Lisa Fischer, one of the subjects of Oscar-winning Twenty Feet From Stardom, joins a lineup of jazz musicians at an April 22 Toronto concert.
Backup singer Lisa Fischer
has had a long and illustrious career touring with many of the world’s
rock ’n’ roll greats, including the Rolling Stones, Sting and Tina
Turner.
The 2014 Oscar-winning documentary Twenty Feet from Stardom revealed the towering talents of the often unknown women who are session singers and touring troupe members, in the shadows of the rich and famous.
As Fischer, one of the
main subjects of the film, starts to get the personal fame she
deserves, she is expanding her solo career. In a recent interview with
the Star following the cancellation
of the Stones’ Australian tour, Fischer, 55, talked about her upcoming
appearance April 22 at Toronto’s Koerner Hall as part of Jazz FM’s 10th
anniversary “Jazz Lives” gala.
“I will rock,” pledges the 25-year touring veteran, adding that she plans to sing ballads and songs from the heart too.
“I like ballads; they give me a chance to interpret,” she says. “It is so good to be able to pick and choose.”
The excitement about
doing a performance that is all about her own choices and talents “makes
me feel like a 2-year-old. I enjoy getting to the heart of things.”
She won’t be giving up
her backup gig, however. Fischer is slated to travel to Norway with the
Stones on the next leg of their tour. (The Australian/New Zealand trip
was cancelled due to the death of designer L’Wren Scott, Mick Jagger’s
girlfriend.)
“I’m going to look at
the schedule and in between working with the Stones, I’m just going to
venture out — just sing for the pure joy of it,” she promises.
She appears in concert
in New York City and Cape Cod before coming to Toronto and has numerous
events scheduled in New York state before heading back on the road with
the band on June 7. She has recently been sporting a short hairdo,
which she says is more “authentic” than the wigs and costumes she wears
when performing with rock bands.
Fischer tried a solo
venture once before when she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance in 1992 for “How Can I Ease the Pain,” from her only solo albumSo Intense.
She had already been
touring with the Stones and, before that, Luther Vandross when she made
the album. Although another record was scheduled, the plans just
stalled.
“The timing for me was
odd and stressful and difficult and confusing,” says Fischer, adding
running one’s own show is a lot different from singing someone else’s
setlist.
Though even as a backup singer, she’s far from a wallflower.
When the Rolling Stones perform “Gimme Shelter” on tour, she is the foil for Jagger, belting out the arresting line “rape, murder, it’s just a shot away!” And during Turner’s 2008 tour, the two women sang “I Know It’s Only Rock ’N’ Roll” as a duet.
“I was so happy that
she suggested we do that,” says Fischer, adding that many stars have
happily put their backup singers at the front of the stage.
“For people like Tina,
Sting, Luther Vandross, Mick Jagger — they are so confident in what
they are doing” that they just want to make the show the best it can be,
she says.
The best thing about
being with a group is “it feels like family. You have to be open and
listen a lot. We can see when someone is out of tune.”
Commenting on the lack of competition among the women in the movie — for example, Merry Clayton sang on the record Gimme Shelter but Fischer sings it on tour — she says, “We live in a community of support.”
A recent tour with Chris Botti “was a game-changer for me,” she says, because it expanded her repertoire into quieter, more personal music.
So, she’s venturing
out on that path at Koerner Hall in a program that includes vibraphonist
Gary Burton and guitarist Earl Klugh, both Grammy winners, plus
Havana’s Harold López-Nussa Duo and others. At press time a few tickets
were remaining, at 416-408-0208 or rcmusic.ca.
