Barlow racks up another Juno nod

Emilie-Claire Barlow is one of those experimental artists who just gets stronger with each new project.

Not only is she a nationally recognized jazz singer, but Barlow also does a lot of voice work for animation. She's voiced for Sailor Moon, Bakugan Battle Brawlers and Total Drama Island. In January YTV launched Almost Naked Animals where she voices Bunny, a moody activities director at the Banana Cabana beach hotel.

As an additional measure of Barlow's musical force, her recent CD The Beat Goes On was just nominated for a Juno, her fourth career nod in the Vocal Jazz Album category.

“I'm very flattered by the nomination. But now that the recording is finished, I'm busy promoting and touring the album,” says Barlow, who plans to make a stop at the Arden Theatre on Friday, March 25.

The Beat Goes On was pretty much a family affair. While Barlow arranged many of the tunes from the swinging ‘60s, her husband composer/producer Daniel LeBlanc produced and recorded the album at Doane LeBlanc studios.

“He was such a huge part of my last album and almost co-produced it anyway. Here he took on a bigger role.”

What Barlow appreciated was LeBlanc's perspective. “The hardest thing to produce is your own vocals. You need someone to push you more than you can push yourself. You're so inside you need someone to look from another angle.”

The Beat Goes On is a bit of departure from previous releases in both theme and concept. Her first albums focused on standards from the ‘30s and ‘40s. “But the American songbook has an endless supply that can be reinterpreted. I had made the same record a few times and I wanted to stretch myself.”

Taking 13 pop songs, Barlow infused a jazz spin that appealed to her. “I don't write songs. I'm an interpreter of songs. I arrange songs. That's where I get my creative satisfaction.”

There's a cross-section of popular pieces from Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's Alright and Donovan's Sunshine Superman to Carole King's Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow and Buffy St. Marie's Until It's Time for You to Go.

While Neil Sedaka pumped Breaking Up is Hard to Do with a pop flavour, Barlow sings her lyrics over a lush bossa nova. After listening to Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Are Made for Walkin', she ditched the kitschy, campy vibe. “I wanted to make it slinky and cool. I wanted to play off the lyrics. I wanted to have a bass line that builds with each verse.”

And when she picked the title song, she focused on the Buddy Rich version instead of Sonny Bono's. “I sat at the piano playing it and I started to hear lines from Quincy Jones' Austin Powers and it occurred to me it would be a great mash-up.”

Barlow's A-team of top backup players on the album will also tour with her. They include Reg Schwager (guitar), Ross McIntyre (bass), Davide DiRenzo (drums) and Kelly Jefferson (sax).