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Talking To...Clare Teal

Peter: Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars, that's an interesting choice of song. I heard you singing it just now and it's a really beautiful version of it.

Clare: Well, that's what we wanted to do. I mean, they are all pop songs, there might be 120 years between them, but they are pop songs, it's popular music, it's folk music. And what we wanted to show is that, if you break the stuff down it can sit side by side, it's not actually that different. Take something like Chasing Cars , it's not really that different from something like Sally Gardens, which is from 1889.

Peter: That's right and that's William Butler Yeats isn't it?

Clare: Yes and Herbert Hughes, his arrangement.

Peter: Have you heard Mauro O'Connell's version?

Clare: I think I have yes.

Peter: You wrote a couple of songs on the album yourself, there's Whole and One More.

Clare: Yes.

Peter: Is song writing something you enjoy?

Clare: Yeh, it is and it's kind of an indulgence because there are so many great songs out there, that you think well why do you feel the need to write more songs but I love writing songs and I love hearing the stuff that we write in that work room to then hearing it when Grant gets hold of it and he'll arrange it for a small band and might work it up for a big band and then when an orchestra plays it, it feels amazing.

Peter: A lot of Ian singers don't actually write their own material, do they, but you do and that's something quite different and perhaps unusual isn't it?

Clare: Well, actually a lot of singers, more than you think, write songs, they don't write very often but Clare Martin writes and Ian Shaw writes but I mean Ella Fitzgerald was a very underrated lyricist you know, but we don't really give her credit for some of the stuff she wrote.

Peter: And to disprove my point, Cleo Laine wrote He Was Beautiful which is on your album.

Clare: I know.

Peter: So, how do you think the current state of Jazz is now, do you think it's healthier than it was ,say 10 years ago?

Clare: I think it's really hard to quantify that, I think the state of music in general is in a really good place, the problem we have is getting people to listen to live music. There's so much choice now with the explosion of the internet with things like I Tunes and Spotify. I do strongly believe that music is for the people and you know, as a kid from quite a humble background, I couldn't afford the records I wanted but I didn't really have much of an opportunity although Keighley Library was brilliant. If I'd have had Sootily when I was a kid, my goodness, I don't know what I would have ended up into but the thing that I love is that you never know where you're going to end up you . You can think, oh I'll try this because it's been recommended and you find stuff and it's wonderful and that bit I don't mind. The fact that it's kind of destroying the industry is hard because it means that the young people coming through, it's very hard for them to get easily to a place where they can actually make money and support themselves.

Peter: But in some ways it makes music more accessible doesn't it?

Clare: And I do think that's a good thing but I mean as to the standard of Jazz, I mean coming here today to a music college which is predominantly classical. There's no Jazz courses, these kids are in the big bands because they want to be and they are learning, but I was so pleasantly surprised by what I have heard. That's happening all over the country and because of things like Spotify people aren't so pigeon-holey about music, they are celebrating eclecticism in music ,which is only good.

Peter: I suppose another difficulty is then the of course the economic situation and budgets and things that music in school is perhaps not being as prominent as it might of been a few years ago, because I know certainly they are cutting back on the music budgets.

Clare: That's a shame but, you know when times are tough I guess something has to go, but lets hope it's not for very long because it's such a critical part of life.

Peter: And another thing that seems to be happening as well is that people seem to be actively promoting live music. People now are getting their own venues and putting on live music. I mean I go to a couple of things, once a month and you get some really, really good artists.

Clare: And how do you know about that, do they e-mail you?

Peter: Yes.

Clare: With the kind of death of the local paper, e-mail and mailing lists are crucial and where it used to be expensive, for artists to keep their mailing lists and keep sending stuff out by post, with e-mail you can keep people in touch and they have a choice of whether they want to come but it is very hard for theatres, they've got to grow their mailing lists. I don't think we've got a choice really. If you want to know when somebody you like is performing, really the only thing you can do is give them your e-mail address so that they can let you know.

Peter: I thank you very much for your time as I know you're busy and you've got rehearsals but it was very nice to meet you.

Peter Cowley