Anna Yaphe Levine

Apr 17, 2012 12:24 PM EDT

So Anna, with regard to your question: "I was wondering when you're on stage is every step planned or are you improvising. Do you always know why you're doing something."

When I am scheduled to do a show, I plan as much as I possibly can in advance but once "in the moment", I just go with it, changing and improvising everything to suit the vibe I am getting from the audience.

Otherwise, my set lists are carefully planned to take the listeners on a journey with ups, downs and the occasional left turn strategically placed. These days I also keep lyric sheets (large print!) on the music stand though I rarely refer to them. They're there to deal with the occasional "brain fart". As for the music itself, there is definitely some "play" (this is Jazz, after all!) there but not nearly as much as my talented musicians are comfortable with. As I learn more, I "play" more ("play" in this context meaning straying from the written melody and rhythm). All this "playing around" can result in some lovely new licks and rhythmic ideas the culmination of which you can hear in some of my recordings at www.jazznlaughs.ca and on my upcoming CD to be released this fall.

- Ilana Waldston, singer, entertainer, comedienne, M.C.