Liner Notes

By Eugene Uman

I keep coming back to the word “trust,” a single syllable that conveys the feeling of that sunny Vermont day in June when we all converged on Northern Track studio. This was Jill’s project: Jill, whose voice had transported us so many times into that sublime zone beyond thought; Jill, who communicates so well that intros, endings and improvised solos are malleable yet inevitable; Jill, whose each note is conceived as a three-dimensional entity. We approached this session with a sense of curiosity and anticipation, excited about the potential results. Trusting in each other’s abilities, technique and mutual esteem.

After years of recognition as a distinguished voiceover artist, Jill Connolly was making the commitment to music that she had always dreamed. She approached this project with passion and dedication. Connolly’s time spent “bringing text alive” as a voiceover talent has tempered her singing voice and endowed her with a command of the microscopic changes that can be made within even one word of a song. This, combined with her natural talent, superb pitch and sense of swing, mixed with a huge serving of heart, are the components that form the voice of a unique individual who has something beautiful and important to say.

“Voiceover work informs my singing and singing informs my voiceover work,” says Jill. “I have learned so much by paying attention to diction, pronunciation, phrasing, timing and, most importantly, listening.”

The CD is the result of a long journey by vocalist Jill Connolly, who is returning full circle to a career she never left. Jill’s life has always been replete with music. Her parents, both professional musicians, created an environment for Jill and her siblings to study and enjoy a wide range of music.

As a young woman, Jill chose singing as a career. She worked with blues and rock groups in Connecticut and New York and then hooked up with the R&B circuit in Boston with a jam-based rock group called Silver Lining that toured the Northeast. She played local Boston jazz gigs with the likes of Dave Clark and Harvey Diamond. Music was Jill’s life.

Jill found that a sideline gig creating voiceovers provided an enjoyable and more stable way of making a living than the unpredictable calendar of an itinerant musician. It proved compelling, and she pursued it to the point where voiceovers became her primary work. Jill is now highly esteemed in this field with a diverse clientele.

The fact that Jill had left music as her primary career but still felt the weight of its calling left her in somewhat of a bind. Her dedication and abilities were unquestionable (everyone who has heard her would ponder, “But why hasn’t she recorded?”), yet there was the self-doubt that arises from being away from steady music work. Jill put in tremendous effort preparing for this date, incorporating practice, study and reflection; her life went through a full spiritual upheaval that culminated in this honest, gorgeous representation of her soul.

* * *

The trio accompanying Jill Connolly is a pre-existing ensemble that has much experience backing up singers. We owe this to spending a week each summer with the divine Sheila Jordan, Jill’s mentor and a teacher to us all. Sheila has instilled in us the need to pay attention, to put the music above us, to allow the music to come from our hearts and the grace to take chances. There is a sense of trust in our group derived from the desire to play music together, blended with a deep feeling of mutual support.

Jamie MacDonald, the gifted, young bassist heard on this recording, went into this session saying, “I’m here to play lots of roots.” The goal he set and achieved was to selflessly provide the harmonic ground, giving the music that flowed above it a feeling of stability. Jamie plays with understated strength throughout, adding just the right amount of edge to beauty and making each note count.

Claire Arenius understands the fine art of accompaniment on drums; she deftly fulfills this through her clarification of form, her attention to dynamics, the finesse of her fills and her ability to connect clearly with the emotional content of what’s going on around her. Plus, she swings like crazy!

During this session an atmosphere of ease prevailed — we were all making music and there was no differentiation between the “musicians” and the “singer.” Instead of giving you a play by play of the music, I invite you to listen and create your own stories. But before I go, I’d like to tell you about a friend of ours who travels a great deal. This friend brings along a pre-release copy of Jill’s CD whenever she goes on a business trip. She says that listening to the music makes her feel at home in a new rental car or hotel room, creating an atmosphere of familiarity and comfort. Enjoy the music; it was a gift for us to play, and the joy in which it was created is ­transmitted through its sound.

— Eugene Uman