"Emilie Conway's voice is a clear, calming and beautiful thing. Her honesty shines through each song that she interprets, forging a deep connection with the listener.'
- Alan Meaney Athlone Communcity Radio: From Major To Minor
Debut Album: The Secret of a Rose
The repertoire for this album developed out of my personal response to the climate of negativity over the past few years. Life has taught me, well keeps teaching me, that there is always hope, and there is beauty, that this is a beautiful life we have here - where there are dark shadows, there is also light. For me, these songs are about affirmation and acceptance because ....
"Beneath the deepest snows, the secret of a rose,
Is merely that it knows, you must believe in spring!”
You Must Believe in Spring, Legrand / Bergman
Emilie Conway (Voice), Johnny Taylor (Piano), Dave Fleming (Double Bass), Dominic Mullan (Drums)
Photography, Richard Bonert
Recorded 13th, 14th November 2009, 5th March 2010, & September 15th 2011 by Dave McCune at The Ventry, Recording Studios Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.
Mixed by Dave McCune. Mastered by Bob Katz, Digital Domain Florida
Produced by Emilie Conway & Dave McCune | Additional Production by Melanie Bong
"I recently had the pleasure of been entertained to a really good evening of jazz on the launch of Emilie Conway's new CD The Secret of a Rose. The Emile Conway Jazz Quartet, with Emilie, voice, Johnny Taylor. piano, Dave Fleming, double bass and Dominic Mullan, drums were first class and played a lovely mix of standards and some new composition all of which can be found on the CD. A standing ovation at the end of the show was only what this Singer and trio deserved. I look forward to hearing them very soon again" - Review of Concert at Ballina Arts Centre by Tommy Murphy, Midwest Radio, MWR FM
"Emilie Conway has a beautifully positive approach to delivering her music and her presence, not to mention her beautiful voice. It is performers like Emilie Conway that lift the spirits of people and give them hope and a renewed approach to realise "Spring" is always in the air."
- Tommy Morahan WestCoastFm
"Emilie Conway, a Dublin born jazz singer whose stage debut was an impromptu session with Jon Hendricks and Kurt Elling in a Chicago club in 1999, is possessed of a set of air freshner tones and uses them to very adroit affect on this collection of jazz standards (everything from Michel Legrand to Cole Porter with one original thrown in). But she's not the only performer to impress - pianist Johnny Taylor also plays a blinder. Yet another re-invention of the jazz wheel it maybe, but it's still a beguiling and balmy listen." * * * *
- The Sunday Business Post, Album Reviews, Jonathan O'Brien, March 18
"The Secret of a Rose is a jazz singer’s album in the classic style. Emilie Conway's unaffected, slightly breathy voice has an authentic quality which renders songs believable, and with a consummately professional job from bassist Dave Fleming and drummer Dominic Mullan (and some moments of magic from Taylor) dusty chestnuts such as Time After Time, So in Love and It Might as Well Be Spring come up smelling of roses"
- The Irish Times, Cormac Larkin, March 30
"THIS young Irish singer combines a love of melody with a feeling for the nuances of lyrics. Her diction is spot-on at every tempo. She has the kind of straight-ahead style that appeals not only to jazz fans but also to a more mainstream audience. Her musicians are second to none when it comes to sensitive backing."
-The Sunday Independent, Grainne Farren, April 7
"Emilie has a warmth in her voice which can only be enhanced by the thoughtful musicianship employed throughout her debut album "The Secret of a Rose." This quartet have been working together for a number of years - and it shows. There is a listening comfort in knowing that the track selection and arrangements have been carefully worked out over an extended period. Johnny Taylor is a young pianist with great style and timing which is a fulcrum around which Dave Fleming ( double bass ) and Dominic Mullen on drums deliver of their best.
The season of spring is a dominant theme in proceedings which suggests to this listener that more musical goodies are in the offing and I am confident that as she goes into the summer her following on release will benefit enormously from this recording debut!"
-Album Review by Sean Brophy, Jazzorama, Dublin City FM 103.2 and Jazz Spec, Dublin South FM, 93.9
"Unabashed in its affection for classic, cocktail anthems, the record will appeal to anyone wanting to indulge their inner lounge lizard. Star of the show is Conway’s voice."
- Edwin McFee, Hot Press, May, 17 2012
Dear World: Emilie Conway Sings Alec Wilder
The repertoire for this album developed out of a project in partnership with Allen Smith, Jazz on the Terrace and supported by The Arts Council to explore and present the music of Alec Wilder culminating in a nationwide tour. My pianist and musical director, Johnny Taylor and I researched, selected and arranged our favourites from Wilder's rarely heard and rarely recorded work. People tend to know "i'll Be Around,' which became a jazz standard, and is on my debut album, but most of his tunes have remained in relative obscurity. We are very excited about what we've come up with. We hope you like it too!
"I am concerned with the miracle of life in all its incredible forms. I'll stop for a spider, a bird, a tree, a flower, a child, a book, a storm, a sound, a scent, a smile. I'll blow bubbles, watch bobble birds, read a dictionary, listen to a sad tale, make up a puzzle, row a boat." - Alec Wilder
”The light, the darkness,
Heartful and heartless,
To fear the mystery, to find the beauty,
To Love.” - Emilie Conway
Emilie Conway - voice, Johnny Taylor - piano, Damian Evans - double bass, Brendan Doyle - saxophones/clarinet, Dominic Mullan - drums.
Recorded at Ventry Recording by Dave McCune, Produced by Emilie Conway & Dave McCune, Mastered by Bob Katz at Digital Domain, Florida
Photography: Monika Chmielarz. Album Artwork: Dee Gavin
Special thanks to Rob Geller and Friends of Alec Wilder Newsletter, 3237A 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA
Special thanks also to Judy Bell at TROEssex Music Group for all her important help sourcing Wilder’s scores.
Album Reviews
Dublin singer Emilie Conway’s second album is a thoughtful collection of songs by the great eccentric of American songwriting, Alec Wilder. Wilder’s compositions – Crazy of the Heart, The Wrong Blues, Who Can I Turn To? – may not be the best known of the songbook canon but amongst the cognoscenti he is treasured as one of the true originals of the 1940s and 1950s, with admirers as diverse as Frank Sinatra and Dave Liebman recording tributes to his name.
Conway’s precise, unmannered delivery – which would not have been out of place in Wilder’s day – pays due respect to the material, and a top-notch group, including pianist Johnny Taylorand saxophonist Brendan Doyle, provides the required sensitive support. emilieconway.ie
- The Irish Times, Cormac Larkin, June 3, 2016
“A much happening young singer, whose making waves all around the place!” - Donal Helme, RTE Radio Jazz Alley
“A terrific document to Alec.” Friends of Alec Wilder Newsletter
