Gretchen Parlato: Quiet Revolutionary

Ian Patterson

Senior Contributor since 2006

Ian is dedicated to the promotion of jazz and all creative music all over the world, and to catching just a little piece of it for himself.

Recent articles (404 total)

Published: June 27, 2011

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AAJ: You were the first vocalist ever to be admitted to the Thelonious Monk Institute; how did that feel to be the sole singer there, and do you know if any other singers have been admitted since?

Gretchen Parlato Band—© Gretchen Parlato
From left: Dayna Stephens, Alan Hampton, Gretchen Parlato, Kendrick Scott

GP: I was the first vocalist and then they had another singer, Johnaye Kendrick, who did the program a couple of years ago. So there's only been a couple. Because they hadn't had a singer I think we were all wondering how this was going to work. You know, how are we going to cater to the instrumentalist's mind and the vocalist's mind? What are we going to add or subtract to make this equation work? That whole program, whether you're an instrumentalist or a vocalist, becomes very revealing and transformative. It almost feels like you're in therapy, [laughs] a daily therapy, where you kind of break down before you break through. You end up being a much different person on the other side of it after the two years.

I was the only singer and the only female so there were different energies, but it was really just trying to figure how to speak the same musical language as everybody, and figuring out how to learn from each other and how to respect each other, and give and take. In the end we figured it out. With that ensemble it took some time to gel together, but you need to be a band very quickly and there was no leader in that band, which is why it took some time. But if you make it through the whole program, you 'll look back on it and realize that it was one of the most transformative experiences as a musician and as a human being. You do a lot of soul-searching in there, that's for sure.

AAJ: Coming back to The Lost and Found, another beautiful track is your interpretation of pianist Bill Evans "Blue in Green," which got its wings with Miles Davis on Kind of Blue (Columbia, 1959). You seem to share a lot of Davis' brittle lyricism in your singing, has he shaped your approach to music much?

GP: Oh yeah, absolutely. There are many hugely influential artists but he's definitely one of the most influential as far as his tone, his phrasing, his sense of space and when to lay out. He's the perfect example of every note serving a purpose. Nothing is ever throw-away, and less is more. There is a lot we can get from listening to and analyzing his music and his whole philosophy. It's really fascinating to me. Those lyrics are beautiful' they're written by Meredith Ambrosio. Her whole connection with "Blue in Green" is poignant, the emotion, the metaphors; the lyrics are really exquisite. I've heard other lyrics to that song but hers really spoke to me.

AAJ: You take a lot of inspiration from the jazz heavyweights we've already mentioned, and yet your music sounds very contemporary, and I don't just mean the Mary J. Blige number, but rather your approach to music in general. Is that fair to say?

GP: Absolutely. I think a lot of us in the jazz world in this day and age have the same mindset where we are influenced and have come up with the greats and are following in their footsteps but we are also listening to all kinds of music of different genres which also speaks to us. It's fun and challenging for us to think of opening up the repertoire of jazz. Songs like "All that I Can Say" or "Holding Back the Years" are the new standards, you could say. Jazz is a wonderful place to be, because there's room for forward thinkers like Robert Glasper and there's room for the traditionalists too. There's no reason to compare; there's space for all of that in jazz right now.

AAJ: You have recorded a lot as a side-woman, and there are a couple of interesting collaborations of late. First up, your singing on saxophonist David Binney's Graylen Epicenter (Mythology Records, 2011); in a recent All About Jazz interview, Binney said he wanted to put the musicians on that record in a comfort zone where he knew they'd feel ok; did you feel like you were in a comfort zone or did you feel he really pushed you out there?

GP: It makes me laugh if David Binney says that was a comfort zone, because when he gave me the music for this album there were times when I thought, "I don't know if I can do this." I was getting nervous and wondering if I could sing that but he was always "Yes, you can. I know you can do it." He was almost like a coach to me. And he was right. I ended up where I focused and worked really hard. What I love about his writing is that there's a level of intellect which is so advanced but then there's always something emotional about what he's saying. He never ignores the human element of music. I'm thankful that he asked me to be a part of that album.

It was not a comfort zone necessarily, though I will say the comfort lay in the fact that I am comfortable singing those horn-like parts. It was more of a challenge, to blend with the different horns. There's a different placement if I'm trying to blend with David Binney or blend with [trumpeter] Ambrose [Akinmusire] or [guitarist] Wayne [Krantz]. It's always really fun for me to get really analytical about where's the placement in the resonance and what syllable and vowels should I use. I hope people are aware of that album because I think it's really fantastic.

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