Car… Read Full Bio ↴Fay Claassen born: December 2, 1969 Nijmegen in The Netherlands.
Career
Fay Claassen won the first “Chet Baker Award“, got two nominations for the “Edison Award“ and won the “All About Jazz“ Critics Poll in New York as best vocal release 2006.
Fay Claassen recorded five CD´s as a leader with: Toots Thielemans, Mike Stern, Kenny Werner, Barry Harris, Bert Joris, etc., and as special guest appearances on numerous recordings such as “One Heart, Three Voices“, Amsterdam Jazz Quintet, Ivan Paduart, The Metropole Orchestra, WDR Big Band, Jazz orchestra of the Concertgebouw etc.
Biography
Fay Claassen was born in 1969 in The Netherlands. Before she devoted herself to singing, she followed courses at the academy of ballet. Subsequently she studied at the academy of acting after which she finally opted for singing. She completed her study at The Royal Conservatory in The Hague in Holland with remarkable distinctions for jazz-timing and vocal improvisation.
Fay Claassen graduated in 1997 from the Royal Consevatory of The Hague with two special endorsements for Jazz timing and Jazz improvisation. Some of her teachers were: Rita Reys, Deborah Brown, Frans Elsen, Racheal Gould, James McGray, Marjory Barnes and Judy Niemack.
After her conservatory period she appeared as vocalist in different groups and toured through different countries in Europe. Her first recording ‘Simply Be’ was released with a band together with the saxophone player Carolyn Breuer. She was guest in different groups ‘The Tony Overwater V-Group’, Loet van der Lee Group, ‘Big Moves’ and ‘The Amsterdam Jazz Quintet’. With this last formation she recorded on the album ‘Playground’.
Just after the release of the first album of her own she was asked to be part of a tour through Japan with ‘The Historical Dance Theatre’ in which she performed as a dancer and singer After her conservatory period she appeared as vocalist in different groups and toured through different countries in Europe. Her first recording ‘Simply Be’ was released with a band together with the saxophone player Carolyn Breuer. She was guest in different groups ‘The Tony Overwater V-Group’ and ‘The Amsterdam Jazz Quintet’. With this last formation she recorded the album ‘Playground’.
In 1999 Fay Claassen was chosen by ‘The Jazz Impuls Foundation’ as their first selected musician. This foundation supports and promotes jazz musicians deserving wider recognition and produced in that year with Fay Claassen her first own album (‘With a Song in my Heart’ CHR 70096). This album almost instantly nominated for an Edison-Award and was received with highly enthusiastic reviews. It was the first step to a real break-through.
In 2000: Fay featured on the North Sea Jazz Festival (The Hague) with the Tony Overwater group. She became a teacher at the Conservatory of Rotterdam (CodArt).
In 2001: her second album was recorded in New York (‘Rhythms and Rhymes’BMCD 380) with: Toots Thielemans (mouth hrp), Kenny Werner (piano) and Mike Stern (Guitar). A few months later she recorded ‘Specialy Arranged for Fay’ (BMCD 381) with the Millenium Jazz Orchestra, conducted by: Joan Reinders. Conductor and composer Joan Reinders is responsible for the beautiful work on this album. Fay taught at several workshops and Master Classes at Conservatories throughout the country. In 2001, as the only European vocalist, she was chosen and invited by the Selection Committee of The International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) to perform in Los Angeles in 2002. She appeared in several concerts in the ‘Music Village’ jazzclub in Brussels with the Ivan Paduart Trio.
In 2002: Fay toured through China with Ivan Paduart and she was engaged in her promotional tour after the release of her 2nd CD ‘Rhythms and Rhymes’. Fay toured through Portugal and featured on the Jazz Festival of Funchal ( Madeira). This year she was asked to teach at the conservatory in Porto (Portugal). Fay performed in many theatres and clubs in European countries, and the U.S.A.
In 2003: she is invited on Jazz Festivals among which The North Sea Jazz Festival, where she performed for the third time. 2002 was also the year in which she performed as a guest on the Life CD recording ‘A night at the Music Village’ (Brussels) BMCD395, with Ivan Paduart and his trio, other guests were: Toots Thielemans (mouth harp), Bert Joris (trompet) and Toon Roos (saxophone). Fay participated in the Jazz Concours of Juan Les Pins (France), toured with Ivan Paduart through Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Madeira. She participated in the Robeco Jazz Concert Series in the Concert Hall of Amsterdam with Ivan Paduart. Other guests were: Marjory Barnes and vocal group’ Jazzed to the Max’ Fay constantly proves to be an all-round performer who is constantly widening her horizons. The concert in 2003 at the Museum of Altenburg (Leipzich), where she interpreted poems of Lucebert, show this exploration urge..
In 2004: Fay hastoured through Portugal and France. She participated in the cd tour of Ivan Paduart Sextet in France and Luxembourg. Was the star guest at a concert in L 'Opera de Lyon with David Linx and Diederik Wissels. Performed at all the main city theatres of the Netherlands in Duo concerts with pianist Marc van Roon. This performance was part of the concert series of Jazz Impuls. In these series she also toured with the Millenium Jazz Orchestra, conducted by Joan Reinders.
Fay in 2005: is performing during a cd tour, ‘A Tribute to Chet Baker’ with Jan Menu, Hein van de Geyn and John Engels. The CD release of ‘A Tribute to Chet Baker’ is expected in September 2005. She performed as special guest on the extraordinary CD ‘One Heart, Three voices’ from David Linx and Diederik Wissels. Fay is touring in Portugal, Sweden aswell as in France and Belgium. In the last two countries she will contribute to the David Linx, Diederik Wissels and Maria Pia de Vito project. They will be promoting the beautiful album they recorded together:‘One Heart, Three voices’.
Apart from the special sound of her voice Fay stands out as a singer being able to improvise as an extremely versatile instrument. During the last few years Fay is considered by many jazz-critics as worlds fastest upcoming jazz vocalist and she recorded with many very well known jazz musicians as Mike Stern, Kenny Werner, Toots Thielemans, Joe Locke and Steve Davis on her second album ‘Rhythms and Rhymes’, An album with a mix of Jazz and World Music. And Bert Joris, Barry Harris, Marc van Roon and others. The last few years she has been touring with her band and now she is working on her new repertoire of the next Cd: ‘Return to Paradise’ which will be released soon.
Fay is asked to teach jazz-singing in vocal improvisation programs at three different conservatories in different countries. One of them is in Porto (Escola Superior de Musica e Artes do Espectaculo), where she succeeded Maria João. She teaches master classes for second phase students on the Conservatory of Amsterdam and The Hague and is a regular teacher at The Rotterdam conservatory.
Jeru
Fay Claassen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bring all of your fam'ly and I will bring mine
If I should bring my brothers, and you bring the others
Then I can sing a song like Jeru, just for you
Just for all the lovely people that you see in the road
We'll sing them a song in Jeruvian mode
If I can have a pref'rence, I'll even make ref'rence
Then if you'd be kind enough to tell me why you
write these extended bridges
can it be romance that always
haunts me in my reverie?
So why not come on over 'bout a quarter to eight
If you can come early I'll never be late
And now you're all invited, I hope you're delighted
To sing a little song like Jeru, just for you
just for me too
Gather around, tale to be told
Maybe it's new, maybe it's old, listen my friend
Blowin' away, doin' alright
Plain' all day, workin' all night, listen again
Movin' along, coverin' ground
Singin' the song, lovin' the sound, listen and then
blow together birds of a feather
Out playin' the blues and "I Got Rhythm"
All at once a moment came without a warning
Got so hot we had to cool it
Go for glory, tell you the story
Out payin' our dues until we found we were
assisting at an unexpected borning
'twas the birth of the Cool
So now I can tell you why I'm always
Trying to tell you, listen, come with me,
New York, and we're together in my reverie
So why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to two
Forget all the others, just me and just you
And while we're versifying
We'd better start trying
To write another song just for me
Just for you, one more Jeru
The lyrics of the song "Jeru" by Fay Claassen are quite complex as they are full of references and metaphors. The song invites the listener to join a sort of gathering or party, bringing their families along. The singer offers to perform a song called "Jeru" - this could be a reference to famed jazz musician Gerry Mulligan's album titled "Jeru," or it could be a personal song that the singer has written. The lyrics suggest that the song has a certain mode or rhythm to it - a "Jeruvian" mode - and the singer promises to reference why they wrote the song in the first place.
The lyrics also speak about the act of storytelling and how it can bring people together. The singer invites the listener to listen to a tale that they have to tell, which may be old or new. The song then goes on to make references to jazz musicians and songs - "Out playing the blues and 'I Got Rhythm'" - before culminating in a climactic moment that was unexpected but had to be "cooled." The lyrics then speak of the birth of something called "the Cool," which could be a reference to the jazz sub-genre called "cool jazz."
Line by Line Meaning
Why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to nine
Let's make plans to get together at 8:45
Bring all of your fam'ly and I will bring mine
Invite your family and I will invite mine
If I should bring my brothers, and you bring the others
If I bring my siblings and you bring yours
Then I can sing a song like Jeru, just for you
I will sing a song called Jeru for you
Just for all the lovely people that you see in the road
For all the wonderful people you encounter
We'll sing them a song in Jeruvian mode
We'll sing a song in a style like Jeru
If I can have a pref'rence, I'll even make ref'rence
If I have a choice, I'll make allusions
To why you write a song like Jeru, just for you
About why I wrote a song like Jeru for you
Then if you'd be kind enough to tell me why you
If you could be so kind, please tell me why you
write these extended bridges
Write these lengthy instrumental passages
can it be romance that always
Could it be love that constantly
haunts me in my reverie?
Haunts me in my dreams?
So why not come on over 'bout a quarter to eight
Instead, let's make plans to meet at 7:45
If you can come early I'll never be late
If you can arrive sooner, I won't be tardy
And now you're all invited, I hope you're delighted
You and your family are welcome, I hope you're happy
To sing a little song like Jeru, just for you
To perform a short song like Jeru for you
just for me too
Also for me
Gather around, tale to be told
Come close, I have a story to tell
Maybe it's new, maybe it's old, listen my friend
It may be fresh or old, listen, my friend
Blowin' away, doin' alright
Playing music, doing well
Plain' all day, workin' all night, listen again
Playing music all day, working all night, listen once more
Movin' along, coverin' ground
Moving forward, making progress
Singin' the song, lovin' the sound, listen and then
Singing a song, enjoying the sound, listen and see
blow together birds of a feather
Play music together, united
Out playin' the blues and "I Got Rhythm"
Playing blues and jazz standard, I Got Rhythm
All at once a moment came without a warning
Suddenly, a moment arrived unexpectedly
Got so hot we had to cool it
It became so intense that we had to relax
Go for glory, tell you the story
Strive for success, let me tell you the story
Out payin' our dues until we found we were
Working hard until we realized we were
assisting at an unexpected borning
Helping in a surprising birth
'twas the birth of the Cool
It was the origin of the 'cool' jazz genre
So now I can tell you why I'm always
So now I can explain why I'm always
Trying to tell you, listen, come with me,
Trying to persuade you, listen and join me
New York, and we're together in my reverie
In my dream, we're together in New York
So why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to two
Come over at 1:45
Forget all the others, just me and just you
Don't think about anyone else, just the two of us
And while we're versifying
And while we're composing poetry
We'd better start trying
We should start working hard
To write another song just for me
To create a new song just for me
Just for you, one more Jeru
Another song like Jeru, made exclusively for you
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: GERRY MULLIGAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind