Ali Milner

Sunday, October 4th, 2009, by Steven Chua

Walking into the Telus Studio Theatre in the Chan Centre can be a magical thing. The lights are dimmed and the setting is intimate—a perfect place for the jazz-pop artist Ali Milner to show us what she’s made of.

As the spotlight goes on, she sits alone at the piano and immediately begins serenading the audience with her soulful voice and impressive piano work. The crowd seems to be put in a trance. Taking advantage of the effect, the rest of her band creeps on stage and begins to power into the groove-heavy reggae inspired song, “I Wanna Be Loved By You,” and keeps the momentum going for the rest of the show.

Milner takes the audience on an impressive journey through boogie-woogie, soulful ballads with orchestral arrangements, rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, show tunes, old school—she does it all.

Fans of Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Liza Minelli and other classic artists would be pleased to hear her as she integrates many elements of these artists into her own sound. Much of the audience was drawn from a 30-plus crowd, but those of you who want to take a break from your iPod indie rock play lists will be well rewarded, because talent is timeless. - Ubyssey

On Monday evening I was invited to the Drake Hotel to see a young woman from Whistler, B.C play the Whistler Film Festival reception.

Expecting the usual beer ticket and Doritos extravaganza the music business has become of late, I was completely shocked to find fabulous food, open bars, and a helpful and accessible staff. This is more like it.

As the room filled up, I found a spot in front of the little electric piano and waited for the music to start. There must have been 2 or 3 hundred people in the room by then…all talking at once.

Halfway through my first Alexander Keith, a young, well poised and confident redhead sat down at the piano, said a few words, and launched into a song she wrote, in fact, most of the songs she performed were written by her, and when I say songs, I mean songs. How can someone this young, (she is still a teenager), write material that stands up to God Bless the Child, (written by Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr. in 1939), which she also sang during her set, giving it a reading worthy of both Billy Holiday and Eddie Harris’s fine versions. I am impressed.

The 400 conversations continued throughout her set, but a clutch of musos had joined me in front of her and the piano, (including her justifiably beaming mother), and applauded wildly after every tune. Even with the party raging, the conversations all blurring together like a rap throw down in a meth lab, she was completely focused, hitting every nuance, note, and emotional brush stroke of the music and lyric. She didn’t need an audience, she was there for the music. This young woman means every note she plays, every word she sings. This young woman is real. This young woman is special.

Her name is Ali Milner.

Ali 1More about Ali in Friday’s column along with more of her music, and the music of some of the fine artists playing this year’s Canadian Music Café, which will be featured in A&R Online. - FYI Music News fyimusic.ca

Ali Milner: Doin’ it the right way…

If you read Wednesday’s column, you know how knocked out I am about this Ali Glamorousyoung singer/songwriter from Whistler B.C. She is not a product of a phalanx of writers, producers, managers, label heads, choreographers, and assorted advisors. She is the product of a tight knit family, a love of music, natural talent nurtured and refined by hard work, discipline, and an extraordinary sense of taste and self for someone just recently able to graduate from Shirley Temples to Brandy Alexanders.

Far from naïfs, Ali and her mother, (who acts as her manager as far as I can tell), seem as relaxed dealing with the business of show as most mothers and daughters are having lunch together while trying to decide whether to keep shopping or go to a movie. Watching them interact with music industry types as well as other artists when they dropped into the TIFF Canadian Music Café showcases this week was refreshing as hell. No attitude, self aggrandizing or nervous self promotion. Just questions and genuine interest in the people they spoke with and what they had to say. Our Fail of The Week would do well to learn some manners from these two.

Ali is off to England for two weeks in October and comes back to Ontario to do some dates in November. In the meantime, and seeing as how Ali played the Canadian Music Café last year, she leads off this week’s A&R Online which features some of the artists that played it this year. - FYI Music News fyimusic.ca

Milner finding her voice
Whistler singer-songwriter debuts sophomore album at the Chan Centre’s The Live Sessions

By Holly Fraughton

Ali Milner is Whistler's official singing and songwriting sweetheart, and as soon as you meet her, it's easy to see why. But beyond the fresh-faced, friendly façade, one only has to listen to her lyrics and bubbly music for their introduction to the talented 19-year-old musician.

"A touch from the shoulder, a look in your eyes, a drink in your hand and a flirty smile. Quick to the words that make a clever conversation, you pull at the seat and you lean in close, say all the things that I want to hear most." - lyrics from Crystal Clear.

Milner released her self-titled first album at the age of 14. It contained six original songs, either written by Milner herself or co-written with other artists.

"I like to co-write because I'm the kind of person that likes to bounce ideas off of other people and I'm totally inspired by others," she explained.

As impressive as that first effort proved to be, Milner's sound has grown in leaps and bounds as the musician's voice has developed, both literally and figuratively. She's moved away from that pure, unadulterated jazz feel and developed her own distinct, poppy take on the traditional, with results that often see her compared with the likes of famous songstresses like Fiona Apple, Sara Bareilles and Estelle. This new sound has been carefully captured on her second album, I Dare You, which will be released in just a few weeks.

"That'll be in my hands - the album - in two weeks," she said, smiling widely.

Since graduating from Whistler Secondary School two years ago, Milner has been hard at work, trying to get a full-time music career off the ground. She's spent the majority of this summer locked away in the studio in Vancouver, co-writing songs with Canadian music industry legends like Shaun Verreault, lead singer of Wide Mouth Mason, and Jim Valance, Bryan Adams' writing partner. She even had a hand in the design and artwork of the album, working hand-in-hand with a Vancouver-based designer to cultivate a modern yet vintage aesthetic that would match her new sound.

And while the work on I Dare You hasn't left a tonne of time for playing live gigs, the payoff was well worth the work, as the budding musician managed to produce a solid new product that she's extremely proud of.

"The first record was very jazz-oriented, it was with a trio I recorded with in Toronto. Now, I've sort of found my own feeling and stuff with my music and I'm just really in love with it," she said. "It's more jazz-pop with an old school soul, but a really modern twist."

And recognizing that timing is everything in this competitive industry, Milner's even co-ordinated the release of the new album with a very exciting gig with the Chan Centre. She's one of just three artists chosen for The Live Sessions, which will see her hitting the stage at the Telus Studio Theatre at UBC's Chan Centre, performing in an intimate, one-hour show, accompanied by strings and drums. The performance will then be edited down to a half-hour show to be aired on CBC Radio 2's Canada Live Show, for anyone who can't make it out to the real deal.

"The Chan Centre is such an amazing gig because the actual performance will take place in the smaller kind of studio-like side theatre. So that seats about 200, 300 people, so that'll be kind of an intimate thing, and the crowd gets to be part of a recording that will be broadcast all across Canada," Milner said.

As a born and bred Whistlerite, this young musician has also been clever enough to capitalize on all of the Olympic hoopla. She's already played at several Olympic and Paralympics countdown events, and even traveled to Beijing with Premier Gordon Campbell to represent Canada. But she isn't just paying the Games lip service for the benefit of her career. Milner is genuinely passionate about the Olympics that will descend on the province and the heart of her hometown in February.

"I feel like it's a very cool opportunity for Whistler and it's given me an incredible opportunity, so yeah, I'm pro-Olympic," she said after a moment of thought. "...To me, as a local artist, they've just given so many opportunities to people like me."

She's even hoping to get a chance to take the stage here at home during the main event, as part of the Whistler Live! programming.

Until then, she's busy rehearsing for the gig at the Chan Centre, creating the radio edit of her single "Crystal Clear," which will drop in about a week, and preparing to jet off to London, England where she's performing in Trafalgar Square for the Canadian Tourism Commission in early October.

With such a busy schedule, it would be easy to see why Milner could be a bit stressed out. But here's the thing - she isn't. Or at least, she doesn't seem to be. Pursuing her passion seems to be paying off, so far, for Whistler's sweetheart, so keep an eye out for her, and expect big things.

To hear some of Milner's latest music, visit www.myspace.com/alimilner.

The Live Sessions take place on three Thursday evenings. The first session, featuring Vancouver pop sensations, Hey Ocean!, was held on Sept. 17. Ali Milner performs on Oct. 1, and Jets Overhead close the sessions on Oct. 8.

- Pique Newsmagazine Published 2009-09-23