Anne Phillips

I think I came out of the womb singing and playing piano. My father was a yarn salesman and my mother a housewife. Much to their wonderment, I could play almost anything I heard on the radio. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if she turned out to be somebody who could play by ear. She'd have so much fun at parties!" said my mother. I wasn't from a NY show... biz family. I was from suburban Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. I didn't really hear any jazz until I was a senior in high school when by a serendipitous meeting I was asked to join a very hip vocal group of grown-up jazz musicians. I knew where I belonged! I went on to Oberlin where of course I joined the newly formed Jazz Club and we put on the first "Brubeck at Oberlin" concert. I was the "other act" singing with a grad student trio and the big band. When I was 19, I came to New York. Because I played piano and sang and almost every restaurant and bar had a piano in it I worked six nights a week six hours a night. Some great gigs: (opposite Bobby Short at the Beverly Hotel, Number One Fifth Avenue,) and a good many dives. But it was a great time to arrive in New York. There were demos for songwriters, TV shows, record dates, concerts, jingles, work for singers! But you can read more about that in my bio. I am thrilled to have been chosen as one of the five New York Women Composers members to be part of this concert. An Alaskan Trilogy, which is second on the program, is my setting of three poems by Phoebe Newman, whom I met while doing my annual vocal workshop in Ketchikan, AK. I hope you can see it. Anne May 19, 2021 2:30 PM EDT, 7:30 PM BST From the Cosmos to the Soul: A Celebration of Womens Music It was fascinating to hear Anne Phillips apply her freer, more sophisticated, jazzier style to standards, and her own songs. And her freer, sophisticated, jazzier style is in full display on this outstanding recording. Phillips adds thoughtful anecdotes that help the audience and now listeners understand her history in a beautiful, personal way. Her original gems feel ...Read More