Emilie-Claire Barlow
March 31st 2023
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What is a Spark Bird? It's the bird that changes everything. It's the bird that inspires an ongoing curiosity and passion for these magical creatures. And in Emilie-Claire's case, the birds that helped changed the course of her life, and also inspired her to make a new album after five years (and a pandemic). Singles will be released every two weeks until the full release on March 31st.
Rolling out over the first quarter of the year and supported by a tour throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Emilie-Claire will also be adding US publicity firm DL Media Music to her team, which also includes Simon Fauteux at Six media marketing, new global booking representation with Vincent Beaulieu at Agence BAM, and worldwide digital distribution with Believe.
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On Spark Bird, each song has its own signature bird - with a special connection to the music.
Illustrated by graphic designer Caroline Brown - Whitebear Design.
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In her own words...
"Being musicians, it’s almost impossible for us not to hear rhythm and melody everywhere. Birds are nature’s musicians. We feel a kinship!
When that yellow winged cacique tapped on my window, I felt a spark. Not just a budding bird obsession, but the curiosity and desire to see what life would be like if I spent more time in this place that makes me feel so buoyant and full of wonder.
It’s been a while since I made a record...a few years since I felt the urge to pull a collection of songs together in this way. But the birds - a constant source of joy and inspiration - have reignited my spark. For that I’m full of gratefulness.” Emilie-Claire Barlow, on "Spark Bird"
Emilie-Claire Barlow: voice
Jon Maharaj: bass
Reg Schwager: guitar
Justin Abedin: guitar
Ben Riley: drums
Celso Alberti: percussion
Hannah Barstow: piano
Chris Donnelly: piano
Amanda Tosoff: piano
Kelly Jefferson: tenor sax
Rachel Therrien: flugelhorn
Drew Jurecka: violin, viola
Lydia Munchinsky: cello
Bill McBirnie: flute
Mixed and mastered by Steve Webster
Produced by Steve Webster, Emilie-Claire Barlow
Full Track List:
Over the Rainbow
Fais comme l’oiseau
Skylark
Bird of Beauty
O
Where Will I Be?
Little Jazz Bird
Pajaros de Barro
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Bio:
Emilie-Claire Barlow is an award winning and critically acclaimed Canadian jazz singer, arranger, record producer and voice actress. A two time Juno Award winner and 6 time nominee, she has released 12 self-produced albums on her own label, Empress Music Group.
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Her performing career spans over 24 years in venues ranging from Toronto’s storied Montreal Bistro & Top of the Senator, to Tokyo’s Cotton Club and more recently concerts with symphony orchestras at Toronto’s Massey Hall and Montreal’s Maison Symphonique. She has performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival on seven occasions including a 2015 performance on the Main Stage with 50,000 people attending.
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Ms. Barlow has lead bands featuring the finest musician’s in Canada. Her work as a band leader and producer has been recognized with a Juno Award nomination for “Producer of Year” for her recording “Clear Day” (2015) — notable for being only the 2nd Jazz recording nominated in this category. Ms. Barlow is also one of very few women to be honoured as “Producer of the Year”.
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Ms. Barlow’s all French recording “Seule ce soir” won a Juno and Felix Award in 2013 representing a major achievement in Canadian bilingualism.
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After releasing her second holiday album Lumières d'hiver in 2017, Emilie-Claire turned her attention to her duo project with Steve Webster, Bocana. Bocana has released 8 singles over the last couple of years in the electro-pop, lounge, world music genres, amassing a healthy following on streaming platforms. ECB has also released a collection of James Taylor covers as part of her JT Project.
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Up next is her 13th full album "Spark Bird", due for release on March 31st, accompanied by a tour throughout 2023/24.
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You can order the physical CD here.
Key Points Spotify:
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over 168M total streams on Spotify
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27 songs with 1M plays +
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80K Spotify followers
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Target playlists : Women in Jazz, French Jazz Cafe, Easy Jazz, Sweet Jazz, Jazz Relax, Bossa Chill, Jazzy Romance, Summer Breeze, Jazz Pop, Vocal Jazz Standards, Vocal Jazz, Jazz With Strings (Skylark, O)
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Key Points Pandora:
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178M total streams
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60K Artist Station Adds
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Heavily weighted toward algorithmic programming (60-80%)
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Dinner Jazz, Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, French Cooking Jazz, Standards Vocal Jazz, French Cafe, Pink Martini
Key Points Apple:
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11.2 M total streams on Apple Music and 41K song purchases on iTunes
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Looking to grow editorial playlist placement
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Looking to grow audience outside of US
Key Points Amazon:
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5.7M total streams on Amazon Music with largest audience in US
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Looking to grow editorial playlist placement - currently featured in Parisian Café, Queens of Jazz, Bubbles and Blue Notes, Romantic Jazz
Data:
> Steadily rising and currently at approximately 150K streams per day across major platforms plus 50K more on Pandora
> Largest audience is in US. See Top 10 below (last 28 days streams)
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