TOrcH
Seela started singing before she could talk.
OK-maybe at the same time. Seela would entertain her mother as she cooked in their Toronto home by singing along with radio hits of the then 1970s.
KC and the Sunshine Band, Neil Sedaka, Helen Reddy-
A love of pop singers continued throughout her growing up:
Sting, Bowie, Chrissy Hynde-
But it wasn't until the early 1990's when Seela came to Austin and witnessed a Jazz Pharaohs happy hour at the Elephant Room that she fell in love with swing. These were pop songs alright, just from an era long before her time, and she loved it.
She started showing up at all their gigs. They played four nights a week.
They thought she was crazy.
She thought they were brilliant.
Soon they asked her to sit in. Eventually she was hired on gigs including SXSW showcases and Kerville Folk Festival performances.
Though she has fronted other bands, (The Brannen Temple Group, the Jazz Pharaohs) TOrcH, with Max Roach-esque Jon Greene on drums and Kenny Burrell-on-a-stick guitarist, Chris Vestre is the first jazz project she is proud to call her own.
TOrcH recorded and released their first full length CD, "Sounds for Staying Home" in 2001. They were featured in the best of Austin Top Ten list, and performed at South by Southwest Music Festival to a packed house. "Sounds for Staying Home" also found it's way to Buffalo records in Japan with whom TOrcH has now sold over 6000 records world wide without ever leaving Texas.
The second recording from TOrcH, "Before the Night is Over" was released January 2004. Captured live to two track in 3 Texas Autumn days in an all wood painting studio, this recording contains, in addition to standards, songs written by guitarist Chris Vestre and Seela.
This collaboration solidifies this group's creative muscle. The originals are songs you'll swear are standards that you just can't name, but with subtle pop-sensibiliy and phrasing. Songs about whiskey, God and everything in between are seamlessly nestled amongst dramatic, lovelorn ballads like "Get Out of Town" and "I Fall in Love too Easily". Originals like the vocalese "High Maintenance" and the let's-stay-up-all-night "Nowhere Elese to Be" are steeped in bop, with loose, playful melodies that get stuck in your head.
And then there's that voice.
Described as "...jaw-dropping..." (Terry Sawyer, PoPMatters), Seela lays down a powerful purr to lull you into inebriation, and keeps you coming back for more.
The group's latest CD, "Charmed" was released in the Spring of 2007. Once again combining originals with standards (and a cover of Austinite Jud Newcomb's "Night of the Arrival") has proven to be the band's strength. Herolded as "...a beautiful peice of work." (Jim Beal Jr., San Antonio Express News), "Charmed" was produced by TOrcH. With a few tracks recorded live at the Elephant Room and the rest at TopHat Studio in Austin this album delivers a healthy dose of the "...blissful romance" the band is famous for.