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| Rosie Carlino Debuts on Jaijai Jackson's 'Woman of Jazz' Emerging jazz vocalist, Rosie Carlino, will debut a selection of vocal jazz arrangements by Richard Rome, as well as a 30-minute personal interview about her life and musical influences. She can be heard on the "Woman of Jazz" program on Wed. October 12. If you knew Rosie, you'd know that everything she does is filled with music; the way she walks and talks and goes about her everyday life is positively melodic. So it seems fitting to find that music was her nourishment from an early age. Her father, an old-time radio singer in Philadelphia, insisted that no family gathering was complete without a piano and song, and it seemed that her entire being was carefully being tuned to a life of music. Rosie took to it like a fish to water, effortlessly winning voice scholarships and matching the swing of her older brother's band note for note as she accompanied them at local Philadelphia clubs. Yet life stepped in and Rosie set aside her dreams of singing to pursue other areas of the arts. A consummate painter and wood-turner, Rosie is indeed a Renaissance woman, searching for truth and beauty in every aspect of her life. Friends will remember the day strange sounds began to emanate from the basement, and when investigated, turned out to be Rosie teaching herself to tap dance on an old board dragged from the barn. As at home in the saddle as she is in three inch heels, some of the best words to describe her include playful, spontaneous, and bright. "I've always wanted to see what else could touch me besides music, " Rosie reminisces. "Once I discovered I could do one thing, I realized there was nothing stopping me from doing a million more. If other people could learn to do it, I was confident that I could too." Yet Rosie's yearning for music still bubbled under the surface, channeling itself into every other aspect of her life. Her home was perpetually filled with the swell of the big band sound or the confident croons of Sinatra or Dean Martin. Her love for the arranged page of music appeared in the orchestrated rhythm of her day. Her children, much like herself, were raised on Gershwin tunes at bedtime, lulled to sleep by a talent too great to remain a secret for much longer. "I used the times when I raised my children to find other ways to express myself, " Rosie insists. "Yet in the end I knew that singing was what I wanted to do. Nothing moved me in the same way." Now with her children grown, Rosie realized that she wanted to do something about the song inside her. "I always felt that everyone had something bigger to say than humming to themselves in their garage or smiling through 'Happy Birthday' at parties. Music was that bigger voice for me, and I always knew I was meant to sing." Rosie began to sing again locally until eventually fate, in the guise of fortunate friends, led Rosie to Richard Rome. Richie is a Grammy-award winning producer and arranger, having composed music for "well, basically everyone in the industry, " Rosie laughs. Rome worked with the likes of Burt Bachrach, Carlos Santana, Buddy Rich, Dione Warwick, Simon and Garfunkel, Mike Douglas, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Vic Damone, Jane Olivor to name just a few. Carlino says of Rome "His genius in bringing out the voices in the strings is his crowning glory. His father was a tailor and he considers himself much the same. He snips and shapes the music, creating something instead of merely writing. It has never been Richie's motivation to be famous. He just wants to write music. Like me, he just wants to be heard." Richie heard something in Rosie's voice. "He found a richness in my voice and coaxed me to express the deeper, the unsaid, the sort of feelings that resonate in people long after the music has stopped. He writes his music and somehow it sings within me." Rosie and Richie began to collaborate on a short demo CD of the new sound they were developing together, but this work of love grew into something bigger. Rosie's gorgeous voice was braided in with the sweeping sounds of a full orchestra. You can listen to Rosie at the "Woman of Jazz" program on Wed. October 12 at 8 p.m. PST at www.xradio.biz (Las Vegas). write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |