The composer and musician Jamie Lawrence discusses his friend and collaborator Nora York, who died in 2016, and the posthumous album Swoon (Good Mood Records, 2019), with Joseph Planta.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

In 2002, my guest now, Jamie Lawrence first met Nora York, the celebrated vocalist and songwriter. Ms. York who performed through New York City’s cabaret scene was hailed for her bold mashups of jazz, rock, folk and other genres. The New York Times described her as “a polymath who delighted in synthesizing philosophy, poetry, politics and song.” She and Mr. Lawrence collaborated on an album, as well as on other ideas for songs and musical theatre shows. They’d recorded a lot of material and recorded songs right up to Nora York’s tragic death from pancreatic cancer in 2016. She was 60 years old. A new album produced by Jamie Lawrence, featuring artwork from Nora’s husband and artistic collaborator Jerry Kearns is out now called Swoon. It features twelve tracks beginning with a cover of the Elvis Presley-associated “All Shook Up,” done in her inimitable style. Following that are 11 other songs, six of which were written by Nora York and Jamie Lawrence. We’ll play one of them out of the conversation I taped with Jamie two weeks ago. Listen for “Rain Came Down,” at the end of the show. Jamie Lawrence is a composer and pianist, whose career has involved scoring for film and television, as well as music direction for live television broadcasts like the annual Tony Awards on CBS. It was for the 2012 broadcast that Mr. Lawrence won an Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction in a Variety Show, one of five Emmys he has. Incidentally, he’s had a long association with the broadcast, as he worked with his father the great bandleader and pianist Elliot Lawrence, who conducted the telecast’s orchestra for a number of years. As you’ll hear in our chat, Jamie composed a number of memorable pieces for the award show. He also recently produced and orchestrated the score for the Rebecca Miller HBO documentary Arthur Miller: Writer. This new album, Swoon is available in stores, and online, as well as all the other ways that one can stream and download music nowadays. It is from Good Mood Records. Jamie’s website is at http://www.jamielawrenceproductions.com/ Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Jamie Lawrence; Mr. Lawrence, good morning.

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