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Sylvan Lake singer Cheryl Fisher brings serendipitous songs to Red Deer

Her jazz concert is on May 27 at Golden Circle
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Canadian jazz singer Cheryl Fisher performing at the Red Deer College Arts Centre. (File photo by Jeff Stokoe/Advocate staff)

When the ducks line up for Sylvan Lake jazz singer Cheryl Fisher, they get into full regimental formation.

Her last album, Quietly There, was recorded through a process of serendipity — everything magically came together, from the song selections surviving a storage locker break-in, to getting the studio time, producer and musicians she wanted for the project.

Now the album that Fisher describes as being the one she “really wanted to make,” is paying dividends.

Quietly There not only earned a stream of favourable reviews, it won a silver medal in the Global Music Awards, and landed Fisher a recording contract with Origin Records from Seattle.

Fisher is gratified, saying “I followed my heart and did what I wanted with the recording and it turned out to be the best work I’ve done so far.”

She will perform songs from Quietly There, along with others from her career, at a Saturday, May 27, concert at the Golden Circle in Red Deer. Fisher, who usually performs in larger centres, said “I was delighted to be asked.”

While the lesser known standards on her last album were chosen for their fluid, mellow vibe (Nat King Cole’s Let There Be Love, I Never Went Away by Cleo Laine, Blossom Dearie’s It Amazes Me, etc.), Fisher also plans to perform livelier numbers.

Surrey with a Fringe on Top, from the musical Oklahoma, Keep My Love Alive from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and Route 66 are a few of the more rousing selections Fisher will deliver to music from a seasoned band.

Her husband Eric Allison will be playing flute and saxophone with Calgary musicians Sheldon Zanboer (piano), Jason Valleau (bass), John May (drums) and Neil McVey (guitar).

The Red Deer concert is the first in an Alberta series for Fisher, who’s slated to perform at Calgary’s Ironwood Stage on June 16, Medicine Hat’s Esplanade on June 21, and Edmonton’s Winston Churchill Square during the jazz festival on June 23.

The singer, who wrapped an American tour late last year, feels her name is more recognizable with the success of her last album. “I think being with the record company has been a huge help.”

While some artists might rush into another project on the heels of success, Fisher won’t go back into the studio until she finds “heartfelt songs and well-written lyrics — and it takes a long time to collect those.”

The singer, who wrote Flowers in the Sink for Quietly There, is also interested in coming up with more original material for her next album.

If the stars aligned once, she said, they just might do so again.

For more information, or tickets to the 7 p.m. Red Deer show, please call 403-343-6074.

lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com