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“I don’t want to stop at just playing it as it already was; we have to do something different,” Grace Kelly said of reinterpreting classic movie themes with strings.
(Photo: Pasha Riger )Growing up near Boston, 31-year-old saxophonist-singer-songwriter Grace Kelly had a Friday night tradition with her family. They’d eat at their favorite Chinese restaurant, then rent a movie at Blockbuster and watch it together.
Kelly first laid eyes on actress Grace Kelly during one of these family movie nights. Immediately enamored, Kelly, who at the time still went by her birth name, Chung, declared that she was “Princess Grace Kelly” at school the next day. Luckily, her stepfather’s last name was Kelly, so, her dream came true when she took his name.
“Some people think it’s a stage name, but this is for real. It’s even better than a fairy tale,” said Kelly.
These coincidental and nostalgic ties to the silver screen, and a longstanding love of Charlie Parker With Strings, are Kelly’s inspiration for Grace Kelly With Strings: At The Movies. The project features 16 renditions of movie classics, freshly arranged for Kelly, who sings and plays alto, tenor, baritone and soprano saxophones, as well as a string ensemble, rhythm section and special guests.
The repertoire for Grace Kelly With Strings includes childhood staples like the swoon-worthy “True Love,” from the 1956 film High Society and the only song Princess Grace Kelly ever sang on screen; a jaunty rendition of “He’s A Pirate” from Pirates Of The Caribbean (2003); a funky cover of Quincy Jones’ “Soul Bossa Nova,” which appeared in Austin Powers (1997); and “Power Of Love” from Back To The Future (1985).
The record also honors Kelly’s longtime love of Disney with a five-song medley that includes an iconic version of “When You Wish Upon A Star” from Pinocchio (1940), an epic rendition of “Go The Distance” from Hercules (1997) and a cheeky vocal rendition of “Wanna Be Like You” from The Jungle Book (1967).
“We have these timeless songs connected to, for some people and for myself, emotional stories and movies. But I don’t want to stop at just playing it as it already was; we have to do something different,” Kelly said.
Kelly shaped her own approach to these iconic melodies using Parker’s elegant, melodic approach on Charlie Parker With Strings as her muse. Bird has been Kelly’s musical idol since she was 10, and she’s always especially loved the lyricism and romance of his landmark 1950 recording.
Kelly, in working with her arrangers, intended the record to merge traditional jazz influences, like Charlie Parker With Strings, with sounds and approaches from the contemporary era. For instance, the first track, “James Bond Medley,” begins with the quintessentially jazzy 1962 theme song then transitions to a cover of Billie Eilish’s “No Time To Die” from the 2021 Bond film by the same name.
“I feel it’s really important … to have that nod to the tradition,” said Kelly. “I always say to my students to learn the history, learn where this music has come from. And from there, I think that the responsibility of an artist is to then capture culturally where we are now.”
As for Kelly’s decision to do a full album with strings, that’s something she’s wanted to do more of since playing with and arranging for the Boston Pops Orchestra when she was just 13.
“I remember when I was performing, there was this moment of, ‘This feeling on stage with the orchestra is incredible.’ I felt like I was floating on a cloud,” said Kelly.
Kelly has continued to chase that string-induced dreaminess ever since, performing as a soloist with the Boston Landmark Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Kammerphilharmonie Bodensee and Philharmonie Konstanz in Germany. Still, she’d never done her own orchestral project.
In 2022, when she was given the opportunity to present a new project at The Barclay Theater in Irvine, California, she conceived Grace Kelly With Strings. With the theater’s thumbs-up, she brought on her old friend, Grammy and Tony Award-winning drummer, vocalist, composer, arranger, orchestrator and bandleader Bryan Carter, as musical director and producer. Carter recruited Grammy and Tony Award-winning arranger Charlie Rosen and Grammy Award-winning arranger Steven Feifke, as well as some up-and-coming millennial arrangers, to contribute.
They also brought in violinist, composer and arranger Eli Bishop as concert master, and hired 12 string players from the L.A. area. Grace Kelly With Strings also includes Bishop on violin, nylon string guitar, tenor banjo and mandolin; John Shroeder, Shaun Richardson and Pasha Riger on guitars; Cooper Appelt on bass; Tamir Hendelman on piano; Jake Reed on drums and percussion; and Adam Bravo’s additional synth programming. Jazz trumpeter Sean Jones and electric guitar colossus Cory Wong appear as special guests on “Soul Bossa Nova” and “Power Of Love,” respectively.
Kelly and the ensemble performed Grace Kelly With Strings for a live audience at Barclay Theater in November 2022, before going into the studio with the project the following day. This tight timeline was necessity, as Carter, co-producer of the Broadway musical Some Like It Hot, could only take one day off from the show to go to L.A. and record.
The timeline meant everyone had to be on, especially Kelly, who learned each arrangement like the back of her hand. But there were moments when the musician was unexpectedly challenged by the record’s scope. Particularly, works by John Williams like “The Flying Theme (From E.T.)” required her to hone her classical saxophone chops, a totally different animal from jazz saxophone.
“I just wanted to play the beautiful melody as close as I could to [the] recording,” Kelly said. “But that’s really tricky. On the saxophone, there’s a lot of weird leaps, and playing in tune with strings I found to be hard … because it needs to be so precise.”
As she navigated making the record, Kelly’s artistry has expanded, further cementing her love of large ensemble playing and movie soundtracks. A Grace Kelly With Strings: At The Movies Part II may soon be on its way, she said.
“There’s so much to grasp onto with the dense, beautiful arrangements,” said Kelly. “I feel like it’s this bigger playground [with] that many more colors.” DB
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