One weekend in 1971 I shared a small dressing room at Ronnie Scotts with Cleo Laine. We were both performing for a charity concert, for what, I cant remember. For the short time we talked we got on well - and we talked about singing. She told me that her unique sound came from having bowed vocal chords, meaning that she had to push harder to make her voice work. One of her appealing singing qualities is the sense that it is about to fall into a breathless heap, but never quite does. But she also gave me a piece of singing advice that Ive used often: if you feel yourself straining, sing high in your face and into your nose. Cleo did this regularly, particularly when she sang at the top of her wide range.Her mouth opens, her nose wrinkles, and up it goes. I have only encountered one example where she is close to all sung out, when she performs some songs from Porgy and Bess, live with Ray Charles. She is able to work round her exhaustion and simply sounds interesting. The high notes, however, are not attempted. Sensible. youtu.be/S_wdo4hPfiU
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 14:24:49 +0000