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Osipova‘s uncle was a concert pianist, as was his wife, and it was determined shortly after she started piano lessons at the age of six that she would be, too. Despite the pressure tactics to keep her focused on the keyboard, however, Osipova nurtured a deep-down desire to use her voice, and to write her own music. “I didn‘t want to be a concert pianist,” she said. At the age of 21, after getting her master of arts in linguistics, Osipova moved to Germany. There, she toyed with the idea of getting her masters in music as well (something she decided, in the end, not to pursue), and started taking piano, voice and jazz theory classes. It was there that she got involved with an a cappella jazz group called Point 7 that totally changed the way she performed music. “At first it was weird and complicated,” she said of the unfamiliar style. “But then I started having fun with it.” Before long she found herself drawn to the distinctive sound of the post-war German jazz scene, which influenced her writing style. It didn‘t take long for her to find a following, receiving radio play for the song Wieder Und Weider, a 1940s style song that‘s on her new CD, Velvet and Lace. “It was just a home recording, one take, me and the piano,” she said. “People were just crazy about it because the sound quality was so crappy – it had that vintage appeal with cracks in it. It sounded like an old record.” Osipova moved to Canada – Kelowna, more specifically – about four years ago. For the first couple of years she worked a variety of office jobs, writing music in her spare time and socking away extra cash to save for a studio recording. Two years ago, things started to fall into place, enabling her to focus on music full time, and she started gigging around town, performing her all-original play list of music. On July 15, her debut CD will be released with a concert and reception at the Rotary Centre for the Arts. “There‘s a vintage quality to it. It‘s so different, yet familiar. It has a feel of old-school jazz. Some of the songs are influenced by chanson and gypsy jazz,” Osipova said. While it‘s still brand new in the Okanagan, the CD has already met with success in her homeland of Russia, where it stayed No. 1 on the smooth jazz charts for more than two months. The song Unavailable was a finalist in VH1‘s Song of the Year Competition in Houston, Texas, and Osipova has thrice been an Okanagan Music Award nominee. Recorded at the Westside‘s Tree Fort Music Studios by Vytas Sinkevicius and Jim LeGuilloux, the CD also features the musical stylings of guitar player Bryn Flock, bassist Bernie Addington, tenor saxophonist Craig Thompson, violinist Rhiannon Schmitt and drummer Scott Gamble, who backed her in the studio. They‘ll reunite July 15 for the CD release. Generally, however, it‘s just Osipova and her piano in performance – a show she wants to take on the road in the next little while, playing theatres and other such venues as a feature performer rather than the background music she has been performing around town. “My performance is jazzy and relaxed, but at the same time I like when people pay attention to the lyrics,” she said. “It‘s always a story.” There are lots of stories still to come, too, as Osipova works to raise her profile and, eventually, establish herself and her smoky, alto voice, as a staple of the 21st century jazz world. And doing so, Osipova has come to realize, requires as much brains and brawn as it does talent – despite what some might say about those who sing. And the satisfaction that awards, she‘s also learned, is worth following her own dream for. “It is extremely inspirational to see your ideas become reality,” she said Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 2:48 pm |