René Marie: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
July 27, 2016 by PATRICK JARENWATTANANON The Colorado River better known for running through majestic National Parks and powering hydroelectric dams forms an unlikely backdrop for the creation of a jazz song. But René Marie was answering phones at Denver s jazz radio station KUVO when she sat down across from a fellow volunteer fundraiser. He would soon invite her on a canoeing trip and, without yet having seen the eponymous river, she wrote the giddy Colorado River Song on the way there. René Marie s is the sort of voice which first comes to mind when someone asks for a jazz singer big and expressive, at home in classic swinging settings and comfortable in crowds. There s plenty to set her apart, though. She made her first recording in her early 40s, so she s a late bloomer by any standard. Her tastes admit many influences, and she s got a penchant for original songwriting, especially where social justice intersects with personal biography. Her folky storysong This Is (Not) A Protest Song addre
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