LM Pagano
Smooth jazz vocals. For more information check out www.bopcity.com and www.dh1.com
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Until I Met You Until I Met You
"Just one listen and you'll you'll want to right her love letters"
LM Pagano is a unique song stylist who carries the torch of lyrical interpretation not heard since Carmen McRae, Peggy Lee, Jeri Southern and other jazz giants.Band/artist history
If you grew up listening to Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, and your mother was once a singer who fronted local big bands around Los Angeles, what else? You just gotta do it; especially if youre given the rare, textured voice that belongs to LM Pagano.
On Azalea, the extraordinary Bop City debut CD of vocalist LM Pagano, you can discern the influences of those legends she grew up with.
By the time she was twelve years old, shed learned to play piano and guitar. Within three years, LM was juggling a busy schedule, attending school, working afternoons as a seamstress, and playing the L.A. music venues most nights. LM hooked up with a pianist and started performing in cabaret venues. A quirky success soon followed in no time they were booking dates at clubs in New York and L.A. All of the jazz Id been listening to for all those years started banging at the door, she laughs. Id want to swing a tune, or Id want different kinds of chords. Id get blasted by the cabaret critics: theyd say Ms. Pagano is quite talented, but she should do patter. Well, I didnt want to do patter, I wanted to sing!
LM started picking up gigs in Los Angeles, and continued to evolve her own singing style and found herself influenced by the two Tony Bennett/Bill Evans duo albums. The purity of what each did on those albums, together and apart. I was listening to Bill as much as to Tony, she reveals. Hearing how he played; the freedom. I loved Tony because of his connection to the lyrics. As a singer, I come first from the story; once Ive got the story in my heart, thats when I can sing the song. My concentration is on what Im saying, not how Im saying it.
Not long after, she was joined by guitarist Larry Koonse, pianist Henry Spurgeon, bassist Kevin Axt, and drummer Kendall Kay for the follow up recording, Azalea. In its initial, independent release, Azalea garnered airplay in key markets such as L.A. and Boston, and began to create a buzz in the jazz world.
It was on KJZZ that legendary jazz promoter Dick LaPalm heard a track from Azalea. His response was immediate he called LM and offered to help her find a label deal. It didnt take long. Dick called me and asked, are you sitting down? LM recalls. I said, Im driving. And he said, Well pull over! I sent your album to Al Schmitt and he wants to sign you. Now! And LMs been on cloud 9 ever since.
Schmitt, a seven-time Grammy-winning producer/engineer and co-founder of the Bop City label, applied his handiwork to remixing Azalea. In its new form, every element of performance glistens with subtle sonic shades. On classic titles such as Until I Met You (Corner Pocket) and lush rarities like Bob Doroughs Love Came on Stealthy Fingers, LMs singing turns each note and every word into a story, and each song into an experience not soon forgotten.Your musical influences
Carmen McRae, Peggy Lee, Jeri Southern. When I heard Carmen McRae sing for the first time, it made an indelible mark on me. Her total focus on telling the story and phrasing accordingly, rather than the other way around, for me, was revolutionary. She didnt care about sounding pretty, she just cared. I got every single word. She threw away the walls.Anything else?
It was never a conscious decision. There wasnt any choice, it just happened. My mom being a singer, and there was also my paternal grandfather, who sang opera. And my dad was very musical, for the short time I knew him. We had a piano and an autoharp, which I traded in ASAP for my first guitar. By the time I was 15, I was playing solo gigs, singing with my guitar 3 or 4 nights a week during high school.Contact
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