Lisa Lynn
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | SELF | AFM
Music
Press
Vocalist Lynn visits
hometown for gig
at Murphy's Plac
By Vicki L. Kroll
TOLEDO FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER events@toledofreepress.com
Lisa Lynn tries to come back to
oledo once a year to see family and
erform in her hometown.
The sultry singer will be at Mur¬
phy's Place at 9 p.m. Aug. 25. Tickets are $16, $10 and $8.
- That date just happens to be her
a ents' anniversary.
"I' just booked the date and then
thought, `Oh, that's mom and dad's
niversary; it'll be their 40th; " Lynn
said last week from her New Orleans home. "I'm planning to sing the Nat King Cole song `L-O-V-E' and `It Had To Be You; of course."
It'll be a fitting tribute to Toledo
residents Donald and Rochelle Kotnik, who sparked Lynns passion for music.
"My dad used to play the piano n in the basement for us all the
time. He could play by ear; Lynn said.
`And my mom did a ton of musical
eater ... so my sister [Amy] and I did bunch of musical theater together when we were in high school."
While in college, Lynn landed a at the former Ragtime Rick's First
ught as a waitress and fell in love
jazz. Sometimes Rick would let her sing a few tunes.
I didn't start singing professionally until I moved to New Orleans;' Lynn
said. "I moved there in 1995
to work on an MFA in creative writing, and I started singing in
1997."
She released her first disc, "Ten Cents a Dance" in 2003. Her latest
CD, "Call Me Baby,"came out in 2006 around the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and features songs for the "Big Easy"Hurricane Katrina] was awful. It's still awful. It still has a long ways to go to recover; Lynn said. "I went back up to Ohio and stayed with my family for almost two months before I could move back down. I moved back Oct. 26; that was two months after the storm. I went back very, very soon."
And her band members were back, too. They decided to go into the recording studio.
"At that point in time, I said I have to record `Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans' because it just meant a lot right then:' she said. "I had been away from New Orleans for awhile, and the song has so much
meaning to it because even when you're in New Orleans now and sing it, you feel like there's still a part of New Orleans that you miss."
Her third disc, "I'm No Angel; is due out this fall.
"It kind of has red-hot mama songs on it;" Lynn said.
She will play with the Murphys in Toledo.
"I can pretty much pick any song and pianist Claude Black, ' can play it in any key -- and so can bassist Clifford Murphy. Those guys are amazing."
On the web go to wwwaisalynnmusic.com
- Toledo Free Press
Discography
Ten Cents A Dance CD
Comes Love
Deed I Do
I Love Paris
I Wanna Little Sugar in My Bowl
Miss Jenny's Ball
Nice Work If you Can Get It
After You've Gone
All of Me
You Don't Know What Love Is
I'm Beginning To See The Light
Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me
Bye Bye Blackbird
Ten Cents a Dance
Call Me Baby CD
Don't You Feel My Leg
Sweet Dreams
You Ain't Woman Enough
Do You KNow What It Means to Miss New Orleans
Sure Had a Wonderful Time Last Night
At Last
Am I Blue
Wings Upon Your Horns
Oh Darling
Call Me Baby CD radio play at WWOZ New Orleans
of At Last
Don't You Feel My Leg
Sweet Dreams
You Ain't Woman Enough to Take My Man
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
Photos
Bio
Jazz chanteuse Lisa Lynn rocketed to the status of a New Orleans "name" in a remarkably short time. Since the 90's she's heated up nearly two dozen of this legendary city's top stages, getting met with both popular and critical acclaim. Offbeat Magazine described Lisa's first CD, 2003's Ten Cents a Dance as "sultry, bluesy, and even down-home gutbucket...but with an accent on the drama>" Her second release, 2006's Call Me Baby, extends her reach and deepens her power: The Toledo Blade variously described her performances here as "saucy," "wonderful," and "unique," while Offbeat again chimed in that she "lights a few fires." Lisa's in progress recording , I'm No Angel, scheduled for release in 2007, promises to set her place at the table of the Crescent City's best.
No one sings jazz and blues without a flair for the dramatic. Lisa got hooked on the theater, especially musical theater as a youngster, thanks to her mother, who took the family to see musicals of all kinds. Lisa credits both her parents for her talent for vocalizing: Her dad, a self-taught pianist, encouraged her singing, taking breakss from Ping-Pong to back her up as best he could. By the time she had her high school diploma in hand, Lisa Had performed in Bye Bye Birdie, Damn Yankees, Guys and Dolls, and even the operatic Amalh and the Night Visitors, among others.
Singing the sound of New Olreans, what isn't drama is poetry. While studying for her Master's degree in poetry at the University of New Orleans-she has a chapbook and several magazine publications of her writing, as well as a long list of credits as a lecturer-Lisa began sitting in with local jazz musicians. "I Needed to sing," she says. "It was something that kept my spirit alive." That need turned into a career. Lafitte's Blacksmith shop, The Bombay Club, the Fairmont Hotel, Storyville Parlor, The Ritz Carlton, New Orleans French Quarter Festival: These a just a few of the famous New Orleans stages Lisa has graced. Outside the Crescent City she has performed in Shreveport, Louisiana: several cities in Ohio, Florida, Alabama, Detroit Motor City and her favorite Cape Cod.
Lisa Lynn recently formed her own jazz trio. In 2004 she joined forces with two other New Orleans singers Julia LaShae and "Big Fine" Ellen Smith for several performances as "The Swinging Singers Showcase, " a program they plan to revive soon.
Though she gigs everywhere, Lisa has recently been a regular at Fritzel's jazz pub on Bourbon street, where her sound can be savored every Sunday night.
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