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Anita Eccleston
Vocalist and trumpet player Anita Eccleston writes music deeply influenced by jazz – catchy songs that resonate.
While Vancouver based trumpet player and vocalist Anita Eccleston has been dazzling jazz audiences for a long time, in recent years her chops have been honed as a music producer of lofi dream jazz.
“I needed to do something different and I didn’t realize how much I would love creating these new songs from the beats up as a producer. The “Gala” projects have taken on so much life and given me such a liberated feeling.”
Wielding her horn as her primary voice of expression, Anita builds ambient electronic beats overlaid with jazz chords, the palette on which she paints her instrumental polyphony. Vinyl horn lines trade off with haunting lofi electric ukuleles and pianos weave their refrains through synths and organs while she wraps the compositions with layers of velvety vocal pads.
Her latest release “Winter Gala” is a nostalgic reinvention of traditional winter-time songs. They are jigsaws pulled apart and remade with fragments of age-old melodies intertwined with counterpoint, memorable beats and bass grooves, all adorned with bells - like tinsel on the tree.
Anita’s lead single “Magi” begins starkly with haunting rhythmic voices leading to a driving snare drum. Expressive trumpets proclaim a vision of hope amidst dreamy layers of lofi electric ukulele and rich choral pads. Midway, a lonely wavering synth magically playing the refrain ‘field and fountain, moor and mountain’ feels like being in the desert at night following that yonder star, brighter than the rest. Inspired by “We Three Kings”, “Magi” is a journey song about believing in a dream and following through to find it realized.
The second single “Jingle”, is a laid-back cheerful song that sounds like the magic of the first snowfall of winter. The lights are up and there is nostalgia for years past and hope for this year. It captures the warmth of thinking fondly of your loved ones as you go about the city in wonder of the hyper communal atmosphere.
Dropping the third single with the album, Shchedryk (pronounced: Sh-che-drik) is an upbeat banger infused with hip-hop funk beats and greasy muted trumpets. A descending upright bass ostinato gives it the feel of a noir detective novel and black fedoras. A subtle nod to the Ukrainian new year’s song known better as “Carol of the Bells” it has buoyant energy and intensity.
Awards
Jacob Befurt Memorial Jazz Award (2000)
City of Kamloops Mayor's Award for Emerging Artist Nominee (2013)
Best Local Release 2014 "So It Goes" - Jim Dupuis (CFBX) (!Earshot Magazine)
Best Local Release 2016 "More Trumpet" - Jim Dupuis (CFBX) (!Earshot Magazine)
Tags
SONG REVIEW: "Eccleston enamors with a sound that beautifully balances lo-fi quaintness with expansive brass-laden effervescence." - Nov. 29, 2022 Anita Eccleston - Golden Hour (Mike Mineo, Obscure Sound) Downloadable PDF
SONG REVIEW: "It is as if the sounds of Chet Baker himself are being revived in a modern creative initiative. Fortunately, Anita Eccleston is an excellent musician, she arranges her sounds so that they appear in time and disappear succinctly in the bosom of an atmospheric, almost transparent accompaniment." - Nov. 14, 2022 Anita Eccleston - Golden Hour (Indie Dock Music Blog) Downloadable PDF
Primary Instrument
Trumpet
Location
Vancouver
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Credentials/Background
Teaching Privately for 15 years. Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance - Trumpet Clinician School District 73 & 39 Contact for specific availabilities.
Clinic/Workshop Information
Jazz Band coaching Beginner to Advanced group training