Lori Cullen
Lori Cullen | |
|---|---|
| Genres | Pop, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Website | loricullen.com |
Lori Cullen is a Canadian pop and jazz singer-songwriter.[1] She has released nine albums as a solo artist, has collaborated with other artists as a guest musician, and is a Juno Award nominee.[2]
Originally from Mississauga, Ontario, Cullen released her debut album Garden Path in 2000.[3] She followed up with So Much, an album of jazz standards, in 2002,[4] before returning to original folk-pop songwriting for 2004's Uneven Hill.[5] During her early career, she kept these two sides of her artistic personality separate, recording distinct albums and distinguishing her live performances as being either folk or jazz shows; during her tour to support Uneven Hill, however, she decided to instead start integrating the two genres.[6]
Her song "Away So Long", cowritten with Brian MacMillan, was the winner of the 2005 Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award.
Her next album, 2006's Calling for Rain, was an album of covers of artists such as Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Richard Thompson and Randy Newman, done in a style that incorporated both pop and jazz influences. It was nominated for a Juno Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2007.[2]Around this time Owen Pallet of Final Fantasy asked Lori to contribute her distinctive vocals to his album He Poos Clouds that won the very first Polaris Prize.
In 2008 Cullen recorded Buttercup Bugle. Mostly original compositions co-produced and arranged by Chris Dedrick, the mastermind behind the legendary 60’s Sunshine Pop vocal group Free Design, the album draws on jazz, easy listening, orchestral pop and acoustic folk and initiated a licensing deal with Japanese label Nature Bliss.
Lori's 2011’s album That Certain Chartreuse is a satisfyingly diverse selection of covers by artists from Gordon Lightfoot to King Crimson. This record prompted jazz vocal giant Kurt Elling to announce in an interview that she was "one of his favourite new singers”.
Lori's 7th album, Sexsmith Swinghammer Songs (2016), features songs written for her by Ron Sexsmith and Kurt Swinghammer.[7]
In 2022 picking up her guitar Lori's offering Blood Wonder is a collection of ten original songs and includes two co-writes with friends Ron Sexsmith and Jennifer Foster. Lovingly produced by dear friend Chris Gartner with a core band of Gartner, Tom Gill and Steven Foster, most of the music was recorded as a live ensemble. Added flourishes, harmonies, and some extra-sweet strings from Grammy-nominated Drew Jurecka (Dua Lipa), animates the lush and original sound of the album.
in 2024 Lori teams up with Songwriter and producer James de Pinho with an album that unexpectedly combines the poetic approach of the singer/songwriter tradition, a harmonic sensibility informed by jazz, and the creative foundation of an electronic pulse, merging together as The Thunder and The Bay.
Discography[edit]
- Garden Path (2000)
- So Much (2002)
- Uneven Hill (2004)
- Calling for Rain (2006)
- Buttercup Bugle (2007)
- That Certain Chartreuse (2011)
- Sexsmith Swinghammer Songs (True North, 2016)
- Blood Wonder (2022)
- The Thunder and The Bay (2024)
References[edit]
- ^ "Lori Cullen Teams Up with Ron Sexsmith and Kurt Swinghammer for New Album". Exclaim!, August 18, 2016.
- ^ a b "The Sun's 2007 Juno Award scorecard". Vancouver Sun, March 31, 2007.
- ^ "Lori Cullen: Garden Path". Exclaim!, September 30, 2000.
- ^ "Lori Cullen: So Much". Toronto Star, January 16, 2003.
- ^ "Lori Cullen: Uneven Hill". Toronto Star, February 26, 2004.
- ^ "Divas and the city". The Globe and Mail, July 1, 2005.
- ^ "Lori Cullen Sexsmith Swinghammer Songs". Exclaim!, October 26, 2016.
External links[edit]
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