By Paula Edelstein

ATTENTION JAZZ FANS. You can add the name Dena DeRose to your list of up and coming jazz singers and pianists that deserve a closer listen. On ANOTHER WORLD, her second release on Sharp Nine Records, the singer/pianist performs with some of her closest musical friends including two alumni of Chick Corea’s band, Origin...namely Steve Wilson and Steve Davis. Dena DeRose, performs a program that features wonderfully inventive and varied arrangements, superb solos and classic vocal stylings on the 10-song collection of compositions that range from swing to songbook standards. DeRose’s delicate vocals on “The Wee Small Hours,” opens the Hilliard/Mann standard as the rhythm section along with Steve Davis on trombone fire up the set with powerful vamps and a stirring trombone solo. “Spring Is Here,” and the blues-drenched “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” are fresh renditions that feature superb horn arrangements by DeRose and Steve Davis with dazzling sax flurries and melodic lines by Steve Wilson on alto and soprano saxophone. She treats her audience to inspired, vocal techniques complimented by Davis’ inimitable trombone in an intimate, endearing and creative expression on the title track, “Another World.”

A native of Binghamton, New York, Dena began her formal piano training at the age of three. She studied classical music through her early teens and while in high school, began to explore other styles of music. Jazz studies in college led to her present career as a jazz pianist, performing with bassists Slam Stewart and Major Holley. She later appeared as a leader in and around upstate New York. In the mid-1980’s, Dena’s musical career was interrupted due to a series of hand surgeries but as a result, she discovered her singing talent. Working as a vocalist during her recovery, she later began to accompany her singing on piano.

When Dena isn’t leading an ensemble of musicians, playing great piano, composing or arranging, you can find her educating a new generation of musicians and singers at many seminars, master classes at community music centers, high schools and colleges. She is a member of the piano and voice faculty of Stanford University’s Stanford Jazz Workshop. She also serves as accompanist and vocal coach for the Actors’ Guild at the New School for Social Research in New York.

Since relocating to New York, Dena has performed with jazz artists such as Randy Brecker, Bob Moses, Ingrid Jenson, Terry Clark, Virginia Mayhew, Billy Drummond, Bruce Forman and Dottie Dodgion, among others. Rob Bargad who wrote the tune “Another World,” recently invited Dena DeRose to star her vocals on his recent CD, THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE. Dena’s multiple talent, debuted on INTRODUCING DENA DeROSE, is out of the cradle and is making a remarkable impact with ANOTHER WORLD as one of the most exciting new artists on the jazz scene. In an interview for ALL ABOUT JAZZ.COM, we discussed her dual role as singer and instrumentalist, her ability to lead a band, choice of musicians and future plans.

AAJ: Did you bring the project to SHARP NINE or did the record company suggest the theme for ANOTHER WORLD?

DD: Sharp Nine wanted to make a CD to follow up my debut recording that they have re-issued.

AAJ: Let’s relive the excitement of your getting the green light from SHARP NINE executives to go ahead with the project. Did the executives at Sharp Nine give you complete artistic and creative control of the ANOTHER WORLD?

DD: I was given complete freedom to come up with the concept, music, and personnel for ANOTHER WORLD. I feel really lucky and thankful.

AAJ: You are the complete package...accomplished jazz singer, jazz pianist, talented arranger and songwriter. Which aspect of your career do you enjoy most?

DD: I enjoy expressing and communicating in whatever way I can get my point or story across, whether it be through singing, playing, arranging, or composing. Most of the time, I see these all as one "thing."

AAJ: You use the piano sometimes as a second voice and at other times, you use your voice as an instrument. Do you consider yourself an instrumentalist who sings or singer who plays an instrument?

DD: I would consider myself as an instrumentalist who sings, because I was a pianist first.

AAJ: The jazz singer as instrumentalist and vice versa must require hearing chords in your head, etc. How do you get it all down on lead sheets and chord charts. Do you write on the piano or do you work with other musicians when you write?

DD: I work alone when writing an arrangement or composing a tune. I sometimes hear the concept for a tune away from the piano, then I get to a piano to write it down and fine tune it. But, sometimes when writing an arrangement of a tune with words, I read the words for days, or months to get a feeling from the story to get my concept for the music.

AAJ: ANOTHER WORLD is a dynamic program, featuring a jazz intellect not usually associated with newer artists. Your training and dedication to the genre also shows your strengths and purposeful efforts to advance the genre of jazz. On “More Than You Know,” you exact a spiky piano with vocals over a Latin-based rhythm section and then on “Hi-Fly,” you are backed only by bass and drums with a compact piano style. Which style can be considered the cornerstone of your performances?

DD: I like many styles of music, so the styles used depend on the feeling I get from the words, if the tune has words. If the tune doesn't have words, I work on different time feels, time signatures, keys, instrumentation, etc., to put my mark on it.

AAJ: Your talents as a songwriter on “Don’t Go,” are brought out splendidly by Steve Wilson’s evocative sax solo. Did he improvise or did you write lead sheets and chord charts for the song?

DD: Steve improvised completely on "Don't Go." He only had about 5 minutes to look at the tune before we recorded it! We only took 2 takes...the first being the one on the CD.

AAJ: As a course of study many singers take classes to improve rhythm, sight-singing, harmony, and pitch. For an aspiring jazz singer/pianist, would you recommend classes in improvisation and leading also?

DD: I would recommend learning whatever you can about music in general, classical and jazz theory. To learn harmony, rhythm, form, etc. Listen to a lot of recordings and learn tunes from them, not from books. And do a lot of gigs!

AAJ: Do your students have to audition to get into your jazz workshop at Stanford or is admission based upon a panel’s decision or submissions, such as demos, recordings, etc?

DD: They audition by tape. The first 100 are accepted automatically, then the rest are listened to by a panel.

AAJ: What are you doing to support the CD, ANOTHER WORLD, i.e., touring, regional concerts, etc?

DD: I've got concerts at "The Stanford Jazz Festival" on Thursday, July 29, 1999 in Campbell Recital Hall . The show starts at 7:30 p.m.. "The San Jose Jazz Festival" on Saturday., August. 14, 1999. Show begins at 12 noon on the Post St. stage. "The Southhold Jazz Series" (Southhold, Long Island, NY) on Sunday, September 5, 1999. That show starts at 6:00 p.m. and I have a show at "The Metronome" in New York City, New York. It’s located at 21st and Broadway on Friday and Saturday, September 10 & 11, 1999. The shows start at 7:30 p.m. My webpage http://www.jazzcorner.com includes my updated itinerary.

AAJ: We thank you Dena for talking to us at ALL ABOUT JAZZ.COM. Congratulations on ANOTHER WORLD and we wish you amazing success. Don’t forget to post your information in the ARTIST PROFILE SECTION so that your many new friends and fans can keep in touch.

DD: Thanks again for wanting to do this and let me know if you’re ever able to make one of my gigs, I'll put you on my guest list.

AAJ: Thanks, Dena. I shall and I know the way to San Jose!!!

Dena DeRose has a sound that gets directly to the point. As a professional songwriter, pianist, vocalist and arranger, she has the full gamut of musical skills necessary to build and sustain a jazz career. On ANOTHER WORLD, she delivers both as a singer and instrumentalist. In the words of the noted musician Nat Adderly, “she is a vocalist par excellence and a fine pianist, arranger and composer who accompanies herself beautifully. In the tradition of the great singers, she phrases without sacrificing lyric understanding for either vocal or stylistic manipulation.” Check her out. Dena DeRose’s innate sense of swing, beautiful voice and piano prowess invite you to ANOTHER WORLD.

Website: www.denaderose.com.