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Current mood:  inspired Category: Music
Whoah I knew it had been a while since I’d written a full blog but I had no idea it had been TEN MONTHS!!!
Man I’m LONG overdue…
I guess relocating to a new city and getting settled and productive has been all consuming!
So where do I begin?
I guess where I left off huh…
Okay here we go:
So after my last blog I relocated to Los Angeles, California.
I just figured it was the best place for a singer/arranger/composer/performer.
I was right! It was exactly what my life and career needed ☺
I started off by doing a show at the historic Temple Bar before it shut down.
Here are some behind the scenes pics:
My badass guitar player Mike Scott at rehearsal
and me tuning up before the show in the green room
The next day I went to see my friend’s group Kobotown perform at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena, and it was MAGICAL. It was outdoors, and there were folks of all ages, races and creeds enjoying the music in their own way. Then the whole band came out into the audience at the end and started jamming with the crowd! It reminded me of what music is REALLY about.
After that I flew home to shoot the video for my song “Heavenly” with director Erica Shallow. Here are some stills and behind the scenes shots:
And here’s the video!!!
While I was back in Toronto I did a bunch of shows. A jazz gig with Andre Brewster and his crew up in Caledon, an acoustic show at the Gibson Guitar Showroom, a show with a full band at the Supermarket in Toronto, and a short solo acoustic set for APUS at the University of Toronto. Here are some shots from the Supermarket show by the incredible photographer Dave Dickson:
Dylan Murray and Dwayne Morgan also did their own sets at my acoustic show at the Gibson Guitar Room, and it was beautiful. Dylan’s voice and songwriting are so honest and soulful, and Dwayne’s poetry and stage presence always magnetic. Thank you so much to Gibson and Nicky Lawrence for all your hard work putting that show together!
The show at the Supermarket was definitely fun too—my Toronto supporters could see how I continue to grow every time I leave and come back home to perform…
APUS stands for Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students and it’s an organization at the University of Toronto that rallies for the rights of the disabled, underprivileged and single mothers, for example, who attend the school. It was a very enlightening event. And it may have been their last, as the school was planning on shutting down their building and building a track on top of it. (Ironic, since the athletes are the most privileged students to attend the university.) There was a blind African man there who sang beautifully and played the marimba…he stuck out in my mind:
Amazing.
Next I went into my dear friend Justin Koop’s award-winning studio in Burlington, Ontario (B Town Sound) and started recording the bed tracks for my full length album. Here are some shots from the daylong session:
Daniel Stone on percussion
Joel Parisien on keys
Sekou Lumumba on drums
And at some point while all this was going on I did a bunch of string arrangements for Concord Records artist Anjulie from Toronto, with producer Jon Levine. It was really cool actually, because they didn’t have enough budget to do a full 10-piece string ensemble, so we went with a quintet of really strong players, and I actually liked the sound better than the smooth sound of a larger ensemble. It was edgier and more raw and in-your-face, because each player was miked individually so you could hear the bows hitting and pulling on the strings. Kinda like a modern day “Eleanor Rigby.” Dope. And working with Jon is always great. He always pushes me to find a better idea, a tighter arrangement, more movement, or less, if that’s what’s called for. And on the intro to Anjulie’s song “Crazy Thay Way” (my favorite) he wanted an Alfred Hitchcock kind of vibe, so we worked together on that piece and came up with something really haunting and musical. Love it! That song isn’t out yet (it’ll be on her full-length album) but you can check out one of the arrangements I did for her on her EP “Boom” which is on iTunes right now. The song is called “Love Songs” and it’s meant to be a little tongue-in-cheek ;-) When I got back to L.A. I happened to catch her live at Teddy’s, the club in The Roosevelt Hotel in downtown Hollywood and we caught a pic together for posterity:
She had Randy Jackson introduce her, and she did her sassy thing on stage with her stylish self. Go girl!
Next my musical director Morris Hayes and I got back in the lab to put together a show I had coming up in Las Vegas for a high end salon that wanted a 40s jazz theme as well as some originals. We wanted it to be super tight for them so we spent hours choosing songs and going over arrangements:
Then it was time to go home for Christmas…me and my brother’s birthday are both around that time, so we went out on the town to celebrate:
My brother is a professional golfer and one of my best buds on the planet.
His name is Peter Laws. You can look him up if you like. He’s doing his thing!
Christmas was pretty quiet, with just my nuclear family…the rest of my family has been scattered for years because of feuds. I know, it seems like everyone’s going through it…Facebook has been a cool thing though because I’ve reconnected with about a dozen of my cousins that way. Yay Facebook! ☺
Haha. It was still nice though, seeing my folks and all.
I did some overdubbing too at Justin’s studio again, in the middle of a snowstorm. We ran an old Wurlitzer keyboard through a real Leslie speaker (usually used for a B3 organ) then through an old Fender amplifier and miked that. The result was super warm but gritty, really present and analog sounding. Yeah! Joel Parisien laid down a part on my tune “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” which hopefully you’ll hear soon. Joel Parisien is a “bad motorscooter” as Morris Hayes would say. He’s off the chain…please look him up too! I’ve been a fan of his since I was seventeen!!! I can’t even tell you how much he’s inspired me…
In January we were rehearsing for the Vegas show (the date kept getting pushed back and back because it was the grand opening and they weren’t finished with construction) and we finished editing the “Heavenly” video and released it online to create some buzz. We filmed the pilot for Lisa Chamblee-Hampton’s documentary about female musicians “Herstory” at Sinbad’s ranch. I was taking hihop dance classes at Millenium Dance Studios and voice lessons with Romeo Johnson, Janet Jackson and P.Diddy’s go-to guy. (I know, it sounds like it’s off the mark for me but Romeo is actually really great! He’s been pushing me to be even better, to have more control and strength in my voice ☺) Finally on February 11th we played the grand opening of Elevenspa in Las Vegas. Eva Longoria and Mario Lopez were there on the red carpet, celebrity hairstylist Ken Paves was there donating hair and products (he’s the owner’s partner for this location too) and host Robin Leach introduced us. We started with four traditional arrangements of old jazz standards, then we went into my original stuff. It came off really well…then the owner of the ElevenSpa chain Nikki Oden introduced the sexy and stunning fashion show by John David Couture. Here are some photos from the event by topnotch photographer Denise Truscello:
Ken Paves, Eva Longoria and Mario Lopez
Ken Paves and owner Nikki Oden
Me performing with my band
And me with my mentor and musical director Morris Hayes
Anyway I had a blast. It was a real honor to be asked by such movers and shakers to launch their beautiful new spa. My dear friend LaNiece Mckay was back from Japan with just enough time to join me on the gig too, which made it priceless.
Then I was off to San Diego to headline the San Diego Indie Fest, thanks to Alicia Champion, Danielle LoPresti and David Valdez. What a gorgeous hot day and what an incredible event! It’s amazing what those women and their team make happen in North Park San Diego…
And here is some of the band in the green room afterwards:
The day after that I played the opening slot of a fun night that used to happen every Sunday in the Foundation Room at the House of Blues on Sunset Blvd up until a couple weeks ago. A group called “Hi Def” made up of a bunch of hungry and talented up and coming musicians, cover soul, funk and R&B tunes for a down to earth but hip crowd. Pretty fly…and when I did my set I felt like I was really starting to come into my own as a performer. It’s like I hit the “10,000 hours” mark that Malcolm Gladwell talks about in his book “Outliers.” It felt good. Here are a couple shots from the night:
Drinking my tea before the show
Jammin
A week or two later I was asked to sing with UK soul artist Omar Lye-fook at the Conga Room in downtown LA. We only got to rehearse during soundcheck but somehow it all worked out! It was such an honor performing with someone who’s inspired me so much since my college days…
The other vocalists that performed that night with us are spectacular in their own right, Jacob Luttrell, Laurnea Laurea and Kim Hill
Then it was back into the studio again, tracking some piano for a new song, on a gorgeous on Yamaha C6 at Robi Rosa’s studio in West Hollywood. Ooooweeeee! The files got lost for a couple days, which was scary, but they were quickly found again ☺
Jacob Luttrell then asked me to sing with him for his own show at the new spot Apple Lounge in West Hollywood where Hi Def moved their night to on Mondays. He had the same slot I had a couple weeks earlier at the House of Blues, but this time is was the grand kickoff of the event at the new location, so the promoter had a red carpet going and everything. Jacob’s one of the most incredible artists of our generation, so it was such a pleasure to be a part of his show!
Finally, only a few days ago, I played my first show at this wicked little venue here called Molly Malone’s. The sound freaking rocks there, and they’re so pro. What a breath of fresh air! It was really great…my shows keep getting better and better, so what more could I ask for? Thank you to everyone who was there supporting me in person and also to those who couldn’t make it, cuz I still felt your love ☺
Here are some shots that the lovely Kailani Bayot took for me:
So there it is. The highlights of the last ten months.
Some stuff I’ve been digging lately:
Music: Bruno Mars, Miguel, Jacob Luttrell, Little Dragon, Trevor Wesley, Trevor Hall, Jazmine Sullivan.
Books: “Witch of Portobello” by Paulo Coelho, “Dreams From My Father” by Barack Obama, “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell, “The Four Agreements” by Daniel Miguel Ruiz, “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle.
Documentaries: “In a Dream,” “Before the Music Dies,” “The Story of Stuff,” “The Secret” and “The Moses Code.”
I’m just real focused right now on becoming a better artist and person, and more free. I’ve been drawing from so many places for inspiration, including a harddrive that Morris filled with legendary musical performances. Filling myself up. Overflowing…performing and writing and recording and working it. That’s what’s up! Not without ups and downs though, TRUST ME!!! But as long as I'm moving forward, you know?
Thank you for joining me on the journey, for crossing paths with me ☺
What a blessing this life is!!!
~Jennie
7:08 AM
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