ALANIS MORISSETTE

‘JAGGED LITTLE PILL ACOUSTIC’

The sound was acoustic, but the mood was electric when Alanis Morissette returned to Glen Ballard’s home studio in the spring of 2005 to rerecord Jagged Little Pill--the classic, universally beloved and critically acclaimed album that the pair first collaborated on ten years ago. By creating Jagged Little Pill Acoustic--a brand new song-for-song rendering of the album that changed her life and the lives of countless others--a decade earlier, Morissette was daring to revisit her own history in a fresh musical light. At the same time, she was acknowledging and honoring this significant anniversary of an album that introduced a powerful new young voice to our culture. Yet even for a famously brave artist like Morissette, the prospect was a little daunting.

“As I was driving to Glen’s place, it felt awkward,” Morissette recalls. “It was almost like returning to a house that I shared with an ex-boyfriend even though I wasn’t sexually involved with Glen at all. This was like going back somewhere in your past you thought you’d never return to again, only to find that place was plentifully safe, and even fun. There is a full circle aspect in having returned.”

A lot had changed in ten years, including the artist herself. “I have evolved in many ways…I have a better sense of boundaries, a better ability to communicate--generally I’m just a lot more comfortable in my own skin,” ALANIS explains. “I also see that I have simply expanded upon who I already was in 1995, and there is a continuity between who I was then and who I am now. “Going back showed me I could return anywhere and remain intact. I hadn’t worked with Glen since 1998, but the thought of doing this record without him would have been half of an experience. For me there’s something truly poetic about the prodigal daughter returning to the studio where we originally recorded these songs and revisiting them in this way.”

“This way” turns out to be with love, ingenuity and a characteristically open rediscovery and celebration of what Jagged Little Pill meant then and what it means today. Using an eclectic group of acoustic instruments--from perapaloshka to maraca, pump organ to pianoforte--and reworking many of the song’s harmonies and melodies, MORISSETTE and Ballard have created Jagged Little Pill Acoustic--an exciting and mature new harmonic convergence. The sound is elegant and contemporary, but as passionate and powerful as ever.

“The songs from Jagged Little Pill were written and recorded in a trance, and now the opportunity for us to revisit these songs a decade later is both a treat and an act of discovery,” says Glen Ballard. “It’s a frolic for us to honor these songs with new arrangements, in a more deliberately acoustic way, and to rediscover the astonishing power of what we captured in that time and place.”

The original Jagged Little Pill was a true phenomenon.  With its global hits “You Oughta Know,” “Ironic,” “Hand In My Pocket,” “You Learn” and “Head Over Feet,” it is recognized as the best-selling debut by a female solo artist, having sold over 30 million copies worldwide, including 14 million in the U.S., and was named as “Album of The Decade” by Billboard.  The album’s influence endures all these years later. The album earned four GRAMMY Awards: Album of the Year, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance ("You Oughta Know"), Best Rock Song ("You Oughta Know") and Best Rock Album. At 21, she became the youngest artist to win the "Album of the Year" category.

For Morissette herself, Jagged Little Pill was “a life-altering event and I think the biggest piece of that was my no longer being anonymous. I already considered myself an observer of life, an observer of people and of the human condition. Then all of a sudden I was the person being observed. That was jarring for me, and there was a lot of grief involved in that my life was going to be forever altered in that way.”

Ten years later, Morissette adds with a hearty laugh, “I’m glad I didn’t jump off a bridge then. I have a lot more objectivity on why people connected with the songs, whereas ten years ago I didn’t really understand. While there was undeniably an element of planets aligning, I also see that there was a vulnerability, an authenticity and an autobiographical approach to Jagged Little Pill that was so clear and generous and courageous. I understand now why people would feel comforted by it, validated by it, supported by it and even repulsed by it. I see the sharing and touring of that album now as an invitational act. The act of sharing these songs with people publicly was an invitation for people to feel less alone, to express themselves, and to define themselves in accordance to each song.”

When she and Ballard finished Jagged Little Pill in 1995, Morissette says, “I had no expectations. I just remember really loving the record and feeling this sense of relief at finally creating a collaborative environment in which I felt fully held and understood and seen as an artist. That was such a high goal of mine--that was the pinnacle of success for me.”

With the album’s first single “You Oughta Know” leading the way, Jagged Little Pill became more than just astronomically successful, it was also an occasion for a singular sort of musical group therapy. “I do remember people saying I was putting into words and into songs what they were feeling but hadn’t yet articulated,” Morissette recalls. “So there was an inadvertent taking on of a spokesperson role. Ten years on I’m embracing that role more. In 1994, I was thinking in an egocentric way that I was the only person on the planet experiencing these things--only to realize a week after ‘You Oughta Know’ came out that I wasn’t at all alone in my experiences. That seemed both comforting and confounding.”

The album did more than make Morissette a massive star--it transformed her seemingly overnight into a spokesperson for a generation and inspired countless other artists, particularly female artists—to try to speak their own truths. Avril Lavigne recently called Jagged Little Pill “my favorite record,” while Lisa Marie Presley notes, “Jagged Little Pill broke the dam and opened a floodgate for women in rock!”   “I didn’t consciously understand or take that kind of responsibility at first,” Morissette recalls. “People started asking me, `Do you feel a responsibility to people to represent them?’ And I remember saying outrightly, ‘No, I have NO responsibility to anyone besides my self.’ On a certain level, I still feel that. However, I now feel inspired by the thought of it. In the singing of my own experiences, I can thereby put words to emotions on other people’s behalves now. The thought of inspiring other artists to be as transparent as I’ve been in their own music or art is very exciting because transparency is a concept I hold very dear. I could die happy knowing I’ve supported and inspired that.”

At the time, much was made of the anger Morissette expressed on Jagged Little Pill, but in retrospect, this seems a bit of a shallow caricature.

“The album has a visceral quality to it that people at times misinterpret singularly as rage, yet if you listen to songs like `You Learn’ or `Head Over Feet,’ there’s not an ounce of rage in those songs,” she says. “One aspect of what people were responding to was the anger--no question. But another aspect was the urgency and an explosiveness in the songs I was writing with Glen. Unplugging a song brings out a different emotionality to the songs. For instance, the electric guitar on `You Oughta Know’ makes it sound more overtly rage-filled. Broken down into its acoustic form, the vulnerability and heartbroken-ness emerges more obviously. In terms of whether my anger has ‘gone away’ as some are saying, all they’d have to do is listen intently to more current songs to see that it is alive and well, in many different forms.”

In the end, even “You Oughta Know” is a powerfully personal statement less about hurting someone than it is about being hurt by someone. “This new version really evidences that and I’m grateful because for a long time I had people running up to me on the street saying, `You hate men too.’ And while there’s no doubt I’ve had my issues with hating men, that particular song was less about my wanting to seek revenge on someone and more about my transparently showing the deep sadness of my state. It was far easier to be angry than it was to be devastated.”

Despite all that Morissette has done since Jagged Little Pill as an artist--including her subsequent releases, 1999’s Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and Unplugged, 2002’s Under Rug Swept and FEAST ON SCRAPS (DVD/CD) and 2004’s So-Called Chaos--she found it was a significant pleasure turning again through these back pages. Helping Morissette this time were members of her current touring band: David Levita on guitar and other instruments including mandolin and marxophone, Jason Orme on guitar, Blair Sinta on drums and percussion, Zac Rae on assorted keyboards and Cedric Lemoyne on bass. String arrangements are by Glen Ballard and Suzie Katayama.

Morissette--who will launch her first-ever acoustic tour in North America on June 7^th in Toronto--says that the most amusing part of revisiting these Jagged memories was relating to a few of her past sentiments.

“Any kind of lyric that moves into the realm of victim consciousness is a little challenging to me now,” Morissette confesses. “Writing these songs as a teenager, it was probably appropriate for the victim consciousness to be in full force, just in terms of life passages. But taking full responsibility has become more prevalent as I’ve grown into adulthood. So if I were a thirty-year-old still implying that I’m a victim, even I wouldn’t want to hear that!  But to hear it from a teenager or someone in their early twenties raging against the many machines is entertaining.”

Jagged Little Pill (Acoustic) is gorgeous, life-affirming proof that even though times passes and people grow up, sometimes you really can go home again.

--by David Wild, 2005

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ALANIS MORISSETTE TALKS ABOUT

‘JAGGED LITTLE PILL ACOUSTIC’

SONG-BY-SONG

ALL I REALLY WANT

“Upon revisiting this song, I realized the timelessness of it, and much of the album. Over the past few weeks, people who’ve heard the new versions have been saying, ‘Wow, there’s an element about you that hasn’t changed at all over the last ten years.’ And while some may interpret that as an insult, I take that to mean that the things I was thinking about back then were still life’s big questions. And that curiosity in me hasn’t changed at all.”

YOU OUGHTA KNOW

“Listening to the song now, I just feel compassion for the part of me that reacted in the way that I did then–that I took him leaving me that personally. That’s one thing I’ve noticed as I get older–that I take things a little less personally. But as a nineteen-year-old I made his leaving mean that I was this terrible, rejectable, horrible, useless, easy-to-throw away girl. I was just devastated. That’s what I hear when I listen to or sing that song.”

PERFECT

“‘Perfect’ is one of my favorite songs because of its simplicity. It’s about my trying to live up to expectations. And over the years, I’ve spoken to people in terms of their taking on the daughter perspective of that song, and I’ve talked to people who’ve taken on the parental aspect of it, and realizing how much pressure they’ve put on their child and how abusive and violent that can be in an emotional way.”

HAND IN MY POCKET

“There’s a sweetness to this song that I noticed in revisiting it. This version has a sweet melancholy quality that is imbued by having changed the chords a bit. I feel like this version matches where I am a little bit better now.”

RIGHT THROUGH YOU

“There’s more humor in ‘Right Through You’ than there was before.  I now see this music industry archetype as more humorous because I’m less personally involved with them or I’ve embraced that archetype within me by now. Actually, at this point in my career, the extreme version of those guys have long since been fired.”

FORGIVEN

“‘Forgiven’ has become even more relevant for me with all the political things that have gone on founded upon religious fervor. So beyond my post-Catholic microcosmic musings, it can be taken to a larger one: which is updating the information while still honoring the tradition of each religion. That’s implicit in that song to me nowadays.”

YOU LEARN

“Whenever I sing that song, I just feel like there’s a sweetness to that song, a levity, like ‘Let’s not take everything so seriously. Let’s just enjoy this trip. It’s a short one and it can be as fun as we can possibly make it.’ And me saying this is, of course, hilarious—as it was my biggest challenge.”

HEAD OVER FEET

“I basically just took that song away from the person I wrote it about and I have it mean Ryan [Reynolds, her fiancée] right now. I always think of Ryan when I now sing that song.”

MARY JANE

“As I grow into my womanhood more and more, my empathy, and love and compassion for women exponentially rises. So whenever I sing ‘Mary Jane’ it just tips the hat to that love of women that I have.

IRONIC

“For me the great debate on whether what I was saying in ‘Ironic’ was ironic wasn’t a traumatic debate. I’d always embraced the fact that every once in a while I’d be the malapropism queen. And when Glen and I were writing it, we definitely were not doggedly making sure that everything was technically ironic. It’s a testament to the fact that we didn’t think it was going to be put under the microscope by 30 million people. For me the sweetest moment came in New York when a woman came up to me in a record store and said, ‘So all those things in the ‘Ironic’ aren’t ironic.’ And then she said, ‘And that’s the irony.” I said, ‘Yup.’ To me it’s a real snapshot of a nineteen-year-old’s definition and version of how life worked at the time. All that ‘Ironic’ touches on spawned all my future inquiries into and current understandings of the mysteries of life.”

NOT THE DOCTOR

“I’ve been in many relationships--romantic relationships in particular--where I had taken on that role, and clearly I was tired of it.”

WAKE UP

“That lyric is about the inertia of being with someone who really didn’t want to take responsibility for their life and my being really confused by that. Their not taking responsibility has a consequence--it wrought havoc on our relationship. Whereas now I just think, I had every opportunity to walk away.”

YOUR HOUSE (hidden track)

“This was an afterthought song that Glen and I wrote after we finished the record. We just couldn’t stop--we wanted to keep going. Some of it was loosely based on a relationship I had with someone when I first moved to L.A. It was the only song where I expanded on the reality in a slightly fictitious way just to make it sound even more haunted. It captures how I felt when I first moved to LA and was staying at people’s homes whom I barely knew.

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ALANIS MORISSETTE
GOOD WORKS

LIFETIME TELEVISION’S “STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN”: ALANIS was honored as a “Champion for Change” Wednesday, March 9 in Washington DC as part of “Stop Violence Against Women” week. ALANIS also performed an acoustic set, as did fellow honoree Lee Ann Womack. The “Champion for Change” gala honored women and men who’ve helped raise awareness of all forms of violence against women. Other honorees included performers Big & Rich, baseball’s Boston Red Sox, Mexican-American singer Lila Dons and lobbyists Debbie and Rob Smith.

EQUALITY NOW PSA: ALANIS taped an on-camera message for Equality Now Wednesday, March 9 in Washington DC as part of “Stop Violence Against Women” week. Equality Now is an international human rights organization that works for the civil, political, economic and social rights of women around the world.

VH1 SAVE THE MUSIC FOUNDATION: ALANIS performed February 11, 2005 at the House of Blues in West Hollywood as part of the American Express Jam Sessions. Through VH1 Save The Music Foundation, the event raised money to help support music education in public schools.

ROCK THE VOTE: ALANIS performed an acoustic set at a “Rock The Vote” event October 27, 2004 in Pacific Palisades, CA. Crosby, Stills & Nash also played at the intimate, non-partisan event that raised funds to encourage young Americans to take part in the election process.  

THE PRINCE’S TRUST: ALANIS performed at The Prince's Trust charity concert July 11, 2004 in London.  Hosted by king-in-waiting Prince Charles, the Hyde Park concert drew some 85-thousand people as a benefit for a British charity that helps young people get their lives on track. Other performers on included Lenny Kravitz and The Corrs.

GLAAD AWARDS: ALANIS performed at the 15^th annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards on March 27, 2004 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor the media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.

DALAI LAMA: ALANIS gave a brief acoustic performance and introduced His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in Ottawa Saturday, April 24, 2004. In his only public appearance during his visit to Canada's capital, the Dalai Lama gave a talk entitled "Living Peace." 

“THE GREAT WARMING”:  ALANIS--along with Keanu Reeves--narrated a three-hour documentary series about climate change, produced by Stonehaven in association with Discovery Channel Canada.  “The Great Warming” is a clear-eyed examination of the science, impacts and solutions of climate change.  Shot in nine countries, this mini-series will be aired first in Canada (it will premiere on Earth Day, April 22, 2004) and then be distributed worldwide by CTV (the owner of Discovery in Canada).  Additionally, it will be distributed free of charge to developing countries by the UN agency Television Trust for the Environment. 

HYBRID CAR:  ALANIS will continue in her commitment to contributing to the building of a sustainable future on the planet by driving a Toyota Prius.  (2004)

“THE EXONERATED”:  ALANIS portrayed exoneree Sunny Jacobs in the critically acclaimed theatre production of “The Exonerated” (December 2-7, 2003).   “The Exonerated” began its journey over the summer of 2000, when married authors Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen traveled across the United States, interviewing 40 of the (then) 89 former death row prisoners.  They went as far south as Texas and Miami, as far north as Chicago and just about everywhere in between to meet the people whose stories appear in “The Exonerated.”  The interviewees were from vastly different ethnic, religious and educational backgrounds.  Their views on the world varied greatly.  The only thing they had in common was that all 40 had been sentenced to death, spent anywhere from 2 to 22 years on death row and were subsequently found innocent and freed by the state.  Their interviews form the core of “The Exonerated.”  Alanis’ website links to Sunny’s site(s).

“Puntos de Encuentro”:  ALANIS allowed free use of her song “That I Would Be Good” for “Sexto Sentido,” an educational pack of videos that are being distributed by non-profit organizations which work to educate young people primarily in Nicaragua (as well as other parts of Latin America) on issues like domestic violence, racism, women's rights, among others.  Each set of tapes includes:  nine cassettes with 4 episodes per cassette; a discussion guide; and a booklet with summaries of the stories and the themes contained in the episodes.   (2003-2004).

13TH ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL MEDIA AWARDS (The Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, November 5, 2003): ALANIS received the EMA Missions in Music Award. The Environmental Media Awards honor people in the entertainment industry who have gone above and beyond their peers in consistently including environmental practices and story lines in their work. Edward Norton received the EMA Futures Award.

P.S. ARTS:  ALANIS served as a Benefit Committee Member for two P.S. Arts events:  “Express Yourself” (November 2003) and “Jam Night” (November 2003).  For over 13 years, P.S. Arts has worked tirelessly to provide access to the arts through in-school programs to thousands of children in some of the most under-served neighborhoods in California. Recognized by local, county and state agencies as an outstanding arts provider, P.S. ARTS serves as a national model advocating arts for all students. P.S. Arts was founded as a community outreach program of Crossroads School.

COMMON ASSETS DEFENSE FUND'S CREATIVE COUNCIL: ALANIS co-founded this creative think tank with Rick Rubin, Mike D and Rob Morrow to create public actions that highlight and protect the inestimably valuable area of the environmental “commons.” The commons include the world’s oceans, rivers, roads, wild animals, democracy, electromagnetic spectrum, the internet, landscapes and soundscapes.

WWW.FIREGRILLES.COM (November 2003): The Common Assets Defense Fund's Creative Council (which ALANIS co-founded with Rick Rubin, Mike D and Rob Morrow) is supporting measures to oust Deputy Secretary of the Interior Steven Grilles, a former lobbyist for oil and electric companies whom now overseas the U.S. national parks.

EQUALITY NOW’S “AN EVENING OF MUSIC & READINGS” (New York, September 8, 2003): ALANIS participated in an evening celebrating survival and strength with Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Hilary Swank and Julia Stiles. The event raised funds, hope, courage, and resistance for women who escaped commercial sexual exploitation. Equality Now is an international human rights organization that works for the civil, political, economic and social rights of women around the world.

WE THE PLANET (Golden Gate Park’s Speedway Meadow in San Francisco, April 10, 2003): ALANIS performed an acoustic set at this festival of music, consciousness and activism, raising awareness for global environmental concerns (www.wetheplanet.org). Other artists on the bill included Bonnie Raitt, Cake, De La Soul and Concrete Blonde.

VOTERS FOR CHOICE (The Showbox in Seattle, April 8, 2003): ALANIS performed to raise funds while celebrating 30 years of Roe vs. Wade. The Voters For Choice Action Fund (VFCAF) was founded by Gloria Steinem with the sole purpose of promoting reproductive freedom as a basic human right (www.voters4choice.org).

ROCK THE VOTE’s PATRICK LIPPERT AWARD (Roseland Ballroom, February 22, 2003): ALANIS was cited for her dedication to causes making the world safer for young people, including the benefit concert Groundwork, for The Act to Reduce Hunger, as well as several fund-raisers for gun control and 9/11 relief. Along with ALANIS, Peter Gabriel was recognized with a Patrick Lippert Award, as well. Founded in 1990 by members of the recording industry, the non-partisan, non-profit organization is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression, calling on young people to recognize their role in creating political and social change by exercising their right to vote and participate in government.

RECYCLED CD MATERIALS:  ALANIS was one of the first artists to have her feast on scraps CD materials on recycled paper and Hemp & Flax, supporting these tree-free solutions.  Initially, she paid for this out of her pocket, but now it’s becoming an industry standard (December 2002). 

HBO’S “Laramie Project”: ALANIS contributed the song, “Awakening Americans” to the soundtrack for this film which recreates the efforts of a New York theatre troupe to shed light on a western town's loss of innocence following a hate crime perpetrated on a 21-year-old University of Wyoming student. The film was adapted from the acclaimed play of the same name. (2002)

RAWA--EQUALITY NOW BENEFIT CONCERT (Berlin, Germany, August 12, 2002): ALANIS donated concert tickets to the international human rights organization Equality Now (www.equalitynow.org) and RAWA (the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, www.rawa.org). RAWA is an independent political/social organization of Afghan women fighting for human rights and for social justice in Afghanistan.

FRONT ROW TICKETS AUCTIONED TO RAISE FUNDS FOR EQUALITY NOW:  Five pairs of front row tickets for every concert on ALANIS’ 2002 North American tour were auctioned via E-Bay with all of the auction proceeds after the face value of the ticket going directly to the Equality Now organization (in the U.S.), which works for the human rights of women around the world (www.equalitynow.org) in the Covent House Women’s Shelter (Canada). 

EQUALITY NOW: ALANIS performed at Equality Now’s 10^th anniversary benefit gala April 8, 2002 at NYC’s The Gramercy Theater. During ALANIS’ 2002 U.S. tour, she donated the net proceeds of ticket sales for the first two rows of seats that were auctioned off on E-Bay. In addition, ALANIS arranged for House of Blues Concerts to donate a percentage of ticket sales from the May 3 and 4 shows at Los Angeles’ Universal Amphitheatre. ALANIS also donated 50 tickets to Equality Now for each of her 2002 concerts in Germany and Holland. Equality Now is an international human rights organization dedicated to action for the civil, political, economic and social rights of girls and women. 

GAP AD: ALANIS donated her proceeds from the Holiday 2001 “Give A Little Bit” ad campaign to Equality Now.

FRIENDS OF THE UNITED NATIONS AWARD: ALANIS was presented with a “Global Tolerance Award” November 11, 2001 at United Nations Delegates Dining Room.

NOW AND ZEN FESTIVAL: ALANIS performed at this benefit for the 9/11 relief fund in San Francisco on Sunday, September 23, 2001. Macy Gray and Shelby Lynne also appeared. 

GROUNDWORK: ALANIS appeared at this benefit for the Act To Reduce Hunger, October 22, 2001 in Seattle. Other artists include R.E.M., Dave Matthews and Pearl Jam.

Music Without Borders: Alanis headlined October 21, 2001 concert at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre to raise funds for the United Nations Donor Alert Appeal, benefitting refugees of the conflict in Afghanistan. Other performers included The Tragically Hip, Our Lady Peace and Bruce Cockburn.

JOHN LENNON TRIBUTE CONCERT: Benefit for Gun Control and 9/11 relief aid, October 2, 2001 at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall. Other artists included Shelby Lynne, Moby, Lou Reed, STP. Kevin Spacey hosted.

SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT: Performed July 31, 2001 in Anchorage to help raise awareness and funds for Alaska’s environmental concerns. Formed “New Power Project” with fellow artists: Jackson Browne, The Dave Matthews Band, Moby, James Taylor, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and Mike D (Beastie Boys).

JANE EYRE: In May, 2001, ALANIS purchased $150,000 worth of tickets to the “Jane Eyre” play to keep it on Broadway, donating all the tickets to inner city youth groups (City Kids and Early Stages).

ARTISTS RIGHTS: On April 3, 2001, ALANIS testified before U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about artist’s rights and file sharing.

PROJECT ANGEL FOOD:  In January 2001, ALANIS prepared and delivered food with this organization, which provides daily free meals to men, women, and children disabled by HIV/AIDS.

MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE:  Following her 2000 trek through the Middle East and Eastern Europe, ALANIS documented visits and performances in 15 countries (including Lebanon, Croatia and Turkey) over the Internet. Young ambassadors in each country took alanis around the cities she visited on the day of her show. ALANIS wrapped up the tour with a special acoustic performance and question-and-answer session at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, which is dedicated to teaching youth the importance of accepting diversity and sharing cultures.  Funds raised from ticket sales from the event benefited the Museum of Tolerance. 

SONGS OF HOPE: ALANIS contributed to this celebrity sheet music/memorabilia auction to benefit City of Hope, November 1, 2000 in Los Angeles.

The Great Jubilee Concert For A Debt-Free World:  ALANIS performed in Rome for Pope John Paul II and 300,000 youth at The Great Jubilee Concert For A Debt-Free World to bring attention to the world’s poorest nations and the need for social justice.  (May 1, 2000). 

BRIDGE SCHOOL BENEFIT CONCERT: ALANIS performed at this annual San Francisco-area concert.  The Bridge School is a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications and through the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long educational strategies. (October 18 & 19, 1997). 

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ALANIS MORISSETTE
SOME BACKGROUND

 ? Since emerging in 1995, ALANIS MORISSETTE has become       one of the premiere singer-songwriter-musicians in contemporary music. Her deeply expressive music and performances have earned the seven-time Grammy Award winner vast critical praise and a dedicated fanbase that extends throughout the world, with album sales exceeding 40 million.

? ALANIS’ groundbreaking 1995 Maverick debut jagged little pill heavily impacted listeners, revealing a talented young artist with a powerful voice and challenging vision. The monumental success of jagged little pill--which featured hits “You Oughta Know,” “Hand In My Pocket,” “Ironic” and “You Learn”--kept ALANIS on the road for an 18-month world tour between 1995 and 1996 that started in clubs and ended in arenas. The album earned ALANIS four Grammy Awards: “Album of the Year,” “Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (‘You Oughta Know’),” “Best Rock Song (‘You Oughta Know’)” and “Best Rock Album” in addition to a “Best Video/Long Form” Grammy Award in 1997 for co-directing the jagged little pill, LIVE! home video.

 “The songs on jagged little pill are tales of a young woman determined to make her own way, inventing herself as she leaves behind childhood indoctrination, manipulative lovers, sleazy business associates and, finally, her own self-doubt.”

--Jon Pareles, New York Times, August 1995

? In 1998, ALANIS wrote and co-produced the song “Uninvited” for the The City Of Angels soundtrack. The song featured a 22-piece string section and earned ALANIS two Grammy Awards: “Best Female Rock Vocal Performance” and “Best Rock Song.”

? ALANIS returned in 1998 with the release of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which featured the hits “Thank U,” “Unsent” and “So Pure.” Upon the album’s completion, ALANIS said: “I see every recording I’ve done as a snapshot of that time in my life. I feel fulfilled when I feel the songs were inspired and representative of myself in the moment.” Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie was a worldwide success, reflecting ALANIS’ expanded musical artistry.

 “Artistically, Alanis Morissette exceeds our highest hopes on her can’t-lose new album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. The ambitious collection is her probing, shrewd, sensual and fearlessly autobiographical exploration of being young and female in the 90’s.”

--Edna Gundersen, USA Today, October 1998

 ? In 1999, ALANIS produced her MTV Unplugged album, intimately re-working her material and introducing some unreleased work before a live audience at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music. The album, which featured the single “That I Would Be Good,” focused on her penetrating vocals and creative arrangements, becoming a fan favorite.

             “Just when it seemed that this mostly acoustic series had run    dry, Morissette jump-starts it with a marvelous performance that finds her rethinking her songs rather than just replaying them.”

            --Robert Hilburn, LOS ANGELES TIMES, November 21, 1999

? ALANIS wrote and produced UNDER RUG SWEPT in 2002, creating songs by playing acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards while writing in a stream-of-consciousness accelerated way. In her Boston Herald review (February 26, 2002), Sarah Rodman called the single “Hands Clean” “a perfect Morissette tune…sung with the kind of wry clearheadedness at which she excels.”

“There’s been plenty of whining about pop’s current trend to indulge style over substance, but Alanis Morissette quells the where-has-all-the-good-music-gone bellyaching with a smart, musically eclectic disc.”

                        --Dan Aquilante, NEW YORK POST, 2/26/02

? In late 2002, ALANIS issued FEAST ON SCRAPS: INSIDE UNDER RUG SWEPT. This special DVD and CD package was highlighted by a full concert from Rotterdam, Netherlands and eight unreleased songs from sessions for UNDER RUG SWEPT, plus an acoustic version of that album’s hit single “Hands Clean.” The DVD also featured exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the making of UNDER RUG SWEPT and rare home videos.

“Morissette matters most when resisting the demons of society and herself, as she does erupting on the frantic ‘Sister Blister’ or the big, windy ‘Fear of Bliss’…’Simple Together’ is delicate and true, transforming this two-disc collection into more than curious leftovers from Under Rug Swept.  Add a DVD disc and you have odds and sods for true believers and the rest of us.’

                        --Steve Appleford, LOS ANGELES TIMES, 12/15/02

? At the same time, ALANIS has remained at the forefront of humanitarian issues, Internet technology, and music artists’ rights. She’s also contributed to the literary world, writing the forward to the book “Conversations With God For Teens” (by Neale Donald Walsch).  Additionally, she has written articles from various magazines on a range of women's issues.

 ? ALANIS’ universal appeal has led to a unique connection with fans and extensive worldwide touring. During her precedent-setting summer 2000 trek through the Middle East and Eastern Europe, ALANIS documented visits and performances in 15 countries (including Lebanon, Croatia and Turkey) over the Internet. In most regions, a young ambassador escorted ALANIS beyond the usual tourist attractions to see historical, cultural and political sites while sharing native customs and beliefs. ALANIS wrapped up that tour with a special acoustic performance and question-and-answer session at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, which is dedicated to teaching youth the importance of accepting diversity and sharing cultures.  Earlier that same year, ALANIS performed in Rome for Pope John Paul II and 300,000 youth at The Great Jubilee Concert For A Debt-Free World (to bring attention to the world’s poorest nations and the need for social justice). ALANIS’ worldwide travels also brought her to Cuba in 1998 on a cultural exchange journey whereby North American artists had the chance to meet the people, including students, of that country.

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