Alexis Cole's "Jazz Republic: Taiwan, ..."

JAZZ REPUBLIC: TAIWAN, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE FREEDOM OF SWING, the newest album by vocalist ALEXIS COLE, is a big band album featuring the TAIPEI JAZZ ORCHESTRA. Cole is an esteemed jazz singer whose previous 12 albums have garnered rave reviews. Jazz History Online said, “Cole displays an exuberant personality, outstanding diction, flawless pitch and inspired scat technique, all qualities that should place her in the highest echelon of contemporary jazz singers.”

Her new big band album is the result of decades of cultural diplomacy. Dr. Gene Aitken founded the Taipei Jazz Orchestra in the 1990's and is currently the orchestra’s conductor. Aitken is a legendary jazz educator, Grammy Award-winner and Fulbright Scholar who has been appointed by the US Department of State to serve as a cultural envoy to Nepal and Chile, among other places. The orchestra is directed by world class saxophonist Cheng-yu Jimmy Lee. The TJO has created a reputation of artistic excellence not just in Taiwan but among jazz aficionados internationally.

Cole comes from a musical family. Both her maternal grandmother and her father were pianists and singers and were important for her early musical education. Cole has performed with the likes of Fred Hersch, Bucky Pizzarelli, Don Braden and Matt Wilson. Although based in NYC, she has played and taught in locales worldwide, including teaching at an affiliate of the Berklee College of Music in Ecuador and heading the jazz programs at William Paterson University and SUNY Purchase, where she taught multi-Grammy Award-winner Samara Joy. In 2020 she founded JazzVoice.com, the online educational community and in 2021 co-founded the Virginia Beach Vocal Jazz Summit (VocalJazzSummit.org).

From 2009 to 2015, Cole enlisted in the Army and was the vocalist with the West Point Band’s big band, The Jazz Knights. Her 2021 release, Sky Blossom: Songs From My Tour of Duty, collated the arrangements written for her by Jazz Knights music director Scott Arcangel. Her latest release finds her again with the big band, this time across borders in Taiwan including string arrangements written for the Boston Pops by Arcangel, as well as exploring material by arrangers like Rich DeRosa and Chris Walden.  

Cole’s expansive curiosity and welcoming spirit has led her to unusual and fruitful places on her journey as an artist. Travel has been a constant in her life. Now living in the West Village in NYC, the music continues to take her around the world and back home again, time after time. The lyrics of the lead track of JAZZ REPUBLIC, “Common Ground” express Cole’s thoughts about her musical family -- from her grandmother and father to her international music family -- “In the music, the village never ends.”

JAZZ REPUBLIC is really all about the music, but it is hard to ignore the geopolitical backdrop in which the project is crafted and released. Taiwan and the United States may be allies today, but they share a complicated past that involves periods of conflict, cooperation, and deliberate ambiguity. These days, Taiwan is a touchstone for trans-Pacific policies. High ranking elected US officials have traveled to Taiwan to show their solidarity for the Taiwanese people. That this album is borne of friendship and amity may be a prescient plea for sustained harmony.

The album opens with “Common Ground,” a fitting way to begin a project teeming with person-to-person cultural exchange. All too often, people focus on divisions, borders, and what makes one another different. But as the lyrics go, “In a circle of friends, in a circle of sound, all our voices will blend, when we touch common ground.” “Begin the Beguine,” the classic piece by Cole Porter, is deftly arranged by Rich DeRosa. Cole’s performance teases out the poetic lyrics, and she augments the piece with ad-libbed sections to give it even more significance. “Uptown Girl” is Billy Joel’s, feel-good anthem, done as a mashup of Count Basie, Billy Byers, and Joel.

“I’ve Grown Accustomed to His Face” is a song from My Fair Lady. “I love the lyrics about how people can make our lives messy and unpredictable, but it’s worth it,” reflects Cole. Scott Arcangel’s arrangement builds with strings and well-placed horn hits, serving as a flowing accompaniment to Cole’s outstanding performance. “Bye Bye Blackbird” begins with just Cole and bass and builds with reeds and horns joining in. “Here’s That Rainy Day” starts with Cole’s soaring, searching voice over a gorgeous arrangement by Cole’s college classmate, the accomplished pianist Tedd Firth, who initially wrote it for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Trombonist Michael Wang contributes a gorgeous and gripping solo.

On “Moon River,” the classic by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini, Cole expertly navigates the nontraditional harmonies enhanced by Tom Ranier’s swinging clarinet solo. “People Will Say We’re in Love” showcases Cole’s luscious voice as she nails the high and low registers without hesitation. Cole exhibits her polyglot prowess with her performance of Portuguese lyrics on “Corcovado.” By the time she sings in English, the message becomes abundantly clear: Love can bring us back from any bit of disillusionment.

It’s hard not to take “Beyond the Sea” as a US-Taiwan metaphor. The countries are natural allies who stand steadfast somewhere beyond the great blue seas. Trumpeter James Linahon, the album’s engineer and longtime colleague of Aitken, makes a cameo appearance for a lively solo. The album ends with “You Make Me Feel So Young,” which was arranged by Cole, Arcangel and pianist Ben Stivers. Cole performed the piece with Stivers on her 2004 album Nearer the Sun. The feel-good lyrics speak to the friendly nature of this trans-Pacific musical mashup: “You make me feel there are songs to be sung / Bells to be rung / And a wonderful fling to be flung.”

JAZZ REPUBLIC: TAIWAN, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE FREEDOM OF SWING is special because it began with friends wanting to make art together, exemplifying cross-border cultural partnerships. By meticulously focusing on the music, Alexis Cole and the TJO have created a gorgeous, eminently enjoyable opus.

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JAZZ REPUBLIC: TAIWAN, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE FREEDOM OF SWING will be released on August 19, 2024 on Tiger Turn and will be available at Alexiscole.com/music and on all streaming platforms.

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