Even speaking over the telephone, Renée Yoxon’s voice is smooth, calm and poised — a voice that is becoming ever more popular among the Ottawa jazz scene.
Music, more specifically her singing, has taken her through her schooling years and is propelling her forward as a recognizable talent among Ottawa’s vibrant arts community. Yoxon, like all musicians, had to start somewhere.
“I started playing the alto saxophone in grade seven, and I started singing when I was 16, in high school. I got into jazz heavily after I went to my first Jazzworks jazz camp, and got my taste of it there,” Yoxon said.
Yoxon recently graduated from Carleton University with a major in physics and minors in both math and music. She said her first year of university was spent mostly focusing on school, with little time to spend on music.
“It wasn’t very easy,” she said with a sigh. “I had to let [music] go for the first year. I didn’t do any music for the first year of university.”
While advancing through her years at Carleton, music became an increasingly dominant part of her life, Yoxon said.
“I started playing saxophone again in my second year, and third year was when I started playing [live shows] a little bit, but I only played one gig a month and I would have a few [singing] lessons,” Yoxon elaborated. “Then in fourth year I had to drop out of the honours program and into general, so I could pursue music full-time.”
Yoxon said she didn’t always think that she would be a musician, and like most university students, she changed her mind as she went through university.
“I thought that I would find a subject in physics that I could fall in love with and research that forever. But then I met a freelance musician, a young guy in town, and that was the first time I’d ever met a young person who was pursuing music professionally, and that’s what gave me a kick in the ass to do it myself,” Yoxon explained.
Her love and appreciation for the Ottawa arts community is apparent, especially in her description of Bar 56, where she has played every Monday night for nearly a year.
“They’ve been really good to me. I’ve been there since November of last year, so it’s almost been a year now, every Monday night,” she said.
With her rapidly growing reputation as one of the most talented young jazz singers in the Ottawa area, it is no surprise that she has collaborated with Ottawa guitarist René Gely on her debut album, Let’s Call It a Day.
Gely has worked all over the world with many notable musicians, including Toronto jazz musicians Perry White and George Koller.
“We had both been hired on a wedding once. We literally met on stage, and I recognized that he was amazing. I wanted him on this show I did last May, because I thought it would just be fun to just play with a new guy, and it turned out to be a really good thing, a really good relationship,” she said.
Yoxon and Gely both enjoyed playing live together, and so they decided to record the song “The Look of Love” together.
That first impromptu recording session gave way to weekly recording sessions that finally turned into a full-blown album.
“We dug working together, and he had come up with some really interesting arrangements. I ended up going back every week to record, so I went once a week for a couple months and then by the end of it, we had this album,” Yoxon said.
Let’s Call It a Day will be released at the First Unitarian Church on Oct. 1 with a concert by Yoxon and Gely, featuring Montreal guitarist Mike Rud.