Take Five with Gillian Margot
Did you ever wonder what your favorite musicians are listening to, or the recordings that influenced them? “Take Five” is a look at the music that inspires and excites them. It’s difficult to choose ONLY five recordings!
Vocalist Gillian Margot and pianist Geoff Keezer’s latest self-titled will be released May 23, 2025 on their label MarKeez Records. Partners in music since 2014 and in life since 2016, both Margot and Keezer share a predisposition to address, in Margot’s words, “different styles, genres, or grooves and feels, and harmonic implications,” an attitude that accounts for the capacious range of repertoire in their duo performances. “We’d be signing CDs and LPs at our merch table, and people inevitably asked, ‘So where is the duet album?’,” Margot says. “We finally took the hint. We decided to pull out a variety of songs we like, and whatever came to mind, we’d do it.”
“It’s impossible to narrow down my influences and favourites to merely five albums. So, I’m not going to talk about all the amazing music I was fortunate enough to grow up listening to and learning (from my parents’ collection), which included classical orchestras, opera, calypso, jazz, classic R&B, and various folk musics. Instead, I’m going to focus in on 5 five albums (of many) which definitely influenced me and which I discovered for myself after I began taking a serious interest in singing.”
Nina Simone - Little Girl Blue (Bethlehem, 1959)
This album is iconic for me. It showcases so much of what made Nina Simone so incredibly unique and versatile. Her piano playing on Good Bait and You’ll Never Walk Alone, which seamlessly fuses her classical training with jazz sensibility; her phrasing and ability to tell a story with such poignance as on Plain Gold Ring and I Loves You Porgy; and her unmistakable attitude and courage to highlight social truths as in Mood Indigo and Love Me or Leave Me. There are so many gems on this album and always new lessons to be learned from her mastery.
Shirley Horn - I Remember Miles (Verve, 1998)
This is just Shirley Horn at her best, doing her thing with super slow (not easy!) tempos, sparse yet perfect piano voicings, and phrasing that keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for her next word as she unravels the complete story. I never need to be “in the mood” to listen to Shirley Horn. She IS the mood.
Take 6 - He Is Christmas (Reprise, 1991)
For me, this album is pure joy and a wonderful expression of free play in a structured context. Take 6 are genius, genius, genius (I should say it six times — once for each member of the group)! This album is special to me, because I had the pleasure of learning and performing most of these arrangements extensively (my faves being Drummer Boy, Silent Night, Amen, Hark The Herald Angels Sing) with a vocal group in school and then in a chorale I toured with for years (Canada’s Nathaniel Dett Chorale).
Some vocalists know that when you sing together the harmonies or chord tones typically played by a jazz pianist, there is a remarkable bond formed with your fellow vocalists. You have to match each other’s tone, you breath together, you are responsible for tuning into each other energetically, stylistically, and of course pitch-wise. Singing Take 6 arrangements (some from their other albums too), was some of the most fun I’ve ever had and I will always have unending appreciation for everything they did for the music scene.
Joni Mitchell - Mingus (Asylum, 1979)
Out of so many great Joni albums, this one taught me a lot, because I listened to how Joni interprets jazz and interacts with her musician friends on this album. And her approach to lyrics — “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” was one of the first solos I performed when I sang in a vocal a cappella group during my undergrad. I have immense appreciation for her as a musician and lyricist because she always manages to stay authentic to the source as well as to herself.
Hermeto Pascoal - Hermeto (Buddah, 1970)
I love Brazilian music, and I’m still discovering the genius of Hermeto Pascoal, as it is vast. This is an awesome introduction to this master composer and rule-breaker who makes incredible music out of literally anything. I’ve also had the pleasure of performing some of these pieces (“Guizos”, “Alicate”). I love his instrument pairings and experimentation, and how the thread of the melody is never lost in all of it. Every time I listen to his music, I learn something new as a composer, arranger, and performer.
Website: Gillian Margot
Instagram: @mizmargoh
Stay connected to KUVO’s programs and our community! Sign up for the Oasis E-News today!
