Name	Vonda Shepard
Height	5' 8"
Naionality	American
Date of Birth	7 July 1963
Place of Birth	New York, USA
Famous for

For Vonda Shepard, her five-year run with Ally McBeal was a thrill, a matchless opportunity … but also just one stop on a journey that, in some respects, has only just begun.

On Chinatown, her new CD scheduled for release by Jacket Records on September 24, the quintuple-threat singer, songwriter, pianist, producer, and actress reminds us of what earned her a role on the phenomenally successful TV series in the first place. All that she's accomplished, from hustling solo gigs in Hollywood nightspots to racking up more than 12 million worldwide album sales that include more than quintuple platinum sales of Songs From Ally McBeal, comes from a marriage of work ethic and talent that's as rare in music as it is in any endeavor.

That's what makes it possible for Vonda to look at life after Ally and see nothing but smooth sailing ahead.

"What I did before Ally McBeal was write songs, record albums, and tour," she explains. "And during the time that I was on the show I kept very focused on writing. I learned so much working on Ally but at the same time I dwelled in a parallel creative universe with my writing."

Fact is, Chinatown wouldn't be all that it is if Vonda's life had scaled down to running on a weekly TV treadmill. These songs are about real life -- high points and heartbreak, lost opportunities and moments of sweet fulfillment. They're also about the mirror world that we all carry within ourselves -- private places, where dreams nestle even as storms rage outside.

Vonda models the stories of Chinatown on her own experiences, and sets them to a soundtrack that's challenging and accessible at the same time. Dizzy rhythms spin a tale of contradictory romance on "Gyroscope," while muffled drums keep time as a misty panorama drifts through "In July." A scent of adventure perfumes Vonda's evocation of "Chinatown" … but across town, in the bar of the "Sunset Marquis," she sings to the seat beside her, empty except for the memory of absent company.

As the stories change, so do their accompaniments: The infectious, straight ahead pop of "Rainy Days" yields to a hive of electronic texture on "My Whole World," autumnal strings on "Rain Or Shine," and ultimately to Vonda alone at her piano, wondering at a love as ephemeral as clouds on a "Promising Grey Day."

"One of my goals when I write is to create a world of my own in the music," she says, "to capture a space where I can feel completely lost. I love nature, and I love the city, and I try to fuse these two extremes."

Vonda credits producer Mitchell Froom as an invaluable partner in bringing these landscapes to life. Froom, whose studio credits include Crowded House, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt, and Los Lobos, is no stranger to her music; their work together on two of her previous albums, The Radical Light (1992) and By 7:30 (1999), laid the foundation for their seamless teamwork as co-producers on Chinatown.

"Mitchell is one of the most brilliant people I've ever met," Vonda insists, "and musically we complement each other really well. When I write songs, I don't just strum or play chords; I work out as many details as possible. Mitchell understands that, so when I put a little counter-melody into one song, he'll enhance it or pull it out in some insightful way. Although it was great to work on my own as producer of the Ally albums, it's also a great pleasure for me to step back and watch a master like Mitchell at work."

For several weeks, as preparation for Chinatown, Vonda and Mitchell went through pre-production on each song. Whether finessing fine points of a chord voicing or leaving open space for improvisation, they primed the material, gave demos to her longtime guitarist Val McCallum to study, and recruited Vonda's band members Pete Thomas, drummer for the Attractions, and veteran bass player Davey Faragher, to record on four of the album's tracks.

"After so many years of working together, Val, Davey, Pete, and I have almost a psychic connection as players," Vonda says. "Our history made it easy to capture the feel that Mitchell and I were going for on these songs."

Chinatown also features six performances by a rhythm section comprised of Vonda, Mitchell, Val, and two musical legends. "I'd already worked with
[drummer] Jerry Marotta and [bassist) Tony Levin on 7:30," Vonda says, "and I love the work they'd done with Peter Gabriel. So we flew them out to Los Angeles and got them involved as well.

"We recorded the entire album at my home studio," Vonda continues. "The band would come over around noon, we'd sit in my backyard, in the tiki hut, and have cappuccinos, and then we'd get to work. At night we'd bring in dinner, eat together in the dining room, have a glass of wine, and then go back and work until 10 or 10:30."

In this homey setting the rhythm section, augmented by Mitchell on keyboards, worked briskly, laying down complete tracks for a song a day. With Val and Mitchell versed on each arrangement,
the other musicians worked from scratch,
playing their parts with fresh energy. The results could be unpredictable, as when Jerry started improvising the patterns that formed the rhythm bed for "Gyroscope." On every track, the band finds the perfect complement to Vonda's writing and performance.

The skills that produced Chinatown grew through a timeline filled with hard work and a bloodline rich in talent. The daughter of artistically gifted parents, Vonda began playing piano at the age of six; by age fourteen she was practicing more than six hours a day and playing local gigs in Los Angeles. As a seasoned 21-year-old singer and keyboardist she hit the road with Rickie Lee Jones, and shortly after that dueted with Dan Hill on his top-ten single "Can't We Try." High-profile work with Jackson Browne, Al Jarreau, Julia Fordham, and other headliners further polished her chops.

In 1989 Vonda recorded a self-titled debut disc, the first of her nine albums. Some slid into circulation on major labels; others were released on Jacket Records,
the label that Vonda co-founded with her manager Gail Gellman. All helped build a reputation in southern California clubs that led directly to TV producer David E. Kelley's decision to hire her as musical producer and featured singer/songwriter/actress on Ally McBeal.

With Chinatown we taste not only the flavors of Vonda's accomplishments -- we also savor hints of what is yet to come. "Over the last year and a half I've said no to everything except Ally and to writing Chinatown," she says. "I love slice-of-life movies about the small problems and joys that real people have, and I want to get even more of that into my music."