Liz Myers Le Rendez-Vous

Start Thinking with Your Heart This song is all about the art of storytelling. At first, you hear the pilot’s voice announcing the landing at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Then you hear another speaking voice which is supposed to represent Jennifer’s state of mind when she arrives in Paris. The French singing which follows is a sort of release from the ranting, a calm, hopeful and romantic voice. The rhythm is a driving Egyptian tabla pattern which works around a never changing bass line, performed by my song writing partner, John Trivers. This represents constancy. The idea for the next song, “My Mantra”, came out of a portion of the lyrics which say in essence, “I can go all around the world but I always come back to you” or cryptically, “3602U.” The song contains mathematical formulas, which you hear in the background, describing exponential expansion, which like heat expands and contracts. There’s a similar thing in music called a “crab canon,” where the melody goes forward and then crawls its way backwards. “My Mantra” is supposed to be a love song, but the day we recorded it my guitar player had just got into an argument with someone in the street and came into the studio full of anger. I thought we should use this emotion. That’s why there’s this tremendous dark moment, this black cloud that bursts in the back end of “Mantra.” It’s really the interruption of reality into romance, which is one of the underlying themes of this whole project. The Spider This song is about longing, it’s about wanting, and about wanting too much. When I looked at the natural world around us, the animal world, the insect world I wasn’t sure that animals worry like we humans do. The spider on the floor just goes about her business. She doesn’t wait for someone to show up, she just takes care of herself. I guess it’s that independence that is admirable. That’s what I was thinking about when I wrote this. Are you religious? is intended to be a parody of both the fashion world and the Catholic Church. This would have been the track played at the designer’s show. It really represents what Olivier (the designer) was searching for in his mocking commentary of the church. The lyrics speak about Italy and the amazing amounts of riches found in the Catholic Church and the reliquary that can be seen preserved in these little glass jars especially in the churches around St. Marks square and the Medici Chapel in Florence. Did you know that in the backroom they actually have fingernails and bones of the saints? It’s creepy and mesmerizing all at the same time. I mean, “What were they thinking?” Numb This is a very heavy song. It’s really a reflection of that sort of bonding and chemical attraction that happens between men and women. The singer says to her lover, “If I can’t hear your voice, I become absolutely deaf. If I cannot see you, I’m blind.” It’s really about the loss of the five senses. It’s the night after the first night that someone really clicks with another person physically, and it’s that thing of, “How do we ever go back to real life? This is so much better.” It makes you remember that sort of euphoria, it’s an elixir, a drug that is too strong to ever deny. It’s about those feelings. Paranoid is the opposite extreme. It’s a nihilistic way out of dealing with yourself. It’s about, “Hey chin up, your life’s not so completely bad. At least you understand yourself. Yeah, you’re completely fucked up, but at least you know it.” Gary Grant played an amazing jazz trumpet solo that’s woven throughout the piece. And there’s a lot of street noise that I actually recorded in line at the Eiffel Tower. A lot of the soundscapes that you hear in Le Rendez-vous are actually recorded by me in the streets of Paris because I wanted the listener to feel as if they were actually there. The next song’s title is a play on words. “Bienvenue” means “welcome”in French. “L’etranger” is a tough word to translate into English because it can mean “foreigner,” “stranger” or even “illegal alien.” France has always been a haven for any kind of immigration I’d say up until the last five years. There is now a feeling developing among the French that immigrants are coming into their country and taking their jobs. There’s an undercurrent of mistrust happening, and yet here I am saying, “Come on in and take everything I have…including my heart.” The way the song is presented is like a sort of pub-crawl with an English chant in the middle, sort of like what you’d hear after a soccer or rugby game. This was intentional. It’s really supposed to be quite sarcastic. Leave us alone is a song about the miscommunication between parents and their offspring. It’s really quite simply a lament as to why parents continue to interfere in their children’s lives. I remember when I was a teenager and was fighting with my mom at the time. I just couldn’t work out why she wouldn’t let me make my own decisions. It’s a time that we all go through and the emotions are very strong. It’s really about the need to grow up and be able to make our own decisions about something as important as who are you going to spend time with or love. This song is just pure emotion, pure confusion. At the end of this song, there’s a bit of a soundscape which are the footsteps going out into the rain, which in some ways represents the end of the text. Je suis là From this point on, I feel the listener is in Morocco. “Je suis la” means “I’m here”. I go on to sing, “Why can’t you find me” in French. The lyrics go on to say, “How can we come so far only to miss each other by a second?” This is a searching song, and you can hear the background singers asking, “Has anybody seen her?” There’s a journey of the heart here, and the sadness of two lovers who can’t find each other. “La Folie” means “madness.” This is an extreme song from the point of view of Jennifer, who does everything in extremes. She would see Marianne as being absolutely crazy because of the fact that she would give in to this romantic notion of hanging out and waiting for someone. Yet Jennifer finds herself giving into it. In some ways, Jennifer has become Marianne through this process—She has rediscovered her trusting, innocent side. Je t’attendrai means “I will wait for you.” This song had to be sung in French because that’s the most romantic of languages. It’s simply an affirmation of someone’s ability to care about someone, to have that undeniable faith in someone for a long time through all the problems and all possible difficulties. I think out of all the songs, I sang “Je t’attendrai” the best. It’s just so pure and so simple. I don’t know why, exactly, but it’s the vocal performance that I’m the most proud of on the whole album.

What people are saying about ‘Le Rendez-Vous’ “Good news to find that Liz Myers got it right with her ambitious concept CD ‘Le Rendez-Vous.’ Myers, an accomplished songwriter and musician came about her blending of styles organically. Singing in English and French with a voice somewhat reminiscent of Tori Amos, Myers unfolds the tale...pulling the listener in deep.” Robb Fulcher – The Easy Reader “Vocalist Liz Myers enchants in both French and English on this release. The top-notch musicians along for the ride include Chad Wackerman on drums, Dave Marotta on bass, Carl Verheyen and Michael Thompson on guitars, and Hossam Ramzy on percussion among others. The result is a worldly, well-played and produced effort which showcases a sophisticated vocalist deserving wider recognition.” David Dorkin, FUSE Magazine “I surely feel as though I have an insight into this woman who is extremely talented in so many ways. As I listened to the CD, I felt as though I were next to her, engaged in a very intimate conversation.” Kimberly Chapron, www.Womeninproduction.com “ Very creative instrumental, Her sound is unique and inspiring.” Alex Cavila, R. Beach “This is really cool stuff! Where can I get my hands on more?” Miriam Stevenson, Florida “I really liked the second track, (My Mantra).” Tony Williams, Lynwood, CA “Cool concept, beautiful book.” Jennifer Corday, Orange County “I love the Arabic influence in the music. My favorite is ‘Insensiblisée’. Mark Akers, Torrance “This is beautiful music – it’s like Enya meets Led Zeppelin!” Jeff Greenberg, The Village Recorder “I think she sounds like Tori Amos.” Alanna Berkson Former A&R, Cool Records, Los Angeles

Benoit Clair, pour Radio Monte Carlo (le 20 juillet 2000) Interview avec Liz Myers à Manhattan Beach, California LIZ MYERS Bonjour! Merci d'être notre invitée aujourd'hui dans Le Mag. Dois-je rappeler que vous êtes originaire de caroline du Nord, fille d'un Pasteur baptiste et d'une mère pianiste qui vous asseoit devant un clavier dès l'age de 5 ans. Votre passion de la musique ne s'arrètera plus; vous découvrez a 21 ans, en France, à Fontainebleau très exactement, la compositrice Nadia BOULANGER dont vous devenez l'élève. On vous retrouve ensuite à New York, Broadway très exactement où vous dirigez l'orchestration de la comédie musicale GREASE. Ce succès vous en apporte un autre; c'est au cours de la tournée de Grease aux Etats-Unis que vous rencontrerez celui qui est aujourd'hui votre mari, John TRIVERS, également musicien de renommée internationale. Ensemble, au milieu d'autres prestigieux Awards, vous recevez, en 1985, un album d'Or pour "We Are The World" que tout le monde fredonne toujours. Depuis 15 ans, vous êtes avec lui reconnue comme étant la plus talentueuse en matière de musique de pub en Amérique et dans le monde; si l'on entend les musiques de: Kodak, Nike, Opel, Porsche, Yves St. Laurent pour son parfum PARIS, Sony, ou American Express, c'est vous qui êtes à leur origine comme a celle de plus de 200 spots publicitaires partout à la radio ou à la télévision. Et aujourd'hui Liz MYERS, nous vous recevons dans Le Mag, non pas pour parler de pub, mais pour parler de Vous et de votre premier album "Le Rendez-Vous", un album original parce que, d'abord, il est ecrit et chanté en Français et en anglais, ce qui est assez rare pour être souligneé, mais aussi parce que vous avez entièrement construit cet album, paroles et musiques, autour d'une histoire d'amour qui commence à Paris. Pourquoi avoir choisi ce titre "Le Rendez-Vous"? Vous nous racontez comment ça commence? (Liz Myers) J’ai voulu un mot qui existe dans les deux langues, anglais et français et qui a le même sens dans les deux langues. Pour moi, un rendez-vous est, peut être, un point dans l’horizon, un aboutissement simplement ou le but d’une quête, d’un voyage. On peut avoir un rendez-vous entre deux personnes, deux amoureux, deux cultures. J’aime l’ambiguieté et le double sens de ce mot, le rendez-vous. J’ai toujours eu une attirance particulière pour la musique de l’afrique du nord, et j’ai fait la connaissance d’un musicien eqyptien qui s’appelle Hossam Ramzy à Londres. Nous avons travaillé ensemble à l’occasion d'une publicité pour American Express qui j’avais ecrite. Il était surpris qu’une Americaine puisse comprendre les rythmes nord africains qui sont très differents de ceux des pop musiques traditionels americains. Nous avons beaucoup sympatisé et j’ai adoré travailler avec lui. Alors, quand j’ai commencé ce projet independant, j’ai voulu le realiser avec Hossam à Londres et avec beaucoup d’autres musiciens extraordinaires avec qui j’ai eu l’occasion de faire de la musique ici à Los Angeles (comme Chad Wackerman de Frank Zappa’s band, Carl Verheyen de SuperTramp, Michael Thompson qui a enregistré avec Madonna et Babyface, John Trivers, mon mari et mon collaborateur qui a joué avec Tina Turner.) Je voulais un vrai mélange des styles entre les sonorités occidentales et les sonorités orientales, un album biculturelle (où triculturelle, franchement.) Je pense que le monde est de plus en plus petit maintenant, et il est possible de chanter dans plusieurs langues, parce que les gens parlent et comprennent plusieurs langues. D’autre part, je n’imaginais pas de chansons romantiques sans la langue Française. C’est pourquoi les textes sont moitié en Francais et moitié en Anglais avec quelques traces d’Arabe. Enfin, pour moi, chanter en français est un moyen d’expression qui me convient. Incroyablement, ma voix se place mieux en francais. J’ose plus en francais qu’en anglais...Je ne sais pas pourquoi...peut etre j’ai moins de censures, les barrières tombent. J’ai ecrit un texte qui accompagne la musique comme une chœur grec, si vous voulez, avec de belles photos de Paris et du Maroc parce que je crois que les gens aiment regarder des images lorsqu’ils écoutent de la musique, comme les couvertures des albums de vinyl. Et, un jour, j’a trouvé un petit livre de voyage sur le Maroc dans quel j’ai lu que le 29 fevrier 1960, il y avait eu un tremblement de terre epouvantable à Agadir. J’ai été choquée par la malchance et la coincidence terrible de cet evenement, parce que la date est singulière, vous savez. Le vingt-neuf fevrier. J’ai voulu que cet évènement fasse parti de mon histoire.

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