Part-time student. Full-time skyrocketing jazz star.
That's the story these days for Sophie Milman who rolls into the Living Arts Centre Friday night.
Milman has been trying to finish off her BA at the University of Toronto St. George campus while maintaining a touring schedule that will see her on the road for nine months between May 2007 and May of this year.
"It's insane," says Milman of her schedule. She was just another commerce student at U of T until her career took off in mid-term, so to speak, thanks in part to the tutelage of Mississauga's Geoff Kulawick and his Linus Entertainment label.
The singer has been traipsing across North America and Japan, touring to support Make Someone Happy, the jazzy-poppy-folky album that just picked up Vocal Jazz Performance of the Year honours at the Junos.
Milman is now following her dream, singing in the same halls as Sarah and Lady Day and Ella and Carmen McRae, the latter her personal favourite.
Despite her great success to date, Milman shows no signs of inflated ego disease, a common affliction in her trade for youngsters such as she (25-years-old) who take off very early.
"Why not be humble? Look who I'm listening to," she says referencing the aforementioned singers.
In order to finish her degree, the Russian-born, Israeli-raised Milman has been doing a half-year special study course in economics. She was allowed by her prof to get one credit in economics by doing six months of research and producing a 60-page paper. Yes, she aced it.
By the end of this year, her academic career should be over. Her singing one is already nicely launched.
The DVD of her concert appearance at The Montreal Jazz Festival, which was recently on Bravo Television, is now being edited for a September release. She goes back into the studio for her critical third album in the fall.
When we talked on the phone last week, Milman was still abuzz with the energy of the Ron Duquette-produced Feelings From The Heart: The Mayor's Valentine Tribute to Oscar Peterson, also at LAC.
Like all of the performers that night, she was extremely nervous in paying tribute to Oscar. Needless to say, she needn't have worried.
She sang Tenderly (both the song and the style) with the inestimable Oliver Jones (photo) and then closed the show with a rousing version of Sweet Georgia Brown with the all-Mississauga rhythm section of Pat Collins on bass, Sly Juhas on drums and Nancy Walker on piano.
Milman's touring band includes just about everyone on Make Someone Happy including Walker's husband, Kieran Overs.
"I still can't believe he's in my band. He's a Canadian legend, just a monster player," says Milman. "The rest of the band is a lot younger. It went so well in the studio we thought 'Why not ask Kieran to be part of the band?' But he had great teaching gigs and a lot of good gigs in Toronto so we didn't think he'd say yes. But he agreed and it's been an amazing experience.
"He has a positive nature and brings a lot of warm energy. He's really calmed things down," she says.
Walker, the recent winner of the Keyboardist of the Year award in the National Jazz Awards, is in Emilie-Claire Barlow's band. Overs is in Milman's. The Port Credit couple are clearly both front-runners in the Instrumentalist-Most-Likely-To-Be-Backing-The-Next-Diana Krall sweepstakes.
There won't be any losers in that contest.
You can hear Milman's take on all things jazz when she is interviewed by Ralph Benmurgui on Jazz-FM, Thursday morning at 8:40 a.m.