Meet singer Liz Player, this year’s 2MBS radio’s artist in residence
Bringing scat to the stage is singer Liz Player, who at 21 says jazz is what she ‘loves to do.’ Singing for audiences from a young age, Liz has covered pop, opera and musical theatre – but has found her groove with jazz.
“I went to the Conservatorium High School, where I ended up doing opera most of the time. But simmering away in the background was this love for jazz, which was always my most natural genre,” she says. “Ever since I was young, particularly because of the improvisation element, I’ve always loved it.”
With a self-made album already under her belt, Liz is taking her career up a note, having been awarded this year’s 2MBS Fine Music Sydney’s artist in residence (jazz) award. “I feel very grateful to have been successful,” the performer says of her application. “Fine Music has a range of scholarships and different supports for young artists, but the artist in residence is an in-kind scholarship, which gives me access to all of the Fine Music facilities and recording studios.”
During the year-long scholarship, Liz will record her second album at the radio headquarters in St Leonards. The album will be supported by 2MBS promotion and marketing as part of the award. Best of all, her group, The Liz Player Quartet, will have a space to rehearse.
Liz is a fan of the popular volunteer-run 2MBS, and she’s previously been a guest on Julie Simonds’ Fine Music Showcase. Her self-made EP Liz Player Quartet Live at Foundry 616 also featured as album of the week on the station.
Her project for the year is a debut studio jazz album with her quartet. “It’s primarily a jazz album,” the Queenscliff resident explains. “But I’m hoping to bring in artists from other genres like string artists and other vocalists.”
Having spent her childhood ‘listening to lots of vinyl with my nana,’ Liz was exposed to music from a young age. “We would listen to the Ella Fitzgerald versions of all the old standards, and it was a huge part of my life,” she recalls.
At age nine, she was selected to sing as a featured artist in front of 20,000 people in the NSW public school showcase, School Spectacular. “(The event) allowed me to have big ambitions of what was possible because seeing and feeling what it was like to be a real artist that young was so inspiring,” she says. “I felt like everything was possible. If I tried hard enough, I could do it.”
Liz continued on as a featured artist at School Spectacular, and performed at venues like the Opera House and the Entertainment Centre. The singer is now in her final year of a jazz performance degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Liz even appeared on season 13 of Channel 7’s The Voice last year, with her blind audition performance of It don’t mean a thing (if it ain’t got that swing) by Duke Ellington seeing her through to the battle rounds on judge Kate Miller-Heidke’s team. “I had a very particular goal, which was to get my music out there and to bring jazz back to the mainstream view and I think I did that, so I’ve very happy about how it went.”
For now, Liz is busy preparing to make the most of her year in residence at 2MBS, and is excited to be performing at the Foundry Theatre as part of James Valentine’s Upbeat Revue on 27 April. “I can’t wait to get into it, it’ll be my biggest year of projects ever!”