Album Notes

Ellen Vanderslice writes songs like they don't write anymore, and then she writes songs like nobody wrote before. In her day gig, she's an architect and an internationally-known advocate for pedestrian rights, but her songwriting chops just keep growing. With co-composer Mike Horsfall, she won First Prize Jazz in the 2002 USA Songwriting Competition for "Moonshadow Dance," and since 1999 she's won first place four times in the Blues/Jazz/R&B category of the Portland Songwriters Association National Song Contest.

"Don't Look Before You Sing" is Ellen's fifth compact disc release, an eclectic compilation with divergent overtones, from western swing to a "chanson triste" that takes you straight to the boulevards of Paris. It includes the popular novelty tango, "The Probability of Love," and veers off into a poetic experiment with techno house electronica.

The new CD features some of Portland, Oregon's, finest jazz musicians. Rebecca Kilgore, Tom Grant, Marilyn Keller and Amandah Jantzen each take a turn at the mic, accompanied by the likes of Phil Baker, Dan Balmer, Mike Horsfall, Paul Mazzio, George Mitchell, Tony Pacini, Ron Steen, Lee Wuthenow and a score of other talented players. Fans of Kilgore will find she headlines on four tracks, including "Après L'Amour," which won best song in the Blues/Jazz/R&B category of the Portland Songwriters Association 2003 International Song Contest.