It becomes clear in an interview with the accomplished 32-year-old jazz singer that the title also refers to two words that many people, especially jazzers, can't say in the same sentence: jazz and pop.
"I wanted to convey that...if you don't know jazz, you can still sing along and enjoy it. I wanted to make an album that was accessible to everyone," says the singer, who grew up in Sheridan Homelands and graduated from Cawthra Park Secondary School.
While at the University of Toronto, Butcher took a course in medieval music. Her professor had a "pet peeve" against the practice of insisting all classical music students be able to identify in what year a piece was written and precisely what instruments were first used on it.
"He always said, 'Why not just enjoy the song for the song?'" she says.
Butcher isn't afraid to use the word, pop, which the self-appointed jazz police are often intent on eradicating.
"I want to reach out to those who are intimidated by jazz," said Butcher in a phone interview from her Toronto home.
Released earlier this summer, Words We Both Could Say has been riding high on university and college jazz charts and has garnered critical acclaim on both sides of the border.
It's actually three "pop" tunes, given quirky, invigorating new jazz settings by Butcher and producer Marc Rogers (bassist with Holly Cole, Philosopher Kings and Michael Kaeshammer) that have captured most of the buzz about the release.
One New York critic had to pull over to the side of the road to take in the full "tropical" beauty of Butcher's arrangement of the 1982 Tears For Fears hit, Mad World, which kicks off the set. Reworkings of No Doubt's Just a Girl and Debbie Harry's Call Me haven't stopped traffic, but do have critics reaching for superlatives.
Although she had made a couple of "demo CDs" previously, Butcher raised the bar substantially for this independent production by employing Rogers.
"It was time to experience what it meant to have a producer," she laughs.
Her band - including her good friend, longtime bass player and Cawthra Park grad Ross MacIntyre - is exceptional throughout, with beautiful guest turns by guitarist Rob Piltch, Kelly Jefferson on sax, Mark McLean on drums and Michael Shand on piano.
The CD is available on iTunes, at HMV stores or at www.shannonbutcher.com.
jstewart@mississauga.net
