Mar 11, 2005
What is the extent of your musical education — self-taught or formal structured training?
I did mostly choral work from grade through graduate school I never went to music school, and never took many individual lessons for voice Mostly, I have elaborated and extrapolated from choral work, and learned from recordings, on the stand,...
Mar 10, 2005
You Mention Mark Murphy and Jon Hendricks. Would you elaborate on those and other main Jazz singing influences?
Mark is certainly the door through which I found out about the broadest range of Jazz singing possibilities By this I mean that Mark distilled a great number of things which preceded him, and then showed how one could point them in the...
Mar 09, 2005
Can you cite one instance that you would say marked the beginning of your career?
I would say accepting a gig playing for the door at Milt Trenier's, a basement club at Fairbanks & Ohio in Chicago This was during graduate school, and it meant the beginning of not studying for school & instead boning up on the Jazz life I did...
Mar 08, 2005
Speaking of graduate school, how do you think your divinity studies have influenced your work?
I should specify a bit regarding my graduate studies I was at the University of Chicago Divinity School reading the Philosophy of Religion, which is a specialized academic category of study which lies somewhere between theology and straight...
Mar 07, 2005
What do you like to give an audience?
All of us in the band are of a mind to give the highest quality musical experience we can - to play and so to communicate to the best of our abilities I want people to be surprised, to be moved, to laugh, to remember something important they...
Mar 06, 2005
What is the difference between vocalese, scatting, and ranting?
As I say, vocalese was invented by Eddie Jefferson, and is the writing and performing of a lyric which has been tailored to fit the lines of an instrumental solo from someone else's record Eddie fell in love with Charlie Parker records He...
Mar 05, 2005
Whitman’s ‘Leaves’ Turned Into Music
When pianist Fred Hersch set out to compose an extended piece inspired by Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," there was one specific voice he had in mind Though they had never worked together before, Hersch conceived of his most ambitious project...
Mar 05, 2005
How did you first start ranting, and do you still do it in concert?
I was doing wedding band things at the same time as the Milt Trenier's gig and also after that On these gigs, we'd be in the middle of "Isn't it Romantic" or something like that, and the leader would come up while I was singing...
Mar 04, 2005
How do you choose which songs go on a given record?
Things are very organic for me and for my collaborator, Laurence Hobgood Often times, there is a year or more between studio dates In that time, we will have been on the road, had a million experiences, and probably written some new songs,...
Mar 03, 2005
You mention your collaborator, Laurence Hobgood. Would you elaborate further on your working relationship with him for us? How do the two of you go about writing a song together?
I have to say that Laurence is fully 1/2 of the equation for success in my/our career He is a super-genius player - virtually omnipotent at the piano He is gigantically gifted at hearing and composing melodies and harmonies We've been...
Mar 02, 2005
How did the two of you meet and begin collaborating?
Laurence claims that he remembers meeting me when I was still working for Affordable Movers, and was scamming a free meal at the Hyatt where he was playing piano The first time we met in a musical setting was at the Mill, where Laurence was the...
Mar 01, 2005
Leaves of Grass: The Fred Hersch Ensemble
For Leaves of Grass, pianist/composer Fred Hersch has set the poetry of Walt Whitman to music Without a doubt that this is a very great record Hersch's compositions, which showcase the singing of Kurt Elling (mostly) and Kate McGarry, are jazz,...