Laura Fygi: The Best is Yet to Come

Most jazz fans here would probably be familiar with the name "Laura Fygi", though perhaps lesser known is the Dutch singer's early beginnings in music. As part of an all-girl group called Centerfold, who was known for dressing up in sexy outfits for performances, she toured Europe and Japan extensively, before her own solo career was launched years later.

11 albums and plenty of touring later, here we are in 2011 - the songstress's 20th year as a solo artiste. She last made headlines in Singapore for her starring role in Loretta Chen's 'Victor/Victoria' in November 2009, and her 12th and latest album, ‘The Best is Yet to Come', hit the shelves here just two weeks ago. It is significant in that it's her first album recorded with a big band, and the idea was sparked right here in Asia years ago, as we learn during a short interview with Fygi at the St Regis Singapore. Ours is but one in a string of back-to-back interviews scheduled for her within the day, and we're almost braced for potential reticence borne by sheer tiredness on her part. Yet when we finally meet, we are pleasantly greeted by smiles and her engaging personality. A sense of elegance seems to emanate from the dulcet tones of her speech that occasionally dips into a drawl, as she tells us, "My first concert with a big band was with the JZ All-Star Big Band at the Shanghai Jazz Festival. I thought, ‘this is nice, so much energy - why don't I record an album like that?'"

It's no wonder that she feels an affinity with Asia, and she's even included a Mandarin bonus track, 'Rose, Rose, I Love You', on her new album, which also features standards by the likes of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Julie London. She kicks off The Best is Yet to Come Tour in China and Hong Kong next month.

Asia Tatler: What was the Victor/Victoria experience like?
Laura Fygi: Incredible. It was a huge challenge for me, and something totally different from anything else I have done in my career. Working with a huge cast and artistic people - that was really great. I was familiar with the musical, so it wasn't completely new to me, but it amazed me how huge the production was. It was on the same scale as the production in the States - the décor, the dresses, big orchestra, everything.

AT: How was it compared to your own music performances?
LF: It's totally different. First of all, you're playing a character - you're not yourself. I really had to learn not to contact or interact with the audience, because that's what I usually do on stage. Loretta [Chen] came to Holland to teach me about acting. I've never worked so hard on one thing my whole life! [laughs] I don't even really prepare for my tours. I prepare the songs that I want, I make a nice set list then I go on stage and just see what happens. Victor/Victoria was hard work. My body was in agony; it was hurting!

AT: This is your first album recorded with a big band - how did the idea come about? What was the process like?
LF: In order to get the right music and the right songs that would make a connection, I chose only from the Great American Songbook. It was a different way of working, because I had these two young men doing the production and arrangement, and it was us getting together every week to talk ideas. I was very much involved in the process - more so than I have with any other album.

AT: Do you then feel closer to this album?
LF: Yes, in an artistic way. But with other albums, I also feel close to them for different reasons. I feel close to my French album because I used to speak French at home, and to the Latin one because of the years I lived in South America. They all have to have a meaning for me in order to tell a story.

"I'm more the romantic type. I like to see something beautiful."

AT: Are you still exploring different musical styles and techniques?
LF: Not exactly musical styles. There are styles that I know and they are all kind of connected to each other. It would be a totally different thing if I did hard rock or country, but Brazilian, Latin, jazz... they're sort of familiar. I do more of the smooth jazz than heavy jazz. I'm not much into heavy jazz.

AT: Who do you listen to?
LF: I don't particularly put on a record to listen to. The only times I listen to music is in the car, when I'm alone. And it's how I keep in touch with what's happening. To tell you the truth, I don't really like the music these days. The new music where there is a lot of noise and it's aggressive. It doesn't have the nice pleasant melodies that make you feel good. [sighs] I'm more the romantic type. I like to see something beautiful. So I'm not very impressed with the music these days, but thank god they're just coming and going, so I'm waiting for the right music to come again. The music I sing will never die. When I'm dead, it will still go on.

AT: Any musical heroes?
LF: My big inspiration has always been Julie London. She didn't really try to sing. She just tried to tell a story, keeping very down-to-earth. Some people try too hard to sing, you know? It's the same with a song and a story - they should both come naturally.

AT: This is your 12th album in a span of 20 years - does the process of making albums come easily to you, or do you have to keep pushing yourself?
LF: It depends on how long the popularity of that album lasts. It took three and half years between the last one and this one, for a number of reasons. I was doing Victor/Victoria, and I cannot do two things at one time, that's something I'm very bad at. I have to concentrate on one thing at a time. Cooking and cleaning and making the beds - I can do it all at once. But if it's really important, I can't. So once that was over, I was ready to sit down and think, ‘ OK, what do I want?' Then you start talking to people. You have to take your time for everything.

AT: Your album is titled "The Best is Yet to Come", so what else are you looking forward to?
LF: There are so many things I still want to do, but I just don't know when I'm going to do them. Right now I'm promoting this album and doing my tours, so it'll be a few years before I sit down again and think, ‘so what's next?'

www.laurafygi.nl