jazz fan, in love with the music of the Great American Songbook. Like many who grew up in that golden era, she dreamed of singing those great songs accompanied by awesome musicians. Her dreams were put off to go to college and then, to have a work career and family. But sometimes, our joy has a way of following us.
Now a retiree, Arlene Hilton has reinvigorated her desire to sing and has been performing with some of Philadelphia’s finest musicians. For about two years, she’s been performing in venues in Germantown, Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, sharing her joy with folks living in Philadelphia's Great Northwest.
Arlen Hilton Presents Jazz In The Great Northwest
Thursday, October 29th, 6 - 9pm
Books And Stuff, 23 Maplewood Mall, In Germantown
[Off of Armat Street, Between Germantown Avenue & Greene Street]
Info & Tickets: Call 215-479-9849
PJP spoke with Arlene Hilton about her work and her vision for the Great Northwest.
PJP: Can you tell us about this upcoming Jazz In The Great Northwest concert at Books and Stuff?
This show in Maplewood Mall is one, among other upcoming Jazz show projects in Germantown on which I'm working, that is designed to place Germantown on the map as a Jazz mecca in Philadelphia and to send the message that "There is Jazz in them thar' hills." Particularly, this show is in support of the current structural revitalization of Maplewood Mall.
The show's performers include guest, Larry Mckenna, saxophonist supreme, Dave Posmontier, Jazz pianist supreme and Craig McIver, percussionist supreme. Jake Hernandez, promising trumpeter and Temple student will sit in on some tunes. The music presentation is in impromptu mode and seeks to influence patrons to move, groove and enjoy the evening. I am the featured vocalist, but there will be other performers, as a result of an open mic segment from 8 to 9.
Since Halloween is the 31st, the venue will have a Halloween theme in which fun gifts will be given to attendees as they enter, and we will have a first, second and third prize raffle during the break. Light refreshments for sale, and setups will be available for the BYOB option.
PJP: Can you briefly describe your musical direction?
As a vocalist, I have been encouraged by my musical mentors to make a CD. This is something I intend to do. However, I have been devoting more time and attention to promoting Jazz shows and to my vision of increasing Jazz venues in Germantown. I have done the foregoing at the expense of applying a more focused approach to the vocal component of my Jazz project activities. I will always be dedicated to maintaining a repertoire of songs from The Great American Songbook in the selection of the songs I sing, especially those songs from the 20s, 30s and 40s.
PJP: What and whom are pivotal musical influences on your creative approach?
I discovered Jazz at 15 years old and discovered that the songs I knew and loved were the songs that Jazz covered. Especially, during the BeBop era, Jazz was keeping those songs alive. What a wonderful happening for me; I had the best of both worlds: Jazz and the standards.
My singing was initially influenced by such vocalists as Anita O'Day, Chris Conner, Dinah Washington, Frank Sinatra and later Betty Carter and Sarah Vaughn. My initial influence by instrumentalists included Ahmad Jamal, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Clark Terry. In terms of composers I am influenced mostly by Cole Porter's sophisticated lyrics and music and then, Irving Berlin, Rogers, Hart and Hammerstein and many, many others composers.
PJP: How do you manage the task of creating and encouraging fresh, new, forwarding moving musical ideas, while simultaneously exploring, celebrating and documenting the past?
The past is always there, and I am innately driven by the past in what I think about and in everything I do. I am a product of the past, my own and the world's. So, as I move in the present, it is impacted by my past experiences and what I have leaned in the past and from the past. With that in mind, I am constantly in a state of mental creativity of musical project ideas and remembering songs from the past, a stream of which, that are never ending. I feel driven immediately to pursue my ideas and to perform those songs. I run new ideas by others for their input, seek alliances, bring my ideas into fruition by placing them into operation, when they turn out to be appropriate and doable. The process is enjoyable though challenging; I welcome the challenge.
PJP: Why Jazz? When you could be doing anything else, why Jazz?
I see Jazz as an evolution from certain musical genres, such as Rag Time, Dixieland, Gospel music, the Blues, and Swing (big band) which all originated in America, I am extremely patriotic, so I see the evolution to Jazz as an American thing, and to me Jazz is America's classical music. It belongs to Americans, and I feel responsible to own it as an American. Not to mention that the rhythm makes my body want to move and touches my spirit, inwardly. I am mesmerized by the manipulation of a single note, and I am in awe at an artist's interpretation and expansion of the original melody; I feel their spirit and the genius behind what they do, even though I don't understand what they are doing.
Arlen Hilton Presents Jazz In The Great Northwest
Thursday, October 29th, 6 - 9pm
Books And Stuff, 23 Maplewood Mall, In Germantown
[Off of Armat Street, Between Germantown Avenue & Greene Street]
Info & Tickets: Call 215-479-9849
