Karen's first CD of original jazz is "Karen Robinson WITH". The launch event sold out within a few days! The CD was produced by Mike Cowie, a gifted musician, arranger and producer, and features Karen's vocals, Mike on muted trumpet, Larry Bjornson on upright bass, Dave Burton on drums, Holly Arsenault on piano, Chris Mitchell on flute and alto sax, Danny Martin on trombone, Jeff Reilly on bass clarinet, Doris Mason and Lisa MacDougall doing back-up vocals, and Kevin Breit on guitar. Producer Mike Cowie said, “I don’t produce albums for other singers any more, but these are terrific songs! I had to do this. Everyone who came to the project agreed. It all comes down to the songs, and these are all great songs. Some are way beyond great. Like late Joni Mitchell. Great melodies, great performances. Is it jazz or folk rock? It’s somewhere in the middle. The album is very alive and musical, more dynamic than most we hear today, and with all the faults and curves. It is real, honest music. Every song is different. We used minimal compression, only what was needed to stay in the game without losing the reality, and I am thrilled. It all starts with the songs ... and Karen’s songs are brilliant. Karen delivers every song exquisitely!” Karen adds, “Some of these songs I recorded before, but I really wanted to hear them with jazz arrangements. So here they are, along with several new jazz songs: Cats and Crows: A love song with a twist - overcoming fears within a loving relationship. Blues Bird: If Patsy Cline were alive I think she would like this one. Play it Softly: Music mending a tired listener after a long day. Raven’s Wing: She seems not so nice, perhaps wounded, but she is learning. Know When to Fly: I smile every time I sing this or hear it played! When I Sing the Blues: Just settle in for the ride. Pen in Hand: Letters written long hand are becoming a thing of the past, yet writing that way somehow adds strength to the message. This song changes from ¾ to 4/4 time along with the writer’s angst. Whispers: The seasons of life can be painful and we have no choice but to live through them as best we can. Cold Anger On: A life experience better not experienced. She’s a Keeper: A playful song about a woman who knows who she is and who makes her world a better place by just being in it.” Karen says, “I sang other people’s songs for years. I didn’t take writing seriously until a friend suggested that maybe I should finish songs I’d started years ago.” It turned out Karen has a gift for writing in several styles, humorous to serious, jazz to country/folk, and she continues to write in all these styles. Jazz musicians are excited by the interesting chord changes and melodies as well as the lyrics. She has been singing in jazz clubs around Halifax, Nova Scotia and is also a frequent contributor to the Rose and Kettle Concerts at the Cole Harbour Museum, a gem of a venue for folk/roots performers. Karen has an abiding interest in both Jazz and Roots/folk music. She is the drummer for the Jazz combo Buckley’s Mixture, and is the vocalist for the piano/vocal Jazz duo, Tea for Two. Karen is a guest vocalist with the Big Valley Swing Orchestra, and performed with them in the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Halifax Jazz Festivals. Karen’s first solo CD of original folk/pop songs, She’s a Keeper, was released in February of 2012, and is available through her website, CD Baby and iTunes. Highlights of Karen’s folk/roots career include the Road to Stanfest Songwriter’s Stage at Stanfest in Canso for three years, an Apple Blossom Festival queen’s coronation event, the third voice with Celtic harp duo Ardyth and Jennifer’s Winter Fire concerts for several seasons, and back-up singer for ATV’s world-syndicated show, Maritime Country with then-musical-partner Michael Scott from Sing Along Jubilee. Karen was the first to perform A. Robinson/Hubbard/Quinn’s Red Coat Laddies. It was written for the funeral of an RCMP officer killed in the line of duty in Nova Scotia, and Karen’s performance caught the interest of national RCMP. Red Coat Laddies has become part of RCMP funerals across Canada, and it became the theme song for the RCMP’s 125th anniversary Musical Ride. Karen has deep roots in music, several family members having made their mark in various ways. Her Aunt Fleurette was renowned song collector and music historian Helen Creighton’s first music transcriber and assistant. Her uncle Reverend Ernest Sweeney was founder of the 50-plus year old Maritime Old Time Fiddling Contest. Her uncle, Hugh Sweeney, a gifted trumpet player with extensive experience also fostered the music careers, professional and non-professional, of many individuals through his life-long work as a band leader and teacher. Her grandfather, Daniel, was an Irish fiddler and story teller who performed along the Eastern American states in minstrel shows before he married Lydia Surette in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, around the turn of the last century. Karen learned traditional songs at his knee as a child. She saw this part of family history would disappear with the next generation, so she enlisted the help of older relatives to put the stories and songs together. In 2001 she released the CD of family songs, stories and games called Daniel and Lydia Sweeney’s Family, and provided a copy to all the descendants. CKDU radio featured this CD in a one-hour segment to help others create family CDs of their own, and again on CKDU’s Touchstone on Feb 23rd 2012. CBC’s Stan Carew has aired several excerpts from the CD as well. This CD is available from Karen through her website www.robinsong.ca. _______________________________________________________________________________________ More about Karen: Karen Robinson, BSc, BEd, BFA, owner of Enviro-Health Consulting Limited, is also President and CEO of CASLE, Canadians for A Safe Learning Environment, a registered charity based in Nova Scotia but with far-reaching effect. Go to www.casle.ca. Karen is a skilled professional in school Environmental Health and Safety, is the author of numerous reports and articles on healthy school issues, speaks locally, nationally and internationally, and is primary author of Healthy School Design and Construction, a document being used to build all new schools and public buildings in the Province of Nova Scotia. Karen is national coordinator of Healthy Schools Day in Canada - Journée des écoles saines du Canada. Karen has been nominated several times for the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada, and has received many awards for her environmental health work, including the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and several Commendations from the Nova Scotia Provincial Legislature. Karen also serves on the Board of Directors of the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia, a leader in action and information on environmental impacts on health for over thirty years. EHANS produces the internationally acclaimed consumer guide Less Toxic Guide. Go to www.lesstoxicguide.ca Karen has two grown children, and she is also a skilled potter and sculptor, having studied and worked in the field for over a decade before turning to environmental health work. Karen's work is carried by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia's gift shop, and she takes part in juried group shows when time allows. © Karen Robinson 2013