HILARY KOLE: THE JUDY GARLAND PROJECT

Now Available at CDBABY

Release Date: February 14, 2016 MIRANDA MUSIC

ARTISTS

Vocals: Hilary Kole Bass: Paul Gill Drums: Aaron Kimmel Piano: John DiMartino Sax: Joel Frahm Strings: Christiana Liberis & Juliette Jones, Violin; Stephanie Matthews, Viola; Reenat Pinchas, Cello

TRACK LIST

1. Zing

2. The Boy Next Door

3. Just In Time

4. You Made Me Love You

5. Stompin At The Savoy

6. The Man That Got Away

7. A Cottage For Sale

8. I Wish I Was In Love Again

9. Look For The Silver Lining

10. The Trolley Song

11. Get Happy

12. Embraceable You

13. As Long As He Needs Me

14. It Never Was You

15. Over The Rainbow

OVER THE RAINBOW VIDEO & BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE RECORDING STUDIO

PLUS

In Performance video selections

REVIEWS

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY ABOUT THIS ALBUM:

"..Hilary Kole...Blessed with a voice as suited to cabaret singing as to jazz, she has no trouble putting the “show” in these show tunes, from the gimmicky boy-meets-girl lyrics of “ The Trolley Song” to the post-divorce melancholy of “A Cottage For Sale.” But the songs she gravitates toward tend to be more from the jazz side of the canon, and Kole swings so hard on tunes like “Stompin’ At The Savoy” and “Just In Time” that the Garland connection almost seems incidental to her performance."-J.D. considine, Downbeat Magazine Aug 2016 (Click on image for more)

"..With perspicacious accompaniment from pianist John Di Martino, bassist Paul Gill, drummer Aaron Kimmel and saxophonist Joel Frahm, Hilary Kole opens with a sly "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," then segues into a breezily dreamy "The Boy Next Door." Kole's "The Man That Got Away" fully captures its inky desolation but with steel-lined resolve, and her "The Trolley Song" is taken at a sprightlier clip than Garland's. Her string-laden "Over the Rainbow" emerges as less yearning, more maturely wishful. Kole also ventures further than most into the Garland songbook, adding a gorgeously grey-skied "A Cottage for Sale" (performed once by Garland, on her short-lived TV series) and, a concert favorite from her twilight years, an "As Long as He Needs Me" of equally bruised poignancy. " -JAZZ TIMES-May 2016 (Click on the image below)

"..Hilary remains Hilary. The disarmingly delightful singing style and clear sound that have made her past work score points are still the assets here. Intonation and musicianship feel effortlessly secure. The increasing attention to more thoughtful, involved phrasing that has become more and more entrenched in her work in recent years continues to point to a more ready involvement with the story of a song. But the love for diving and dipping through melody and kind of surfing on its waves with skill has not been abandoned. Indeed, she sings with abandon and adventurousness. A slinky, sliding use of melisma adds to the looser feeling."-Rob Lester(read more at TALKINBROADWAY.COM)

"..She has a great healthy look in her eye, her vocal demeanor is brighter, and her choice of material is top notch. Ah! Marriage and motherhood!"- JAZZ WEEKLY May 5 2016 (Read more here)

"...In the case of HILARY KOLE the Garland influence is most evident in the emotional intensity that she invests in her singing, the power of her voice that at times has a Garlandesque quality, and her choice of material. This is wonderfully captured on Kole’s latest album, The Judy Garland Project (Miranda Music). Kole has a much greater jazz feeling in her vocalizing than Garland ever exhibited, and that invests her interpretations of 15 songs associated with Garland with a distinctly Hilary Kole presence." "....This is a tribute to the glory of Garland by a superior singer who captures the spirit of her subject without resorting to any attempts to channel the original. Hilary Kole is captivating in her own way. " Excerpted from Jersey Jazz Feb 2016 (Journal of the New Jersey Jazz Society-- http://www.njjs.org/p/jazzJournal.php) APR.2016-

"There are many reasons to adore Hilary Kole’s majestic new CD with her programme of 15 uniquely familiar standards that were very close to Judy Garland and her astute fans. The arrangements here are mostly tireless brand new modern re-workings of songs most familiar to us....". -Dan Singer InTune Monthly April 2016 (Click on the image to read more)

"The songs Hillary recorded in this new CD are classic Judy Garland signature songs that we all will remember. However, as is true for most of the treasured songs out of the "Great American Songs Book", Hillary has managed to breath new life into each of the 15 tracks on this CD, and has made these songs new again."--Bob Nicosia Read more in THE MUSIC MAN BLOG

"On this CD, Kole uses her voice like an instrument that takes on new meaning. In doing so, she breathes new life into these songs material and, through her remarkable talent, becomes the lifeblood of what timeless music is all about. Like Garland, who could sing anything, Kole is a stylist and connoisseur of all things that preserve the Great American Songbook."-Reviewed by John Hoglund for Cabaret Scenes Apr. 3, 2016 READ MORE HERE

<> "...Kole, who has been hailed by many as the 'New Face Of Jazz', breathes new life into the Garland songbook on her newest release "The Judy Garland Project". The overall production is stunning and Kole is at her vocal best. While she reinterprets daringly and beautifully throughout, she simultaneously pays a loving homage to Garland. Highly recommended. "-United Press International 6/27/16

Recording my own arrangement of Over the Rainbow with string quartet

HILARY KOLE: THE JUDY GARLAND PROJECT–Liner Notes

A great singer is a method actor. Within each song is a role, a character. And what we refer to as interpretation is acting. The caveat of course is, to ring true and be believable, it has to be real. The actor must reach down to the deepest depths and up to the highest heights of her own experience to deliver a performance that completes the electrical/emotional circuit of truth.

Hilary Kole, on this stunningly fresh collection of performances of songs from the well-worn repertoire of Judy Garland, reveals and brings new life to the emotional core of each tune while revealing herself as a consummate interpreter. A goddess, wielding lightning bolts of electricity and emotion that break through the clouds and reach our very souls. While never attempting to imitate Garland, she succeeds in telling Judy’s story — relaying the joy of falling in love, the hope that love will prevail, the heartbreak when love fails. And most importantly, the gathering of the will and desire to pick oneself up again to give it one more try.

Accompanied by pianist John DiMartino, bassist Paul Gill, and drummer Aaron Kimmel, this album cooks. These are swingin’ jazz interpretations, loaded with improvisation and solos, like a late-night set in a smoky Village jazz club. The ballads luxuriate you in washes of tone and texture, then wrap you in vocal and instrumental silks and satins.

The song choices are based on Hilary’s successful live performances of the Judy canon, her “Over The Rainbow” tribute concerts held the world over. It was fresh from a series of these performances in Japan that Hilary came to the studio, bringing the energy and vitality of the live concert hall into the studio on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. With the tape machine rolling, Hilary and the boys performed at a remarkable level of focus and concentration; a well-oiled jazz machine of intricate interplay and in-the-moment flourishes that only those well versed in the language of jazz can provide.

Recording sessions Judy Garland project

And then, finally the icing on the cake: Hilary Kole’s stunning interpretation of the most famous song of all. The signature tune that followed Judy through her whole life, changing meanings constantly from her teen years through her battles with demons of all kinds. The song that was almost cut from its famous movie because it was “too sad”. The song written in 1939, as World War II was brewing in Europe, the Great Depression was in full swing here at home, and storm clouds were gathering. It is from that starting point that Kole sat with pen to paper and began writing her remarkable string quartet arrangement to that remarkable song. In her equally stunning vocal performance, she embodies every measure of despair — yet every measure of hope — the composers intended. It is a show stopper.

The album you hold in your hands in the work of a true artist in every sense of the word. It is an honor and privilege to have captured these performances, and to share them with you now.

Richard Barone

Producer, HILARY KOLE: THE JUDY GARLAND PROJECT

Greenwich Village, NYC