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INTERVIEW | Vocalist Adi Braun Talks About Cole Porter, And Singing With The Rose Orchestra

By Anya Wassenberg on January 23, 2025

Vocalist Adi Braun (Photo: Eric Moniz)
Vocalist Adi Braun (Photo: Eric Moniz)

Vocalist and songwriter Adi Braun will be focusing on the works of Cole Porter for her upcoming concert with The Rose Orchestra in Brampton. The concert will take place on February 8 at the The Rose Brampton Theatre.

Braun has released several albums, but Night And Day (The Cole Porter Songbook) is the first to be devoted to just one composer. We caught up with her to talk about the music.

Why Cole Porter?

“It’s a really good question,” she says. “I go, well, why not? What’s not to love?”

Since making the switch from classical to jazz years ago, Braun has always had Cole Porter songs in her repertoire, and had recorded a few as part of other albums. On her 2023 release Night And Day (The Cole Porter Songbook) on Alma Records, she devoted a whole album to his works.

“Cole Porter really ranks for me, as a vocalist in this genre, so extremely high,” she says. “I guess in modern times, you know if you think of Broadway, Stephen Sondheim comes to mind.” But, from the 1920s and 30s to his big come back in 1947, Porter was king of the Great White Way.

“I find his lyrics and music, there is such a respectful marriage between what came out of him lyrically, poetically, and what came out of him musically,” she notes.

For songs, there’s always the question: which came first, the words or the music? “For me, when I’m asked, it’s the rhythm or music that comes first,” Braun says of her own songwriting. Porter’s lyrics were so clever, and so apt, though, it’s possible that they may have come first. “He was a wordsmith.”

Certainly, he had his finger on the mores and politics of his day. Classically trained, he came from a wealthy family who didn’t approve of his adventures in the music business. He was also a gay man, necessarily closeted because of the era, but who had many lovers quite openly — as well as a wife who he cared for.

“I’m fascinated by the story that he and Linda […] they were each other’s soul mate.”

His fascinating life resulted in musicals that still connect to modern audiences. “He can be at once, a gamut of human emotions — completely vulnerable, passionate […] sarcastic, cheeky, sexy.”

“One of my favourites on the recording is In The Still of the Night,” she says. Her inspiration on her take came from the 2004 Gershwin biopic titled De-Lovely, and starring Kevin Kline. “He sings [it] one notch above a whisper, and it’s so delicious,” she says. “There’s such fragility in it.”

Ultimately, Porter’s repertoire is satisfying for a singer both artistically and interpretively. “It was hard to come up with 10 of my favourites.” Though each song is different, of course, the throughline is Porter’s humanity. “He does a psychological study on humans, and also about human behaviour. All of these songs are rich with it.”

It allows for deeper and varied interpretations of the songs. As she points out, songs like Love For Sale have been covered by several great female vocalists, and while the lyrics can be seen as problematic, Adi chose to interpret them as something empowering. “I think that’s why artists return to Porter’s songbook again and again.”

The Concert

Braun worked with musician and producer Don Breithaupt to record the album with a small chamber orchestra. Breithaupt returned to the project to orchestrate for The Rose Orchestra, a much larger ensemble at 50 to 60 members.

“It’ll be broader,” she says of the concert performance.

The new arrangement makes its premiere with The Rose Orchestra and conductor Samuel Takho Tam . They’ll be performing the album in its entirety for the second half of the concert. Also returning from the album is the quartet of Don Breithaupt on keyboard/piano, Pat Collins on bass, drummer Mark Kelso, and William Sperandei on trumpet. “These lovely lads were on the recording.”

  • Find more details about the concert, and tickets, [HERE].

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