Vocalist Trudi Diening and pianist Miles Black make a great team. They will be demonstrating their blend in a concert, Acoustically Sound, at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons on Saturday, Aug. 19. About ten years ago when Diening was singing at a concert on the Coast organized by Nikki Weber, she was introduced to Black.
“I was so taken with the meeting,” she said, “that I got up the gumption to ask him if we could do a show together.” He agreed but only if she wrote an original song to perform.
“But I’m not a songwriter,” she replied.
“Well, that’s the deal,” he said. Diening was pushed to produce a completely original song and she found that she enjoyed the experience.
Audiences of a decade ago were accustomed to hearing her perform with her rich, dark voice in a variety of venues, and they bought her CD, One With You. Then she departed for China in 2009 to teach English, run a school and occasionally sing at Chinese jazz festivals. After another two years of employment as an educational director in Vancouver, she returned to the Coast.
The best news is that she is still singing. Saturday’s concert will feature covers of songs that influenced her as a younger woman.
“There’s some Carly Simon, Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine, Joni Mitchell – ‘60s and ‘70s music.” For this concert Black’s voice will be featured, with Diening now pushing him to sing and play guitar, coffee house style.
The show is presented by the Coast’s Jazz and Entertainment Society on Aug. 19 at 8 p.m. and tickets for $20 are available from WOW Gallery, MELOmania, Strait Music and online at share-there.com.
