I've just come out of a nasty bout with the flu. It put me out of action for two days in a row. Can you imagine that? I had to cancel all my classes for TWO days! Unheard of. Never thought this could happen to me (not with all the stuff I know about keeping the flu at bay). But anyway, I did beat the flu in the end, without a single dose of medication. In this blog post I just want to list a couple of handy flu and throat remedies that I use myself.
Fresh ground ginger always does the trick. When you've got a soar throat, take fresh ginger the size of your thumbnail, peal it, and then crush it. Throw it into a cup, ad a teaspoon of honey, a teabag (and milk if you want), hot water and drink up! Here's another great remedy that works every time. 1000 mg of effervescent Vitamin C. Drop one of those into a glass of water and drink up. When you're undergoing a flu attack like I recently did, I'd pop three of those down my gullet during the course of the day. And hey, it works! Hope this helps, you guys.
I remember when I was growing up -- I must have been eleven or twelve -- I used to listen, and singalong to a lot of Shirley Bassey songs. If I'm honest, she inspired me to sing. What I didn't know was that after all these years, I would be using her songs to help train my students. It works every time. I had a session yesterday where we worked with Shirley Bassey's song Something, and OMG it was amazing! The woman has a powerful voice... the perfect demo for voice training. Today, I gathered a few more songs from her back catalog and got the lyrics printed out and laminated (like I always do). I can see a lot of Shirley Bassey songs included in my training now -- from just a couple to over half a dozen. Wonderful! One of the songs I selected today is Shirley Bassey's This is My Life. Have a listen to it on YouTube. And while you're there, do check out some of the other songs she has on video.
Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey, DBE (born 8 January 1937 in Cardiff, Wales), is a Welsh singer who found fame in the late 1950s and has continued a successful career since then worldwide. She is best known for recording the theme songs to the James Bond films Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), and Moonraker (1979), and is a UNESCO Artist for Peace. Her life and career, from Birth to 1959, 1960 to 1979, 1980 to 1999, 2000 to date, Personal life, Awards and achievements, Discography, Bibliography can be found on Wikipedia here.
How often does one hear a singer utter the words "I've been inspired by"? Well, it goes without saying, inspiration in music comes from music.
I've got a pretty long list myself. Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, George Benson, Peabo Bryson, The Temptations, Shalamar, Mica Paris, James Brown, Anita Baker, Michael Jackson, Omar, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight, Diana Ross... and the list goes on. But what all of these legendary artists have in common is they're damn good at what they do. I have nothing against current productions, there's some really good music out there, but in all honesty, if you look to yesteryear for musical inspiration, you can't go wrong. And the place to find this type of music is JazzFM.com. They play great music. If you love great music, you'll love this station. I listen to Jazz FM radio over the Internet almost every day. Give it a bash! You won't regret it.
On Monday 5 April, Jazz FM released its latest compilation CD, Funky Sensation. Inspired by the now legendary weekly club event held at Ronnie's Bar at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London's swingin' Soho, Funky Sensation 28 jazz, funk and soul classics, including The Blackbyrds, Luther Vandross, Gil Scott-Heron, Gwen McCrae, Sister Sledge and Earth, Wind & Fire. That's one more good reason to tune in to the station, their compilation albums are, quite literally, the icing on the cake!
I don't know how many times I repeat this over and over again in my singing lessons, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record.You could easily get away with mumbling your way in speech...with your mouth half closed, but when it comes to singing you're not going to get very far. You have to drop the jaw, take your voice back to the voice box, and use the vocal chords. Open your mouth to sing. There are no shortcuts. If you want to sing, I'm afraid, you will have to open your mouth. In order for that sound to come out loud and clear (and for you to hit the high notes with ease), you'll want a nice open throat. Try singing the vowels "A E I O U" with a half open mouth; and then place two fingers between your teeth to create a gap, and then go back to sing the vowels whilst maintaining that amount of space between your teeth. Look in the mirror as you do this. Chances are - if you do this correctly, you will hear a completely different (and better) sound in the latter.
For a detailed explanation on vocal cords, go to this article on Wikipedia
I met Rozalla Miller at a popular nightclub at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe in the early 80s, where she had a regular gig at the time (and where I'd gone to audition for a slot at the same club), before she hit the big time in the UK with the club anthem Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)that debuted at number 6 on Top Of the Popsin 1991, and number 1 in the US dance charts ... and then she went on to tour with Michael Jackson. I've followed her career with interest (from the young talented girl in Zimbabwe to being crowned Queen Of Rave on the international arena); I met her again at a club in London just after she'd come off the stage. I've bought every album she's put out...dating back to the 90s. So when I found out she'd recently released a new album, I had to get it!
Despite being best known for her 1991 hit 'Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)', Rozalla Miller's new album, Brand New Version, is much mellower than the dance-production she favored in the 90s. This album is a jazz/soul feel, and the song choices represent a departure from her previous work, with Brand New Version including covers of Paul Weller's 'Broken Stones' and Wolfman & Pete Doherty's 'For Lovers'.I do love the album, I've been playing it on repeat quite a lot in recent days. She's got a good, strong vocal. I'd advise you to grab a copy of her new album from HMV music store and have a listen.
The Music Conservatoire of Tanzania is coming in August 2010, and I've been invited to teach. They'll be based in Oysterbay, pretty close to where I live, and I believe they're in the process of building a website. So, if you're looking to learn to play an instrument, sing, whatever tickles your fancy, the Music Conservatoire of Tanzania will be the place to go. As soon as I have more information, I'll blog it here!
I haven't had a chance to blog in a while, but I intend to pop round here to do that as often as I can. There's so much I want to write about, but hey, you know what it's like when you're caught up with tons of other things that all need your attention (lol). So catch you later, folks. I promise.
When I first met my record producer Tambi Fernando at his studio in London, he played me a couple of new tracks he'd been recording with Mica Paris. I was thrilled. Mica Paris is my idol, and here I was about to start working with someone who's produced for Mica Paris? You can imagine how I felt. Having debuted with the hit single My One Temptation back in 1988, Mica has now been in the entertainment business for over twenty years. I've bought every album she's ever put out -- that's how big a fan I am -- and now she's got a new album released 22nd March 2010 -- a repackaged Bonus Edition to her 2009 critically acclaimed album Born Again...and you guessed it, I bought the album! It is totally awesome. The album's title track and forthcoming single 'Born Again' is an epic ballad with sweeping strings and cut glass arrangement with a vocal that leaves you tingling. It is no wonder that Whitney Houston wanted this track for her come back. Producer Brian Rawling insisted that the song was "made for Mica" and Whitney was refused. And featured on the same album, a track entitled 'Breathless' was given to Mica personally by Rihanna.
My One Temptation, her chart-topping track from 1988, is also included in this album but in acoustic splendor. You've got to at least listen to the original version on this YouTube video here. Today, I downloaded the lyrics and used that to train one of my students...after we'd finished with the vocal exercises, of course. It is a great track to work with, under my guidance, if you want to learn how to sing like a diva.
