Halie Loren
Biographie Halie Loren
Halie Loren
The first thing you notice is that voice: gorgeous, graceful, and somehow earthy and ethereal at once. It is an instrument perfectly matched to the songwriting talents of the artist who channels it — Halie Loren. Her music conveys the wonders of the invisible world: wounded defiance, stubborn love, hard- earned hopefulness.
Fed by the hyperborean beauty of her childhood Alaska home, Loren's gift for discovering the playfulness, pizazz, and sensuality inherent in a lyric appeared early on. But it was her talent for turning those feelings into genre-defying original compositions — songs at once universal and deeply personal — that captured wider attention. With purity of tone and rare interpretive prowess, she brings a fresh and original perspective to time-honored musical paths, channeling her innate understanding of connectedness across musical boundaries to forge bonds with diverse audiences in North America, Asia, Europe, and beyond.
After her debut jazz CD, 2008's They Oughta Write a Song, was awarded "best vocal jazz album" at the largest international independent music awards (JPF Music Awards) in 2009, she caught the interest of and was subsequently signed by JVC Kenwood Entertainment in Japan and in North America by Justin Time Records. She followed with live album Stages, named “Editor’s Pick” at CD Baby and “best live album of the year” at Wildy’s World.
After Dark followed in 2010, with the Loren original “Thirsty” winning the Independent Music Awards’ Vox Pop poll for best vocal jazz song of the year.
In its savvy concoction of jazz standards, re-imagined pop classics, and shimmering new originals, 2012’s Heart First revealed a confidently maturing artist on her own heartfelt journey. Japan’s “Jazz Critique” magazine honored it as the best vocal jazz album of 2011. “Fly Me to the Moon”, a Japan- only bonus track, spent three weeks at No. 1 on the iTunes Japan jazz chart. It was among the top 10 jazz CDs in Hot New Releases at Amazon in the U.S. and Canada, and reached No. 1 on the iTunes Canada jazz albums chart.
In 2013, Loren recorded and produced (along with co-producer Matt Treder) Simply Love, a collection featuring originals and re-imagined classics from contrasting eras of the American songbook. Released in Japan in June 2013, it made its way to #1 on Billboard Japan's Jazz Albums chart. It entered iTunes Canada as #1 jazz album following its North American release (on Justin Time Records) in September. Singles included the string-infused original “Cuando Bailamos”, Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move”, and the sweetly honest title track, written by Loren and Benita Hill.
Her newest global release, Butterfly Blue, was released in Japan on January 21, 2015, and globally on June 9th. It debuted at #1 on Japan’s Billboard Jazz chart and placed in chart’s top 10 list for 8 weeks. The album ventures into some new recording territory for Loren, exploring her musical roots in not only jazz, but also in soul, blues, folk, and pop. Through a soundtrack that includes guitars, piano, organ, double-bass, horns (both in horn sections and solo brass and wind instrument features), cellos, and layered vocals, she and her band create a diverse and rich musical array of original songs (by Loren as well as songwriter Daniel Gallo), unique reads on standards, and little-known covers that have been long-treasured pieces of her repertoire. This collection shows a deeper, more nuanced side of Halie Loren’s maturing artistry, featuring strength and vulnerability in equal measures.
After the March 2016 release of her live CD Live at Cotton Club (released only in Japan, as was the 2014 career-collection album called The Best Collection), Loren embarked on her biggest Japan tour to-date, performing 13 shows throughout Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Hamamatsu in April 2016. She continues to tour frequently throughout the U.S., Canada, Asia, Europe, and elsewhere, including early 2017 performances in Colorado, California, and was one of the only American musicians featured in the 2017 Port-au-prince International Jazz Festival in Haiti.
