We were lucky to catch up with Janet Evra recently and have shared our conversation below.
Janet, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
My most recent record, “Meet Me in Paris”, was a super meaningful project!
I’ve always loved Parisian culture – growing up in England I went to France several times on holiday, and I always enjoyed the food, the music, the fashion, the vibe… For years I’ve performed French jazz and French songbook music as part of my jazz repertoire, and when I’d tour I’d get a lot of requests from fans asking to buy a record of the French jazz music…. so finally I decided to make that record! You gotta give the people what they want! I recorded “Meet Me in Paris” in a great St. Louis recording studio, Midtown Sound House, with a great group of St. Louis musicians: Ryan Marquez on piano and keyboards, Will Buchanan on guitar, and Matt McKeever on sax and flute. I also brought in a friend from Finland, Tomi Kamarainen, to be the drummer for the project. It was an amazing week: we rehearsed on the Monday, recorded in the studio on the Tuesday and Wednesday, performed the music live on the KDHX radio station on the Thursday, and then performed the music at two shows at Jazz St. Louis on the Friday and Saturday. Those shows were both sellouts, and we had a ball.
I released “Meet Me in Paris” in October 2023, and it was named “Album of the Week” by JAZZIZ Magazine, one of the big jazz magazines. I also got a delightful feature story in the Riverfront Times. That’s nice!
I have such happy memories from that whole experience, and I have so much gratitude for the St. Louis music community and infrastructure for making that week possible – the great musicians, the studios, the radio station, the jazz club… everywhere I turned there were people ready to help and support the project.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m a jazz vocalist, bassist, and bandleader. I’m from England, but I moved to St. Louis six years ago for love and now I love it here. The music scene is great, the food is great, people are friendly, it’s lovely!
I tour around the world as a jazz musician, and I’ve been fortunate to get to collaborate with some of the biggest names in jazz, including GRAMMY-winning musicians Randy Brecker, Taylor Eigsti, Roy Wooten, Bob Reynolds, Jeff Coffin, and others. I’m a Plum Jazz Records artist.
The jazz community here in St. Louis is great. We have so many world-class musicians here, but the scene is very collegial and friendly. We have fabulous venues – Jazz St. Louis, The Sheldon, Blue Strawberry, The Dark Room, Evangeline’s, and many others – that showcase jazz. And we have a fabulous infrastructure – the Kranzberg Arts Foundation and the Regional Arts Commission do a lot for musicians here, and we get nice support from local press. This community makes it easy for me to be successful here and then “take my show on the road” and play jazz clubs in Europe and jazz festivals in NY, that sort of thing.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The best way to support and artist is to SUPPORT AN ARTIST! Go to shows. Buy vinyl records or CDs or download the music. Comment and say nice things on social media. I have some “super fans” who do these things to support me, and I’m really grateful for that support.
It is so easy these days to stay home on Saturday night and just stream a show on Netflix and order DoorDash. But life and art are happening here every Saturday, and most other nights of the week – go out and experience it! I go out to see other artists regularly, and I’m *always* glad I did.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I learn a lot from talking to other artists. More than any book or blog or podcast, I recommend talking to other artists who are on a similar journey.
Having said that, VLAA, Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts, are great. They do free workshops for artists on important topics like music publishing or sync licensing, and they provide “artist resource packs” that include things like sample performance agreements and recording contracts. If you’re a St. Louis artist, definitely connect with VLAA.
Contact Info:
- Website: janetevra.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janetevra/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JanetEvraMusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFd-y3bFxMXoHkHeTp59rAA
- Other: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Evra
Image Credits
Courtesy of Janet Evra