Whe… Read Full Bio ↴Diana Panton is a jazz vocalist who hails from Hamilton, Canada.
When legendary Canadian multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson first heard Panton sing at age 19, he recommended she audition for the reputed jazz workshop at the Banff Center for the Arts (Canada). There, she studied under Norma Winstone (and, in subsequent visits, Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton).
While at Banff, Panton was invited to perform with Thompson at the famed Blue Room. “She really knocked me out that night," Thompson said. “She was so young but she had a lot of depth and real feeling. It surprised me right away.” Following that performance, Thompson told Panton to contact him when she was ready to record an album. She did - some 10 years later!
Before recording her first album, Panton first completed an honours masters degree in French literature and fulfilled a teaching engagement at the University of Paris (France), followed by a position as a sessional lecturer at McMaster University (Canada). She then completed a teaching degree. During this time, she also produced and performed a number of sold-out concerts with emerging jazz prodigy, pianist David Braid.
When the time finally arrived to go into the studio, national award-winning guitarist Reg Schwager was invited to join Don Thompson for some stellar accompaniment behind Panton's vocals. The result: Panton was featured on the covers of Toronto's Now Magazine (Feb 2006) and Hamilton's View Magazine (July 2005). Her debut release, yesterday perhaps, appeared on the Top 10 discs of 2005 in Toronto’s Now Magazine, Earshot! and the Montreal Mirror. The album was also nominated for four Hamilton Music Awards for which it won “Best Jazz Recording” and the publicly voted “Best Live Performance” for the CD release concert. Reputed Montreal jazz critic Len Dobbin pronounced the album one of the finest debut CDs he had heard in years.
Her much awaited sophomore release, if the moon turns green..., was released in September of 2007. It was selected as a Top 10 Canadian Recording of the Year by Len Dobbin, Kathya Heppell and Dan Sich. It earned her recognition as the "Best Female Vocalist" at the 2008 Hamilton Music Awards and a nomination in the same category at the National Jazz Awards in 2008 and 2009. The album was also a first place jury selection which allowed Panton to perform at the prestigious Jazz a Juan Revelations 2008 (Juan-les-Pins, France) where she was voted "Premiere Dauphine" by the Juan public. In 2009, the album was nominated for Jazz Album of the Year at the National Jazz Awards and Best Vocal Jazz Album at the JUNO's.
Heralded as one of Canada's most promising jazz vocalists, Panton's aesthetic sense has attracted the attention of some of the jazz world's most respected masters. She has performed with international jazz luminaries including Guido Basso, Mike Murley, Phil Nimmons, and Kenny Wheeler, and was a featured soloist with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Akido Endo.
Be it at jazz festivals in Vienne (France), Freiburg (Germany), Montreux (Switzerland), or a concert in her hometown of Hamilton, wherever Panton performs, she has a mesmerizing effect on her audience. A quiet hush descends over the room as listeners await “little masterpieces created before [their] very ears.” (Hugh Fraser, Hamilton Spectator)
Panton's Red won the 2015 Juno Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album.
Official website: http://www.dianapanton.com/
In a World of My Own
Diana Panton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Would reside in fancy little houses
And be dressed in shoes and hats and trousers
In a world of my own
All the flowers
Would have very extra special powers
They would sit and talk to me for hours
When I′m lonely in a world of my own
Lots of nice and friendly howdy-do birds
Everyone would have a dozen bluebirds
Within that world of my own
I could listen to a babbling brook
And hear a song that I could understand
I keep wishing it could be that way
Because my world would be a Wonderland
(...)
Les petits chats, les gentils lapins, aux mines inquiètes
Auraient comme nous de claires maisonnettes
Dans le monde de mes rêves
Les jolies fleurs parsemant les champs aux belles saisons
Me diraient en choeur d′aimables chansons
Pour moi seule dans le monde de mes rêves
Il y aurait des insectes d'or et des oiseaux bleus
Descendus pour moi de l'azur des cieux Dans l′univers de mes rêves
Il y aurait des ruisseaux très purs
Qui me diraient bonjour en un murmure
Se pourrait-il que je puisse un jour
Connaître enfin ce monde merveilleux
The lyrics to Diana Panton's "In a World of My Own" describe a fantastical world that the singer wishes she could escape to. In this world, even animals like cats and rabbits have their own little houses and wear clothes like shoes, hats, and trousers. Flowers have special powers and can talk to her for hours, providing a source of comfort and companionship when she's feeling lonely. Even the birds are friendly and there would be an abundance of bluebirds in this world. In this world, there are babbling brooks that sing songs understandable to her. She wishes that her world could be a wonderland like this.
The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a magical and idealized world, and it's likely that the singer is using this world as a metaphor for her innermost thoughts and desires. Perhaps she is struggling with some aspect of her life and wishes that she could escape to a place that's ideal and perfect. The song, in a way, encourages listeners to imagine their own perfect world, a place where they can be happy and content.
Line by Line Meaning
Cats and rabbits
Would reside in fancy little houses
And be dressed in shoes and hats and trousers
In a world of my own
In my perfect world, cats and rabbits would have their own cute houses and wear human clothes
All the flowers
Would have very extra special powers
They would sit and talk to me for hours
When I′m lonely in a world of my own
Even the flowers in my dream world have special abilities and can talk to me when I'm feeling alone
There'd be new birds
Lots of nice and friendly howdy-do birds
Everyone would have a dozen bluebirds
Within that world of my own
In the world I imagine, there would be many friendly birds who say hello and everyone would have twelve bluebirds
I could listen to a babbling brook
And hear a song that I could understand
I keep wishing it could be that way
Because my world would be a Wonderland
If only I could hear the babbling brook and understand its music, my world would truly be a wonderland
Writer(s): Bob Hilliard, Sammy Fain
Contributed by Hannah M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.