Season 8: From the Netherlands to Boston and Beyond_ A Conversation with jazz vocalist and Singer-Songwriter

In many ways this episode is one I really loved because it was like a homecoming of sorts as she had a journey into Boston as did I many decades earlier. Here was a woman who really knows jazz and how to sing it and has the deepest connections with some of the greats in the music. Hearing her stories about her many accomplishments (did I say she is also a therapist and psychologist?) and, above all, seeing and hearing the great achievement of her album, a simply beautiful work of art that literally appears to singlehandedly bring back the record album era made for an episode that was joyous.  This episode is what our podcast is all about.More about the magnificent Vivienne Aerts:Dutch New York-based vocalist, conductor, and composer with a focus on electronics, chocolate, and multi-sensory experience design, as well as a clinical psychologist and faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston. ( Extended bio available on her beautiful website -www.vivienneaerts.com )Social Links to Ms. Aerts and her new album: www.vivienneaerts.nl/links The story of her new album Current The journey of this album started a couple of years ago. When the world ground to a halt in 2020, I bought a small 1951 mahogany sailboat to disappear into for a while. I renamed it 'De Vouw' which is Dutch for 'The Fold'; a nod to origami, but also to folding the water when it moves. During our early outings, I quickly found out that there is a stillness on the water that could be used as a living studio. There is a natural reverb that I found appealing - it gave a very vivid signature to a recording.In the summer of 2025, we set out to record this album on that same little sailboat. I grew up in this region of the Netherlands, and water has always been around us. My husband grew up on these waters and is an avid sailor, so he knows them like the back of his hand. During this two-week process, I got to use that natural reverb that started it all, but I also learned about the wind, the sun, reeds and all the different birds around me. I learned about my own country by returning to its root: the water. And, I got to know myself a little bit better in the process; who I am, what I need, how my creativity flows, and how much of it I can actually control. Just the two of us on a tiny boat in the middle of the lake, surrounded by nature, feeling both free and strangely stuck at the same time.We traveled from our hometown Leiden, to Lake Braassem, all the way up to Amsterdam and back. Along the way, we met up with saxophonist Susanne Alt on the side of Beatrix Park, and we recorded harmonica player Hermine Deurloo in a secret spot on the canals in the oldest part of Amsterdam. We carried Adinda Meertins’ double bass onto De Vouw and drifted into the middle of the lake, where it also ended up serving as a wind blocker. We met friends and family at the small water lock in Roelofarendsveen, the mysterious photographer John Brussel, who lives hidden away in a little cabin on the shores of De Kaag, and we even found a few original Amsterdammers as well.I set out to make an album on the water, but in the end, I made an album with the water, guided by the current. Because when life becomes difficult, sometimes the only thing you can do is move with it. This album is a journey through where my music is right now, a love letter to Dutch waters, and the beginning of a new chapter in my artistry. This is me. This is Current.#jazz #vocalist #singing #kennywerner #piano #effortlessmastery #berkleecollegeofmusic #meditation #selfcompassion #selfesteem #selfcare #selfhelp #lifelonglearning #psychology #improvisation #sound #engineering #choir #chorus #women #feminism #music #alcohn #zootsims #joecohn #billieholiday #boston #nyc #digital #analog #album #shirleyhorne #dominiqueeade #ocean #sea #water #experiemental #belgium #netherlands #chocolate #bakery #baking #food #cuisine