Larra's official website: www.larraskye.com
'The World Disappears' is currently the NUMBER 9 bestselling jazz release for 2006 at HMV Canada (based on sales up to Aug. 1, 2006).
Larra's album recently debuted at Number 1 on Toronto's CIUT 89.5 FM in February 2006. It has also charted in the Top 10 Jazz albums on several campus stations in Canada.
********
BIO
In December 2005, Larra released her debut album 'The World Disappears' at the famed Montreal Bistro in Toronto to a sold-out crowd. Since then, her original compositions have been receiving airplay from national campus stations, jazz stations and the CBC (including Jurgen Gothe's DiscDrive). In June, HMV took The World Disappears nationwide, and currently the album is the Number 9 jazz release of 2006 for the music retailer.
At 23, Larra has performed with some of the best in Toronto's music scene - including Dave Restivo, Jim Vivian, Perry White, Anthony Michelli, Barry Romberg and Rich Brown. She continues to write music and is currently studying privately with Lisa Martinelli.
Growing up in Newmarket, Ontario, Larra learned to play guitar from the books at her parents' bookstore. Music was in the family; sister Rosanne Baker Thornley's 1993 album, Courage, was distributed by Sony Music. By 13, Larra was singing in a professional children's choir and performing her original material regularly at a local coffeehouse.
In high school, Larra played trombone in a variety of jazz ensembles and concert bands, and fronted the six-piece folk-rock outfit Mars Violet that played the 2002 Women's Voices Festival in Ottawa. In addition to providing experience as a band leader, Mars Violet was also Larra's showcase for her own original songs in French and English.
In 2002-03, Larra studied at Ryerson University's journalism school. A Canada Day backyard jam that summer led to a collaboration with songwriter/producer Gerard P. Finn (Damhnait Doyle, EMI). Several months later, their songwriting and recording partnership flourishing, Larra decided to take a one-year leave from her studies, move to Hamilton and work with Gerard.
They returned to Toronto in 2005 to complete the The World Disappears, whose other co-writers include Eric Boucher, Adrean Farrugia, and Mladen Solaja. Recorded at Reaction Studios in 2005, it features some of the most respected and sought-after jazz musicians in Canada, including: pianists Farrugia and Boucher, drummer Kevin Brow, bassist Jim Vivian, trumpeter Kevin Turcotte, saxophonist Bob Brough, and guitarists Geoff Young and Matt Stevens.
The album is currently available through Larra's independent label, AudioMaiden Music.
".. confident and versatile. The album is a great jazz vocal performance." - The Vancouver View, August 2006
"Larra Skye is a lovely, unique blend of a poetic folk-singer's mind and a dynamic jazz-singer's soul." - Andy Frank, Producer and Host of ITS (A)LIVE, CIUT 89.5 FM
"Larra Skye's 'The World Disappears' is an enchanting kick start to what could be a great career." - Tien Providence, CKLN 88.1 FM
"an inventive charmer of a jazz stylist. Not quite a chanteuse, not quite a torch singer, she creates a new category for herself with impressive songwriting and a voice that's like a whisper in your ear." - David Hayes, freelance journalist and writer of magazine features on Diana Krall and Michael Bublé
"Sharp winds of a Canadian winter begin to blow... it's nasty out there but look at this... I've found a new bud, fresh, open and revealing just enough magic to indicate that a grand and colourful explosion is forthcoming... Larra's CD is her first statement and signature, and there's no question... it's her stuff and style" - Reiner Schwarz, JazzFM 91.1 FM
"It swings from the first note. Beautifully performed, recorded and mixed. Consummate musical conversations throughout with sultry, smoky and evocative vocal delivery sealing the deal." - Chicago musician, Don Conoscenti, currently on tour with Rounder Records artist Ellis Paul
Read more...