Here’s my story in a short and a long version.
oh and a short dutch version at the bottom!
Short version:
SYLVI LANE:
INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST< VOCALIST < PAINTER< SONGWRITER<VOCAL COACH
AT THE CONSERVATORY OF AMSTERDAM
With a career that spans over four decades in the music industry and education, combined with a passionate journey in visual arts, her work as painter, vocalist, composer intertwines the soulful depths of jazz and soul with the vivid colourful narratives of her paintings. It all comes from the same source: committed to authentic expression through both sound and visuals.
Her albums IN THE PALM OF MY HAND, SOULSILLY Xperience and SOULSILLY TOO come from the same source as her paintings do: committed to authentic expression through both sound and visuals. Where posible she works interdiciplinair: performance with music and art.
As vocal teacher at the Conservatory of Amsterdam Sylvi has the privilege to work with talented young people from all over the world, instilling the essence of improvisation and storytelling in the next generation of artists.
Long version:
ROOTS:
From the age of 5 to 10, I practically “lived” on the stage of
the Nutsgebouw. My parents rented this building at the time.
The Hillegom Brassband Band and the theater group rehearsed there
and gave performances. Beat nights were held there.
And of course, the concerts given by the Dutch bands
from that era, the sixties:
Ekseption, Unit Gloria, whose lead singer was Robert Long,
Louis van Dijk. As soon as I heard live music through my
bedroom window on the weekends, I jumped out of bed and on stage in no time.
Education:
In my final year of high school, I sang in a band
led by Jan Tekstra: my first concert was at the ‘two orphans’ in Sassenheim.
After that, I formed a jazz band with three friends.
I received the Real Vocal Book part 1 for my birthday,
and we started with the letter A.
Besides singing, I loved to draw. That’s why, in 1981, I
auditioned for the Art Academy in The Hague as well as at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.
My portfolio, only a few drawings, wasn’t great, and that didn’t work out,
but I did get into the conservatory.
That program was called “Improvising Musician” at the time. And it was pioneering work,
because jazz programs were just starting up.
It wasn’t until my final year that I got singing lessons from someone in the industry:
Ann Burton. I worked with her for three-quarters of a year on one song:
“Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most.” I was only allowed to recite it.
I learned a few important skills from her:
textual understanding and delivery. And also working with great detail.
The program in Amsterdam gave me plenty of room for my own direction. I wrote a lot of music.
TEACHING WRITING PERFORMING
After graduating, I was immediately asked to teach as, at that time, the only singing teacher at the conservatory.
You could definitely call that challenging.
I’ve done all sorts of things, singing with soul bands, jazz ensembles, big band, studio work.
You could call it the school of life.
At one of the sessions in Amsterdam, I saw Michiel Borstlap play:
And when I was allowed to have an accompanist in the lesson at the conservatory, I
immediately thought of him.
And I also thought of him when the label ‘Willibrord Jazz’ asked me
to release an album for them.
With this band, I was under Hanny Kracht’s management, and
we toured clubs, theaters, and NSJ.
My album ‘In the palm of my hand’ was from my contemporary Jazz period of writing:
With a.o. Michiel Borstlap-keys, Anton Drukker- double bass, Joost Lijbaart-drums.
released in ’95. Lyrics, not so much about romantic love but more about personal insights.
The music was adventurous and intellectual and full of energy.
I worked with well known producers in studios, singing leaders for TV.
It is richness: so many great musicians with whom I have the privelege
to work with and be inspired by.
I was asked to teach at the summer school in Norway.
and at the conservatory in Oslo. Also taught ten years at the summer school in Belgium, and later several years in Liechtenstein.
I also taught pop singing at the conservatory in Haarlem for four years.
Gave workshops at other conservatories, and taught master students from other conservatories.
But my home base has been the Conservatorium van Amsterdam for 37 years.
The merger with the Hilversum Conservatory has brought me a lot:
colleagues like Humphrey Campbell, Greetje Kauffeld, etc.
And how inspiring it is year after year to see new students from all over the
world. All the input that brings.
Amsterdam has partnerships with many countries.
For example, in 2018, I wrote and put on film a seeries of classes for The True School of Music in Mumbai:
singing lessons and lyric writing.
The questions I always ask myself and therefore my students:
What is your true passion in a song, in your voice, in playing with your fellow musicians,
and how do you share that passion with your audience?
Over the years I developed a more ‘from the gut’ style of writing and
singing and performing.
In 2010 I released my second album ‘the SOULSILLY Xperience’.
With Rembrandt Frerichs on keys and Hammond, Phaedra Kwant -basses,
Haye Jellema- drums.
On this album all my original compositions are a mix of Soul and Jazz and latin.
My newest songs, you can hear on the upcoming album, are the mix of
Soul and Folk: Songs from the soul.
This album is released in 2018!
SOULSILLY TALES
PAINTING:
The idea of painting started to itch again in 2001.
I bought materials. I commissioned myself to paint a
still life, nude, abstract, portrait.
I invented wheels, so to speak.
But after a year, I got so busy with playing and teaching everywhere
that I put it aside again.
Until 2016, the itch started again.
Still busy, because by then I was also the coordinator of the vocal department
at the conservatory, I didn’t know how I would fit it in.
Until I got ill in 2018.
And suddenly there was all the space and time to finally really get started. My song “Even Flowers Grow on Stone” talks about this:
Even from a stone grows a flower.
Painting is a necessity. Just as necessary as music.
I deliberately remained self-taught in painting, never taking lessons.
Precisely because I’m so involved in music education, it’s liberating
to engage with it completely openly in this way.
And the internet is a good source of information.
In the art magazine Atelier, my first painting,
a self-portrait, was listed among the best entries in 2019.
In 2021, I was among the nominees
for (international) “Painting of the Year.”
This felt like confirmation that I could also touch people with my paintings.
I draw my inspiration from my surroundings.
First, it was Amstelpark, the trees, the Amstel River, and the meadows.
Now it’s the Zaan River:
because in 2023, I moved from Amsterdam to Zaandijk.
My husband and I rent two historic buildings here
from the 17th century: we live in one, “Nico.”
The other, “Atelier Stijntje,” is the studio with the music room in the attic.
It’s a great privilege to live and work here.
And it’s incredibly inspiring.
The first Zaan view I painted now hangs in Manhattan,
New York, at the home of actress Alysia Reiner (Orange Is the New Black).
Besides nature, people are my source of inspiration.
My portraits are colorful. I paint the eyes slightly oversized to enhance
the effect of how they look at you.
I’m still working on the portrait series “Vrouwepower,” which I started in 2019.
The composition, the movement, the tension in a painting are
the same as the movement and tension in music.
The structure, the story, the emotion are just as important.
NEW WORK
In my latest creations, I also use old sheet music I’ve written
for my own songs.
This way, music literally comes into my creations.
I’m currently exploring what other surfaces I find interesting to use
for painting.
For example, I’ve applied painting and sheet music
to two wooden ornaments, which are an embroidered version of my latest portrait
on linen.
After releasing three CDs, my fourth project is “Colours and Songs”:
An exhibition with a concert.
I’ve now performed this twice:
in the beautiful 17th-century Wester-Amstel in Amsterdam
and in the stunning Stompe Toren church in Spaarnwoude.
LATEST NEW ART PROJECT:
My neighbor Rogier is the son of Amsterdam
painter Theo Daamen (1939-2021).
I’m already allowed to use panels and frames made by Theo Daamen.
And now Rogier has suggested I continue working on the drawings/
sketches, mostly nudes, that his father left behind.
For this, I’ll be working with various materials: gouache, pencil,
sheet music, acrylic, ink, fabric, and so on.
So you could say they’ll be duets.
Old meets new.
It’s a great privilege for me.
Inspiration singing:
Aretha, Chaka Kahn, Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughan, Miles, Prince, Joni Mitchell, Kurt Elling, Rachelle Ferrell, Amos Lee, Tony Bennett, Cassandra Wilson, DeeDee Bridgewater,Nancy Wilson, Al Jarreau, Etta James, Abbey Lincoln, Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, George Benson, Sting, Dianne Reeves, Greetje Bijma,Mark Murphy,Bobby McFerrin, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Anita O’day, Lambert Hendricks and Ross, Susan Tedeshi, Eva Cassidy, Cornelis Vreeswijk, Wende Snijders,Maarten van Roosendaal, Cecile Mclorin Salvan, Sara Gazarek, Cyrille Aimee, Tierney Sutton
Inspiration painting:
Anselm Kiefer (rawness), Paul Klee( form), Jackson Pollock (abstract en lines) Tom Climent (colours, form) David Grossmann( colours en nature), Helen Frankenthaler (abstraction, colours) van Gogh (colours, impressionism) Mondriaan (mathematical figures) Gustav Klimmt (Portrets of women en gold) Marlene Dumas (portret) Peter Doig (mystic) Jan Sluyters (colours, expression portrets) Magdalena Abakanowicz (installation en fabric)
Korte nederlandse versie:
MUZIEK
Sylvi Lane: vocalist, songwriter, improvisator, vocal coach
Zij zingt en schrijft muziek rooted in de jazz en soul traditie.
Eigen projecten met als belangrijke eerste opstap in 1996
de ‘In the palm of my hand-tour’ langs theaters, clubs, North Sea Jazz Festival .
Deze eerste CD ‘In the palm of my hand’ kun je omschrijven als contemporary Jazz.
Door de jaren heen treedt zij op met verschillende formaties,
van duo tot bigband; in clubs, in theater, op festivals.
Daarnaast coacht zij talenten from all over the world
aan het Conservatorium van Amsterdam
en geeft zij workshops en masterclasses in binnen- en buitenland.
Door de jaren heen heeft zij meer en meer een ‘from the gut’-stijl van schrijven,
zingen en performen ontwikkeld zoals te horen op de cd uit 2010: ‘the SOULSILLY Xperience’
En de laatste plaat gereleased in 2018 is een mix van Soul en Folk: SOULSILLY TALES.
SCHILDEREN
Een nieuwe liefde is het schilderen waarmee zij is begonnen eind 2018.
Het voelde als een absolute noodzaak om ook op die manier zich te uiten,
de verhalen te vertellen in kleuren en beelden.
Een niet te stoppen inspiratie flow.
Componeren, performen, schilderen: het komt allemaal
uit die zelfde bron.