Q+A with NYC singer Corinne on her upcoming City Winery show, new album, and singing in French
Singer and NYC based artist Corinne will bring her excellent blend of bossa nova rhythms and timeless original pop to City Winery on Wednesday, May 20th. The night will showcase her new LP Stories in Pink, which has sultry vocals, jazz melodies and pop hooks—all set to a NYC backdrop.
Over a phone interview, I talked with Corinne about her upcoming City Winery show, new album, and singing in French.
Band members: Corinne (singer), Patrick Kerssen (piano, organ), Kellen Pisani (guitar), John Valinote (bass), and Dan Gonzolez (drums/percussion).
Playing in NYC
Josh: What’s it like playing shows in New York City?
Corinne: Playing shows in New York City is very exciting. It’s wonderful, but, you know, it’s very challenging at times too. I’m always left feeling inspired. That’s what New York City will do to you. There’s no other place like it in the world.
Josh: Your jazz style sounds like New York City in the best way.
C: Thanks, yeah that was our intent. We wanted to bring that timeless New York vibe to the record.
City Winery Show
Josh: What can fans expect at your City Winery show?
C: So the show is called Stories in Pink, which is the name of my concept album. It’s about the ups and downs of love and romance. I’ll be with my full band, and we’re gonna perform songs from the album. The music is cinematic, timeless, and unapologetically romantic. There’s lots of bossa infused rhythms and lush ballads, classic 60s and 70s vibes. And there’s a few iconic songs in the show as well. We’re working with City Winery to have a signature cocktail named after my song “Tickled Pink.”
Josh: That will be really cool.
C: Yeah, we’re also asking the audience to wear pink because why not? I love to see the room filled with all the different shades of pink. It’s my thing.
Josh: Ever want to go on tour?
C: That’s in the works.
New Album
Josh: Congrats on your album Stories in Pink.
C: Thank you so much.
Josh: You’ve released three jazz albums. What made you wanna go pop?
C: Yeah, I wanted to reach a broader audience, and I’m also very passionate about bending genres, so, fusing elements of jazz, pop, bossa nova helped me tell my story. I was honestly treading water among thousands of jazz singers. I love the Great American Songbook, you know, those jazz standards, but I’m more driven to create something new that the world has never heard.
Josh: The album sounds like a night in New York City. It makes me wanna go there.
C: (laughs) I’m so glad you think so.
Original Songs
Josh: What was it like recording?
C: The vocal parts weren’t a picnic, let’s just say being in the vocal booth and capturing every nuance, telling the story and singing these new songs for the world to hear, put an immense amount of pressure on me. So it became very intense at times. Taking breaks was necessary. Walking it off. There were a lot of tears and joy.
Josh: Trials and tribulations.
C: Yes. And there were endless takes because I’m just so much of a perfectionist. So, it was a process, but in the end, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m excited to get back in there to record new material.
Josh: Funny how that works. You wanna get back in.
C: Yes, I can’t stay away too long.
Josh: What was the inspiration behind “Scrambled Eggs For Two”?
C: Eric Todd, my producer and the songwriter of “Scrambled Eggs For Two” and actually all the original songs on the album, literally woke up with the song in his head. It was in his dream. So he immediately wrote it down and said, ‘hey, I think I’ve got a winner here.’ And he sent it my way—I loved it. But because it sounded so familiar to us, we then painstakingly searched for a similar song. We were like ‘this has to exist somewhere.’
Josh: (haha) Like, this has to be a song that already exists.
C: (laughs) Yeah, right. We spent a whole week doing that.
Josh: That would have been such a bummer if you would have found it.
C: Yeah, but apparently the song’s big in Japan. McDonald’s is playing that song all over the country. Jazz pop is big in Japan.
Josh: That’s amazing! Congratulations. Just book the tour now.
C: (laughs) Yes, exactly.
Josh: Do you play “I Can’t Believe My Eyes” live?
C: Yeah, that’s one of my favorites. I absolutely love singing it. We do that live and it sounds great.
Singing in French
Josh: “Tickled Pink” is a standout track. Is there French in there?
C: There is. If you listen closely, we included many French phrases in most songs on the album to maintain the common theme and elevate the romantic Parisian vibes.
Josh: There’s a lot of layers here. It’s an entire new level of songwriting with rhyming in French.
C: (laughs) You know, in “Fa La La,” we have voulez vous, and that rhymes with you.
Josh: It could be played around Christmas.
C: I had a Christmas album. “Fa La La” is a naughty, swampy New Orleans holiday jam. I have a Christmas show as well, so that’s included in there.
Josh: “Once Upon a Time in Central Park” is quintessential New York City.
C: Being in New York is always inspiring. Eric wrote it and captured all the sights and sounds and romantic feelings that old New York evokes. Whenever I sing it, I immediately think of Central Park, like on the Upper West Side during springtime right now. Yeah, there’s so many memorable moments in that neighborhood. All of my favorite haunts in Manhattan.
Tickets to see Corinne at City Winery are available now. You can listen to her new album, Stories in Pink, on streaming platforms and follow her latest updates on Instagram.
Check out last month’s band of the month here!
This content was provided by a local, independent contributor to Made in PGH, a lifestyle blog.
