Becky Fox's High 5

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

High 5

Becky Fox may only be 24 years old, but when she sings it’s as if she’s channelling the emotion and perception of a whole lifetime.

She has one of those voices that sends tingles down your spine: it is pure, exquisite and such a sheer joy to listen to that you can’t help but crave more.

And her ability to take a song and draw out the layers of emotion and meaning within it is a rare gift — one that Becky values and cultivates.

“I regard myself primarily as an interpreter of songs,” Becky said. “There is so much extraordinary music out there, and the thrill for me is in taking that and making it my own.

“Over the past few years, I’ve learnt that my real strength lies in arranging and recreating a song so that it both reflects my own style and personality, and becomes accessible to a whole new audience.”

Becky has just released her second album, Allure, on ABC Music’s Jazz label. It is in fact her first solo outing: her debut recording, Music for a While, was a collaborative effort with one of Australia’s leading young classical guitarists, Leonard Grigoryan.

Becky discovered her remarkable vocal talents in the early years of secondary school, when she began taking singing lessons in order to appear in her high school musical. She quickly realised she wanted to take singing seriously, and enrolled in the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) Secondary School, where she was able to develop both her vocal and performance skills.

She has since gone on to graduate with a Bachelor of Music Performance from the VCA, majoring in Classical Voice.

Despite her classical training, however, Becky resists being pigeonholed as a classical performer. She believes that music is about expressing emotions, and connecting with audiences, and thus transcends boundaries of genre and style.

“My musical directions at the moment are more in the areas of jazz and contemporary music, but that doesn’t mean I’m a jazz singer either,” Becky said.

“My musical training has enabled me to create a complex, multi-layered sound that is influenced by everything from folk and jazz to Latin American influences.”

One powerful influence is French music, particularly the Gallic torch songs performed by artists like Edith Piaf and Nina Simone. She spent some time in France honing her language skills, and says she has a real passion for interpreting and performing songs in French.

But Becky is not only talented: she is determined to take her music as far and wide as possible. She recorded and financed her first album independently, doing the rounds of bookshops and music shops to sell it, until the album was snapped up by ABC Music and re-released. The incredibly positive reaction from both broadcasters and the listening public to its sublime sounds and style led to the release of Allure.

Becky is now poised to take her career to a whole new level, with the fresh, powerful and enormously appealing sounds of her new album to pave the way.

Ultimately she says she’d love to take her music on to the international stage, and there is no doubt that the sheer class and style of Allure, and Becky’s own talents as a performer and an arranger and interpreter of great music will ensure that happens in a very short time.

1. JAMIE CULLUM – The Palais, Melbourne 2005

Jamie is such a phenomenal performer/entertainer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, interpreter, vocalist and overall instrumentalist with an energy that is second to none. He is unique, engaging, and a non-conformist to jazz or pop stereotypes. At The Palais he took his performance to a new level with the song Photograph and then again held the audience in the palm of his hand when he came down into the audience to sing Nature Boy with double bass accompaniment.

2. SUMI JO – Hamer Hall, Melbourne 2003

The Korean soprano Sumo Jo has the most mind-blowingly flexible voice that I’ve ever heard. It is un-human to sing the way she does. Her voice is a light coloratura that is pretty but still has depth. She only performed with David McSkimming on piano, and was so engaging and awe-inspiring, she effortlessly captured her audience. The French repertoire is her strength due to her extensive study in Paris, where in Hamer Hall it sounded so divine that it sparked my interest in the French repertoire for classical voice. My personal favourite by Sumi Jo (which every time I listen gives me shivers down my spine) was Depuis le jour où je me suis donnée from the opera Louise by Gustave Charpentier.

3. FHGR – Bennett’s Lane Melbourne 2006

This group usually has four of my favourite musicians performing. Farrugia, Howard, Grigoryan and Robertson, but this night, they also featured Ben Edgar on guitar, who supported the group perfectly with his jazz/pop style of playing. It was a very intimate setting with a handful of people in the room, but the atmosphere was electric from the virtuosic, yet beautiful playing from all the members. Luke Howard the pianist/keyboardist, in particular seemed to take exciting risks with ambitious enthusiasm, while at other times, he played sparingly and so delicately you dare not breathe. My favourite aspects about this group of musicians is their sensibility towards jazz in making it accessible, while still retaining beautiful control over the improvised arrangements with incredible lyricism, much like that of Pat Metheny.

4. GEORGE BENSON & AL JARREAU – The Palais, Melbourne 2007

These two iconic jazz/pop artists are some of the most major influences behind my latest album Allure. Their melodic writing and technical mastery are inspirational to the way I re-arrange old French repertoire, and seeing this live combined with their impressive stage craft just commanded my attention. They performed old classics like Affirmation to the re-worked 1976 hit Breezin’, with added Al Jarreau lyrics. Although I would have loved to witness some of the Absolute Benson album as well as Al Jarreau’s All I Got, I was continually impressed by the live arrangements from the Givin’ It Up album, which featured Benson and Jarreau together. One of the highlights was Benson under the spotlight performing a 10-minute guitar/vocal scat solo with a great front of house sound, reaching the depths of the theatre. The intensity and excitement of the night led to a standing ovation.

5. THE POLICE – Melbourne Cricket Ground 2008

What can I say about Sting and The Police? My common phrase: ‘Sting is the man’ is not used lightly. After reading his autobiography, Broken Music and re-working many of his tunes into my own style, I only ever return to the opinion of respect, admiration and appreciation for Gordon Sumner (a.k.a Sting) who really is ‘The Man’. I have studied countless Police recordings and concerts on DVD. Everything he touches is magic therefore (even though I’m actually still impatiently waiting to see him live), I can only assume, that this will be one of my ‘Top 5’ all-time favourite gigs.