Jazz Festival headlines new American singer

Born in Philadelphia, Catherine Tuttle turned 18 this year and began her freshman year at Harvard in September. It’s her first time to be away from home and she’s looking forward to a great time majoring in Languages at Harvard.

Also, besides these major changes in Tuttle’s life, she just happened to sign up as the latest recording artist of Candid Records. She’s joins a distinguished list of artists that includes Mishka Adams, Jamie Cullum and Stacy Kent, among others.

Her first semester in college is just on its second month, and here she is in Manila for the first time, promoting her self-titled album. Her mother Lucie Daigle accompanied her—literally and musically—as she performed at Candid’s annual jazz festival at the Podium Mall in Mandaluyong City.

"I grew up surrounded by music," she told Life & Times. "Mom sings and plays the piano and guitar. My dad plays bass. They’ve performed with jazz and rock bands."

At the age of 7, she started taking classical piano lessons. "I hated studying classical piano, I just wanted to play songs. There’s a lot of studying to be done with classical," she laughed.

She was writing words and music at the age of 14 and at 16, her dad Richard decided to give her "studio time" to record her songs and created her very first album, titled Peel. Her songs were aired on the local stations of Philadelphia and not long after, Allan Fajardo of Candid Records encountered her recordings on the Internet, and as they say in show business, the rest is history.

"When we recorded her first album, we just wanted to give her the experience of recording—we didn’t really know where this would lead to," her mother recalled.

Tuttle told Life & Times that she likes writing songs about her life experiences. "That’s a lot to say, considering I’m just 18. You’re probably wondering what I’ve been through at such a young age. My songs are about relationships and about what I feel at certain moments of my life."

The album’s carrier single, "Alone," for instance isn’t actually about loneliness. "It sort of relates the feeling of being with someone yet you can’t find a way to communicate with that other person you’re with. It’s like there’s a barrier between the two of you," she explained.

The Tuttle ladies joined Mishka Adams, Mon David, Alegre Affinity, Isha, jazz pianist Ria Villena-Osorio and guests like jazz singer Sandra Lim during the launch of the Candid Jazz International festival at the Podium Mall on Monday afternoon. She describes her style as adult contemporary, very much in the tradition of Sarah Mclachlan.

Both mother and daughter are bewildered to be in Manila. "It all started with an e-mail from Allan, and here we are at the Podium!," exclaimed Catherine’s mother.

"We’re glad to be here at this time of the year," says Catherine. "It was starting to get chilly in Boston! And it’s so much fun to go shopping around here. Our hotel’s just across the mall. It’s also easy to make friends in Manila. Just last night, we met a few musicians at this mall. They were performing at a nearby bar. They’re so many musicians here!"

Catherine’s next agenda when she gets back to the States is to bury herself in college work. She’s focusing herself on the romantic languages, from French and Italian to Spanish. Asked why she chose to major in languages instead of the obvious music course, she replied, "No matter what happens, music will always be a part of my life. It will never leave me. So I chose something that was totally new to me. It gives me a chance to explore something that’s never been a part of me."

excerpt from The Manila Times by Dennis Ladaw

LINK RESOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=18395