ARTIST: Chiara Civello
TITLE: Last Quarter Moon
LABEL: Verve
GENRE: Jazz
BITRATE: 181kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 48min total
RELEASE DATE: 01 Feb 2005
RIP DATE: 26 Jan 2005
Track List
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01. Here Is Everything 4:57
02. The Wrong Goodbye 4:23
03. Ora 5:33
04. Caramel 3:05
05. Parole Incerte 6:26
06. Last Quarter Moon 4:13
07. Nature Song 4:19
08. In Questi Giorni 3:04
09. Sambaroma 1:37
10. Trouble 4:15
11. Outono 3:48
12. I Won't Run Away 2:37
Release Notes:
Debut albums are greeted with the hope that they will offer a first glimpse of
great musical talent. Last Quarter Moon, the recording debut of Italian singer,
songwriter, and pianist Chiara Civello, makes good on the promise of discovery.
This collection's enchanting originals should establish her in the firmament of
today's songwriting talent. Pop veteran Russ Titelman - known for his
associations with Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Rickie Lee Jones, and James Taylor -
produced the album.
It's certainly an auspicious beginning for Chiara, yet the 28 year-old is quick
to point out that it is also the culmination of her young life's work. "Is this
a first album? A first attempt?" she questions. "Yes, it's the first step into
this world, but it's the first step from a person who has already come from a
long way."
The distance she has traveled is both musical and spiritual-literally stretching
across the Atlantic Ocean. Born June 15, 1975 in Rome, Chiara was encouraged to
play the piano by her grandmother; she kids that her nonna's out-of-tune upright
afforded the best ear training. She briefly tried the acoustic guitar, but that
ended almost comically with a drive to get some gelato. "The little car only had
two doors," she remembers. "When I sat down, I broke the neck of the guitar.
That was it for me. No more guitar. My mother said, 'You'd better sing, girl!'"
Chiara had already been in some classical choirs, but was looking for something
freer than the operatic traditions of her homeland. A friend suggested that she
learn jazz; she'd never heard of it. A little investigation brought her to a
private music school that she would attend through her four years of high
school: the St. Louis Music Academy in Rome. When she was sixteen, Chiara began
singing professionally and won a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College
of Music in Boston. She enrolled there from 1994-98.
Well-known jazz educators directed Chiara's studies: trombonist Harold Crook,
tenor players Ed Tomassi and Jerry Bergonzi. "I had a very instrumental approach
to singing," she remembers. "I studied bebop and transcribed solos like
crazy-Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, even avant-garde jazz." By
graduation, Chiara was a regular on the Boston club scene.
But her journey didn't end with Boston or jazz. Like generations of Berklee
grads before her, Chiara's move to New York City was inevitable. Searching for
something musically closer to her Mediterranean roots, she immersed herself in
Latin and Brazilian music, learning Spanish and Portuguese along the way. She
also wrote her first song, "Parole Incerte" ("Uncertain Words"), about the
misunderstandings that can come from the distance between a person and her loved
ones.
Meanwhile, two of Chiara's bandmates - pianist Alain Mallet and drummer Jamey
Haddad - had begun working with Paul Simon and invited her to a rehearsal. It
was there that she met producer Russ Titelman and left him with a demo of
"Parole Incerte." He called the very next day and insisted, "You are a
songwriter. Forget about everything else you are doing. You have to write."
Chiara began composing lyrics in English. She studied the work of Bob Dylan,
Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and others and sang background vocals on Taylor's
October Road. She also joined Tony Bennett for a duet on his upcoming Columbia
release.
From this process emerged the 10 original compositions included on her debut
album; seven written by herself and three co-writes, including the brooding
ballad "Trouble" that was co-written with legend Burt Bacharach. "I had almost
every song on the album," recalls Chiara, "when Russ called me to say that Burt
Bacharach was interested in writing with me." "Trouble" came together during a
three day session at Bacharach's Los Angeles home. Chiara arrived with an idea
for the melody; they shaped and refined it as a team.