There is an intelligence and sophistication to Holly Cole’s singing that sets her apart.
Cole, who performs March 26 at the Sid Williams Theatre, can imbue well-worn standards and eclectic songs with an uncanny combination of sensuality, innocence, originality and sheer musicality.
A Canadian icon, Cole has a long and storied international career, having sold hundreds of thousands of recordings in the U.S., Japan and Germany. These echo her success at home, including multi-platinum sales awards, three Junos and two Gemini Awards.
She takes songs everybody thinks they know and discovers new undercurrents, wrapping her honesty, compassion and sardonic wit around their sometimes-fragile creations. The results are smart, sexy, provocative and never, ever dull.
“I look at the essence of a song,” muses Cole, “If it’s a great lyric I often love to slow it down, explore it, dissect it and deconstruct it. I love to take it apart and then put it back together and look at it in an entirely different way.
"In the process, it often becomes more evocative. That’s a huge part of my art form, that’s a huge part of what I do.”
Steal the Night: Live at the Glenn Gould Studio, Cole’s first DVD with bonus CD was released in February 2012 to glowing reviews from critics and fans alike and features an assortment of hits and gems from her early trio days through to the present.
The DVD features veteran members of her touring ensemble including horn master Johnny Johnson, acclaimed drummer Davide DiRenzo, longtime pianist Aaron Davis and for the first time live in over a decade, original trio bassist David Piltch.
Cole is touring extensively, performing material from her new release as well as a broad selection of fan favourites from her more than 20-year recording career including I Can See Clearly Now, Calling You and Make it Go Away.
“She exudes as much fun as feeling in concert treating the people to a rare performance that was musically rewarding and refreshingly intimate.” — Calgary Herald.
“A Cole recording or performance is something of a deli smoothie: she throws the raw materials into a musical blender, and out comes a tall cool refreshment.” — The Vancouver Sun.
"She consistently proves that delivering a lyric is as much a creative art as writing one." — Rolling Stone.
“So successful was she at reaching and elevating an audience through sheer seductive vocal magic and commanding stage presence.” — Austin American-Statesman.
“Cole’s voice: smoky, though not quite sultry; as sly as it is sexy; and brimming with adventure bordering on recklessness. And it bears an alluring touch of darkness, though it’s not without a mitigating hint of optimism.” — Wall Street Journal.
“Ms. Cole invented her own niche as a chanteuse.” — New York Times.
For more about her, visit www.hollycole.com.
For details of her March 26 performance in Courtenay, visit www.sidwilliams theatre.com.
She will be joined onstage for one song by the G.P. Vanier choir.
— Sid Williams Theatre