Alyssa Graham Interview Page 4

Jazz Monthly:  Give me your lineup.

AG:  The producer of the project is the great Jon Cowherd, who is very well known for his work with Brian Blade Fellowship, and he produced Liz Wright.  He also plays piano on the album, French horn, he sings most of the backup harmonies, and he is the co-writer on all the original material, so he gets No. 1 spot.  Then, of course, Doug Graham, who is my partner in crime, and he plays guitar and he is also one of the two fabulous lyricists.  Bryan McCann, who is not on the project musically, but he is also one of the lyricists on the album.  He wrote “Echo” and “Arkansas,” two of the wonderful pieces on the project.  Romero Lubambo , a fantastic Brazilian guitar player, and he also sings vocals with me on the last song on the album, which is the only song in Portuguese, “Izaura.”  Obed Calvaire on the drums, Doug Weiss on the bass, Gregoire Maret on the harmonica, Jeff Haynes on percussion, Lawrence Dutton on the viola, Elizabeth Lim Dutton on violin, Laura Seaton on violin, and Sachi Patitucci on the cello.  And I believe that’s it.  I hope I named everybody.  And me, of course, Alyssa Graham, on the vocals.

Jazz Monthly:  Brilliant group of artists!  So tell me, what else do you have in the works?  What’s happening?  What’s on the scene right now?  Any great shows or are you working on some new music?

AG:  Yeah, well, both.  We are about to start doing the East Coast tour.  I think that we’re gonna be doing a CD release party in New York probably at the end of September, although we haven’t solidified the venue yet, but we are doing gigs in D.C., Virginia, Philly, Boston.  Everything’s on my Web site so you can see that and dates are being added every day, which is exciting.

Jazz Monthly:  Yes it is.

AG:  And I believe in January we’ll probably be going to Asia for a little while.  We have an invitation to go over there and do some shows and it’s a good time because everybody’s with their families during Christmas time.  Then after that we’re going to be going out west and doing a West Coast tour and some Colorado shows and Arizona, I think, and California, so I think we’ll be on the East Coast until the end of the year and then we’ll move west after January.

Jazz Monthly:  Very cool.

AG:  So we’re really excited.  And as far as recording, we are thrilled about Echo and so we really want to let it breathe and, you know, you record a project and it’s done, it’s finished, but as musicians the most exciting part is playing live and getting to open new doors and really delve into those tunes and see what else comes through.  I mean, I learn something new from the stories that I sing every day and hopefully that won’t end for a while, so we’re really focusing on Echo and letting it get out there and work its magic on us and hopefully the fans.

Jazz Monthly: Yes.

AG:  And we do, though, write all the time and I believe we’re pretty close to having all the songs ready for the next recording, which we’ll probably go back in the studio next spring.

Jazz Monthly:  Sweet!  Well, will you come back and talk to us again when you finish the next project?

AG:  Absolutely, Smitty.  I would love to.  Maybe we’ll go down to Houston.

Jazz Monthly:  Hey, you really should!  That would be nice.

AG:  I hope so, I hope so.  I’ve only driven through Texas.

Jazz Monthly: Well, I would advise strongly that you do that in October, November or March, April because then it gets brutal when you get into May, June, July and August.  The summers are mean.

AG:  Right, right.  So you’re telling me that when I’m about to fly down to Florida tomorrow.

Jazz Monthly:  Oh!

AG:  So I’m not so happy about the heat.  I’m a winter girl.  I like the cold and the snow. But yeah, I mean, hopefully actually we’ll get down there for something like South By Southwest next year.

Jazz Monthly:  Hey, sounds great and I hope to catch you around New York.

AG:  Absolutely, that would be great.  Look me up any time you’re in town.

Jazz Monthly:  All right, sounds good.  Well, Alyssa, once again I want to congratulate you on this great record.  It is called Echo.  I highly recommend it and I certainly highly recommend that if she’s coming to your respective venue that you get out and hear some of this great music live because it is something to behold and listen to.  Alyssa, once again, thank you very much for spending some wonderful time talking about this great record and your career, and I certainly wish you well and all the best in 2008 and beyond, my friend.

AG:  Smitty, thank you so much.  It was a pleasure.  I really appreciate it.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.alyssagraham.com and www.myspace.com/alyssahopegraham