The Rye International Jazz and Blues Festival in association with the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells, are presenting an outstanding live concert with Curtis Stigers, one of the most respected and acclaimed jazz singers of his generation.
Hot on the heels from a sell – out series of shows at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz club in London, Curtis Stigers is back at the Assembly Hall Theatre for an exclusive South East concert on Wednesday 20th July.
Curtis first appeared on the scene in the early ’90s with hit songs I Wonder Why and You’re All That Matters to Me which have become soul classics over the years. His rich singing voice has landed him on records with the likes of Al Green and Shawn Colvin, in studios with venerated producers like Danny Kortchmar and Glen Ballard, and onstage with a plethora of legends, including Eric Clapton, Elton John and Rod Stewart.
Recently I was lucky enough to get to ask Curtis a few questions about his music, and his life as a live concert performer…
What can we expect from your concert in Tunbridge Wells?
Well you can expect to be entertained more than you have ever been entertained in your whole life of course! No, I’m just kidding.
I’m travelling with a jazz trio behind me and, although most people know me for my first couple of records, the soul records from back in the early 90’s, since 2001 I have been recording with a record label in California called Concord Jazz, so I make jazz records now.
However, the jazz that I play is not esoteric. I sing songs by people like Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, The Kinks and The Beatles and songs from country stars like Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson and even some from Bob Dylan. I like to sing songs from my generation, pop songs, rock songs, country songs, soul songs and I take them apart and put them back together as jazz tunes.
I addition to those songs I always do my hits like I Wonder Why and You’re All That Matters To Me because I know that there are a lot of people who come out specifically to hear those songs.
It’s interesting to hear you say “pop songs” and “rock songs” because the way you sing them is really laid back.
Oh yes. The recording and arranging approach is definitely acoustic jazz, it’s not bombastic pop music but, with the songs themselves, I record a lot of the old standards but I also try to mix in songs by myself and Steve Earle and, over the years of making jazz records, I’ve certainly made sure that the songwriters that I record are not ones that would be considered to be jazz composers.
As a singer, a songwriter and a saxophonist, is there one that takes precedence?
I am best at singing. I am a singer first. I have played the saxophone since I was a kid and I always record saxophone solos and that kind of thing, so I continue to play the sax but I am a better singer than I am a sax player.
The songwriting, well, that’s the thing that is the most difficult for me. It’s the thing that I have to work at the hardest. It’s something that I love to do, but it’s hard work. I have to sit down and get to it so, I’m a singer.
You’re not one of these people who compose a song in ten minutes then?
You know, very occasionally, a song will just come to me really quickly but no, usually I have to work at them. The title track from my latest album, Hooray for Love, took me maybe a year to write. When I actually sat down and wrote it, it was quite quick, but I spent months and months with it in my head, thinking about it. What would it do? Where would it go? What’s it really about?
I tend to labour over the lyrics for long periods of time. I really wish I was of those people, my heroes, who can get up in the morning, write a song, and then have breakfast. That is what I would love to be, but it’s not who I am.
Is it important to you that your songs tell a story?
Absolutely. I mean, the older I get, the less I am worried about proving how good a singer I am but the more I am concerned about the songs telling a story. I really consider myself to be a storyteller first. When I am on stage I want to communicate a story to the audience, I want to make them laugh, I want to make them cry, it’s the first thing on the list of things that I have to do as a singer.
How does your show translate as you take it all around the world?
Once I get on stage it tends to work just about anywhere I go and, often times, that surprises me. I mean, the audience laugh where they are supposed to and I can communicate a beautiful sad song in the same way whether I am in Bochum, Germany, Tunbridge Wells, England or Main Street,USA. People seem to respond to the show in the same way wherever I go. People are people and their response to emotion is very similar all around the world.
In a world where fame is so “here today and gone tomorrow” how have you stayed at the top so long?
Magic! No, you know, first of all I believe that I have been very lucky. I have a very loyal fanbase who have followed me from genre to genre. From a practical point of view, I think it’s that I play live. I’ve always been a live musician first. I’ve always been willing and eager to go out and play concerts, to do tours and to engage with the audience face to face instead of being someone who is all about records and being “in the studio”.
Over the years with the ups and, mainly, downs of the record business I have been able to have a career because I am out there, playing my music for people. There really is nothing like playing live.
Curtis Stigers appears at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells on Wednesday 20th July at 7.30pm. Tickets, priced at £35.00 and £32.00 (plus booking fee) are available from the box office on 01892 530613 and online at www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk