ABOUT ME
As I look back over my career as a singer, I see clearly now that reaching the point of doing a solo album has been a lifetime journey beginning, apparently, when I was an infant. My mother often recalled those times when she prepared my bath, and the sound of running water invariably elicited melodic humming from me. She also remembered stopping to greet people as she pushed me in my stroller and hearing some of them remark, somewhat amazed, “that baby is singing!” It was not, however, until one day just prior to my sixth birthday, while singing on my grandmother’s front porch, that I first became conscious of my own voice. From that point onward I thought of myself as a singer, though several years would go by before my first opportunity to sing publicly: at age 11, I appeared as a soloist with the Florida A & M University Men’s Chorus in a televised performance of the Appalachian Carol “I Wonder as I Wander.”
I believe making music is primarily a spiritual endeavor holding the power to inspire and transform both the performer and the listener. As a creature of music, I am unable to imagine a world without it and am equally unable to imagine myself not singing.
Give me songs that express deep feelings and pay tender tribute to love, such songs whose beautiful melodies, harmonies and rhythms somehow mirror their lyrics, and encourage reflection, serenity, and optimism; these are the types of songs that move me and provide the platform from which I seek through my singing to move others. The path leading me from early childhood to these markers of my musical taste traversed an eclectic landscape of music genres – Popular Standards, Rhythm and Blues, Negro Spirituals, Gospel, Classical, Blues, Country, and Show Tunes. Each of those forms has contributed substantially to my artistic make-up.
Over time, however, I have come to understand the type of music best suited for my voice and temperament. Although I have achieved some competency in several types of music, I have no doubt about the primary direction my singing is to take. I am very much drawn to mid-twentieth century popular music and am captivated by the style, and warm vocal beauty of such artists as Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, Edith Piaf, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Perry Como, Dinah Washington and Frank Sinatra. Although they each have their unique vocal timbre and singing style, they are one in conveying that special “something,” which speaks fluently and persuasively to the heart.
My recently released CD, Try to Remember, a true labor of love, contains nine of my favorite songs. Although they were written long ago, the sentiments they express are timeless, and I approach them not as relics celebrating the past, but as still beautiful songs that movingly evoke the universal human aspiration to love and be loved. The exquisitely inspired piano arrangements and performance of Harding Epps capture each song’s elevated mood, delivering the creative foundation upon which the other instrumentation is built. Eric Tunison, Groove Tunes Studios owner, engineer and producer extraordinaire, brought together the group of additional very talented musicians heard on the album. I am eternally grateful to each of them for their contributions, which were critical to the creative success of this project. For “When You Were Sweet Sixteen,” Eric conceived the violin, played by Daniel Butman, as the single and natural complement to Harding’s piano, the two instruments forming a warm duet that echoes musically the song’s tender expressions of undying love. The superb string arrangements for the other songs were created by the great Vel Lewis, who recently finished his latest CD “Colors of Soul,” a powerful “mixture of rhythmic songs for the Groove Jazz listener.” Bob Lewis arranged the horns and woodwinds and is heard playing the trombone, trumpet, flute and piccolo. The saxophone, clarinet and oboe are played by Cary Brague. Cellist Gail Burnett enhanced the emotional depth of the orchestrations, and Joe Reda’s bass guitar added solid rhythmic support to the percussion instruments. Brian Stephens is heard on drums, and Bob Santoianni provided the bongo and other rhythm instruments for “My Prayer.”