«I am inspired by women who overcame the taboos and stereotypes of their time. Jenny Fano was a great singer with a very contradictory personality. “This contradiction, this absolute confidence on stage, and then this terrible insecurity in the rest of her life, is something that is very interesting to me.”Tell us Fotini Dara Shortly before she will be entertained again on the stage of the “Half Note Jazz Club”, where she will perform “The Jazz Side of Tzeni Vanou & more”.
The singer has deeply studied the artistic life of Ginnis Fano, while the first time she sang her songs, the record quickly went platinum. This year marks 10 years since the death of the important artist -He was martyred on 2/5/2014- Her musical legacy has not been forgotten, and Fotini Dara is here to remind us that Jenny Fano was not just a famous singer, but a performer with a special timbre in her voice and a repertoire that transcended the narrow confines of her era.
I'm back again with Jenny Fano's jazz version. What can we expect from you in Half Note and what feelings does this success create for you?
What we are experiencing this year at Half Note is amazing! The history of the place, the energy it has from all the great international artists passing through the years, the proximity to the audience, the natural lighting, and the authentic bar all add up to something irresistible to me. This year, the impact of the project with Fano's songs, as well as the era from the 60s to the 80s, is really special. Three decades full of true musical gems pass before us like a movie about our childhood and teenage years. My song “Love and Sin,” as I called it on the record I sang several years ago.
Love is a deep and eternal feeling that connects even different people with an invisible thread. From smallest to largest. Emotions that evoke popular feeling, even when we listen to a jazz version of Fano or Sinatra songs. These songs in the show are related to my own songs, ones that I have sung at corresponding stages of my life. I am telling a story, and through this story the history of modern Greece passes – let me say – in a more polished way than it has been recorded by art historians, because the instrument is music. Success for me is when people leave and smile, when people sing with me, when they want to come back again.
In our minds we have Jenny Fano as a folk singer. Why did you want to highlight her jazz side?
I love that side of her. next to, She started her career from jazz. She did not consider herself a popular singer. However, popularity – as it turns out – is a matter of emotion and connection with the listener rather than a matter of repertoire or vocal status. It's not the hoarseness that makes a sound popular. It is the truth contained in every sentence. This spoke to me from the first moment I heard it.
The jazz aspect, at the same time as it indicates quality, indicates freedom in musical expression, and the blue notes express the nuances of our feelings when we sing and that is why they are my favorite. I fell in love with this music when I was in London for my music studies. I went to jazz clubs when I could, to get some of that feeling that jazz players have. Then I learned that Fano had worked at a similar club in America in the 1960s. After that, I feel like she delivered all her songs with the quality of a jazz singer.
This isn't the first time she's tackled her music. What keeps you coming back to it?
At first, I was tested by the difficulty of the songs – both musically and expressively – that he sings. Then the lyrics were all about love and abandonment. They fit well with the stage of my life when I met her. She lived a turbulent life, with suicide attempts, violence, and many ups and downs in her career. She herself acted as if she did not understand the limitations of human existence, of the human voice.
All this forms a character like Edith Piaf or Nina Simone. But what excites me most is how people welcome this piece every time I sing it. It's interesting that today everyone goes back to the songs of the 60s, 70s and 80s. I think we need to live again the “dream time”.
She has declared you her successor. What does this legacy mean to you?
I'm very proud. I do not know what to say. I feel very good about it, and at the same time I know it The concept of re-implementation creates a strange sensation for the Greeks. I sing these songs because I love them and because I love traveling back to the time in which they were written. When the music was quiet and maybe our world was a little better.
I was born and become an artist every day. But from the moment you are born, every cell in your body works in this direction. We are beings who live on stage, when the lights turn on and the light illuminates the hidden secrets of our souls.
I understand that for you he is a role model. Are there other women who inspire you like her?
She was a great singer with a very contradictory personality. This contradiction, the absolute confidence on stage and then terrible insecurity in the rest of her life, is of great interest to me as a singer and as an actress.. I am inspired by all the women who dare to live their dream, who try to reconcile the rigors of everyday life with the transcendence of artistic life.
the slim Who overcame the taboos and stereotypes of their time and made a revolution to defend their choice. Those who overcome their limits and personal demons: Marie Curie, Edith Piaf, Mother Teresa, Florie D'Antonaki, Violeta Parra. But above all, I am inspired by the woman struggling to maintain herself in an aggressive and uncertain world.
When did you meet her in person and what do you keep from your relationship?
One day my phone rang and it was radio producer George Tsampras from the ERA. At that time he had a show where new singers performed songs of old singers. Choose both. He suggested that I sing Fano songs. That's when I first heard some of those words, especially from the early period when they were more vivid. We recorded a demo that created a sensation. We were asked to present this work on ERT TV and that is where I met her. She told me that I sing her songs well and that I should sing more of her songs. It was touching when she accepted me as a singer. it is my honor! We've got a good relationship. He would call me and always say something nice when he heard a new song of mine.
The relationship with her father was very difficult. In fact, he kicked her out of the house when he found out she was going to sing. How would you react if your daughter said something similar?
I know all too well what it means to not be allowed to pursue your dream, even because of prejudice and fear. When I told my father that I was taking an exam at drama school, he slammed his hand on the table and said harsh words to me. Now he doesn't even remember that scene and I remember it as if it were in a dream from another life. I think he did so out of fear of the uncertainty and cruelty he feared I would encounter in this field. He was right and wrong at the same time.
We endure and become strong when we cannot give up what we love. I was born and become an artist every day. But from the moment you are born, every cell in your body works in this direction. We are beings who live on stage, when the lights turn on and the light illuminates the hidden secrets of our souls. Then we feel free. I will be happy with whatever my daughter chooses as long as it makes her happy. I will stand by her. This is my mission.
The artist's relationship with the audience is very romantic. Every time I sing, at the start of a night, I feel like I'm living a new date. Just like on first dates, so on stage, when you try so hard to make things go well, everything goes wrong.
Jenny Fano did not hesitate to talk about the abuse she received from her husband, at a time when such a matter was unimaginable, indicating that she did not care “what people will say.” How do people's comments affect you?
They influenced me, they bothered me, but they didn't change my mind. I am persistent when I believe in something. I have a deep faith and this has saved me many times in my life. What matters to me is doing what I feel every time I feel how others feel too. I am primarily interested in my own opinion, then the opinion of people I love, those I admire, and finally the opinion of everyone who is not influenced by the dictates of fashion, fleeting success, and paid news.
How important is the artist's relationship with the audience? Is the love of the world and the attraction of his works the driving force?
The artist's relationship with the audience is very romantic. Every time I sing, at the start of a night, I feel like I'm living a new date. Just like on first dates, so on stage, when you try so hard to make things go well, everything goes wrong. The only way to turn a first date into a strong, meaningful relationship is to be yourself. If love is the driving force of the world? But what can love be but proof that we live? As Anagnostakis used to say: “As long as we are alive, we suffer.”
After your performance in “Half Note,” what can we expect?
Our demonstrations continue in other parts of Greece as well summer. A new song is coming too On the music of Christos Papadopoulos, a new sound for me, a surprising song with a very beautiful verse.
Photographer: Aspa Cholera
Information
TZENI VANOU'S JAZZ SIDE AND MORE
Friday 5 to Monday 8 April
Starts Friday and Saturday 22:30. Sunday and Monday 21:30
Half Note Jazz Club
17 Trebugnano, Metz | 210 9213310
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