Jazz vocalist Heather Bambrick takes a Walk Between Raindrops in Miami — and celebrates the genius of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen — in her playful new single and video.
The latest single from the Juno-nominated singer’s album Fine State, Walk Between Raindrops finds Bambrick lovingly updating a classic from Fagen’s 1982 solo album The Nightfly.
“The more I listen to Donald Fagen and Steely Dan, the more I just love with their music,” Bambrick enthuses. “Fagen’s Nightfly recording is a true classic and I’m so glad we took this gem from that record and added our own little sonic stamp. Plus, the choir girl in me LOVED singing those fabulous backing vocals on the chorus!”
It’s just one of several poppier new directions Bambrick takes on Fine State, a disc that also features strong Canadian content and original material.
“(It’s) more of a departure from the traditional sort of records I’ve made in the past,” she says. “This project brings together more of the things that inspire me overall, not just in jazz and not just in music. The arrangements show influences from rock, pop, and folk music, and the tunes we’ve chosen have a strong connection to the events of the world around me, and the roots of who I am as a musician and a person.”
As one of Canada’s top jazz vocalists, Bambrick has collaborated with some of the best around, including Phil Nimmons, Fred Hirsch, Gene DiNovi, Guido Basso, Anne Hampton Callaway, Carol Welsman, Jackie Richardson and Ian Shaw, as well as the late Rob McConnell and Peter Appleyard. She’s a founding member of vocal ensembles The Beehive Singers and Broadsway, and has appeared as a guest performer with numerous jazz ensembles and symphony orchestras.
Her recordings have received East Coast Music Award nominations for Jazz Recording of the Year, and her 2017 release You’ll Never Know earned a Juno nomination for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year. She’s been honoured with Canada’s National Jazz Award for Vocalist of the Year.
Check out Walk Between Raindrops above, and connect with Heather Bambrick via her website, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
