Anaïs Reno: Jazz Prodigy’s Secrets to Reviving Classic Hits

A Fresh Take on Timeless Tunes

What makes Songbook Ink special is that everything we create is inspired by midcentury artwork and the timeless lyrics of the Great American Songbook. Each design reflects these classic tunes, and every item includes an exclusive music download, recorded just for us, on our signature tune tag.

The musicians and artists we collaborate with are very special to us. Every month, we give one of them our “Off Beat Questionnaire” and let them answer as much as they like. This month, we’re thrilled to feature jazz vocalist and composer Anaïs Reno.

Based in New York, Anaïs has been performing since she was eight and has already made a remarkable mark on jazz. She’s won awards including the Forte International Competition Platinum Award, the Mabel Mercer Award, and the Julie Wilson Award. She’s graced venues from Carnegie Hall and Birdland to the Edinburgh Jazz Festival, collaborating with acclaimed artists like Emmet Cohen, Peter Bernstein, and Gary Smulyan. With recordings celebrating the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Anaïs continues to captivate audiences with her extraordinary talent. And

 

now, here’s Anaïs…

If you could only wear one outfit on every gig from now on, what would it be?

My answer can go in a couple directions depending on whether this is a theoretical dream-outfit or one I already own. Either way, it would need to work at the most fancy and the most casual events. I would be quite dressed-up since I’d need to be able to wear it to a sing at a gala, and the performer can get away with being overdressed at a more casual gig. If I had the wealth and dry-cleaning budget, my biggest fantasy would be to wear a long Oscar de la Renta stained-glass dress. If I could sing in one of those, I’d be content to never wear anything else. 

 

What other music do you listen to (if any)?

I listen to quite a bit of music that isn’t strictly jazz. The genre-label is less important to me; if I like the artist, I’ll listen on repeat. Those I return to the most consistently include Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Madison Cunningham. 

What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you during a gig? Or what has been your strangest gig?

For the record, I do not find someone losing consciousness and being carried out of the room on a stretcher funny, but that did happen while I was singing “Lush Life” at Chris’ Jazz Café in Philly. 

If you had to choose a completely different career path, what would you do?

I would and still now want to be a writer in some way. I love writing lyrics for music-related contexts, though if I weren’t a musician, I would write prose and realistic fiction stories as well. If I were to delve outside the artistic field, I would be a marine biologist. When I was a child, I made my mom read marine biology encyclopedias to me before bed, despite not understanding anything they said. There is something about that topic that has always intrigued me. 

What’s one of your go-to songs to sing in the shower or car?

For years, I have interrupted moments of silence by singing “Everybody Wants To Be a Cat” from the Aristocats. 

What’s the weirdest thing someone has ever said or asked you after hearing your music?

Someone I’d never met said, “you sounded great, but word of advice: your shoes are too sparkly for the stage and I spent the entire show looking at your feet.”

Red or white? Or cocktail?

I pretty much only like drinks that taste like juice, so fruity cocktails that hide the alcohol are the way. 

What’s one thing on your bucket list that you’re absolutely determined to check off?

I would like to hold an otter and not freak out about it. Otters are my favorite animal, so I’m not scared of them at all, but I can imagine myself not being able to touch them, should the opportunity arise. I have a strange uncanny-valley inability to understand that animals I’ve never seen in real life without a screen between us are real, and I usually can’t bring myself to touch them. It’s a city-kid thing and I would be devastated if it kept me from holding an otter. 

What was your first gig?

I must have been around 8 years old when I got paid $25 to sing a Christmas tune (not entirely sure which one) at a bar in Brooklyn. I thought the main singer of the gig was so cool, and looking back at how inviting he was to me, I’d love to get in touch with him soon.

Ok call us crazy but we kind of think Taylor Swift is the new ambassador of the American Songbook (Songbook 2.0 we’ll call it). Think about it – from the start, the Songbook was inspired by modern-day life and people loved the songs because the tunes spoke to their everyday lives, thoughts, and problems. That’s pretty much what Taylor is doing, right? And music is always changing to reflect the world around us. Anyway, do you agree?? Or does this idea seem like blasphemy?? Or is there another artist you think fits the bill for this?

If the new ambassador of the Great American Songbook is to be an artist whose music is inspired by modern-day life and speaks to listeners’ innermost problems, most great composers would fit the bill. However, I think a big part of what gives the Great American Songbook its identity is the practice of playing the tunes in a variety of ways, generally unattached from one original interpretation. I imagine that people may reinterpret Taylor Swift’s songs, but they are still very much Taylor Swift’s songs. If I’m singing “It’s De-Lovely” by Cole Porter, I’m aware of how he intended it to sound, but I’m not particularly concerned with replicating how Ethel Murman originally sang it; I wouldn’t say that the song is hers and hers alone. Maybe some people approach Taylor Swift’s music this way, but I don’t think it’s a defining quality of her catalog and her fans’ relationship to it.

Anaïs + Songbook Ink

Anaïs is part of our “Swinging In The Holidays” album, “Swinging Christmas Countdown” advent calendar, and sings “Carry Me Back To Old Manhattan” in our coffee tumbler set.

Looking for more of Anaïs’s music? Start https://www.anaisreno.com/