Jazz vocalist Tianna Hall calls Houston, TX home. At first blush, one might consider Houston a hub for the oil industry, barbecue, and country music, but not one for jazz. However, Houston has a long history with the music dating to the age of the territory bands and the "Chitlin' Circuit" existing between the late '20s and early '50s, a period ruled by the infamous impresario Don Robey.

The modern Houston jazz scene is dominated by a more benign but no less talented "mafia" that includes Hall's fellow vocalists Bryan Anthony Bryan Anthony
, Yvonne Washington, Melissa Darragh, Jacqui Sutton Jacqui Sutton

vocal and Danielle Reich Danielle Reich

vocal ; saxophonists Alisha Pattillo, Larry Slezak Larry Slezak
b.1946
saxophone and Woody Witt Woody Witt
b.1969
saxophone ; pianist Gary Norian; multi- instrumentalist Henry Darragh Henry Darragh

vocal ; guitarist Paul Chester and trumpeter Carol Morgan Carol Morgan
b.1968
trumpet (since transplanted to New York City). That is a critical mass of talent to be located in such a humid clime...no wonder good things grow there.

Hall has just released her fourth recording, Two For the Road (Self Produced, 2012) and is expecting her second child with husband, software engineer Matthew Hitchens. She remains busy in the Houston area, performing in a variety of venues'

All About Jazz: Houston is a rich incubator of musical talent, from Rodney Crowell to Wilton Felder Wilton Felder
b.1940
sax, tenor and Billy Gibbons to Beyonce Knowles. What music did you listen to growing up and who do you charge as your greatest inspirations once you began singing jazz?

Tianna Hall: Growing up, I was a self-confessed nerd. My first two CD purchases were together: a compilation of Luciano Pavarotti performances and the original broadway cast of The Who's Tommy (RCA, 1993). I loved musical theater and opera and poured over both genres nearly obsessively. I was also exposed a great deal to big band era music and the crooners of the Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra
1915 - 1998
vocal , age thanks to my grandparents. I think my greatest influences come not from specific artists but from these genres and it wasn't until I started studying jazz vocal greats like Shirley Horn Shirley Horn
1934 - 2005
piano , Jimmy Scott Jimmy Scott
b.1925
vocal , Nancy Wilson Nancy Wilson
b.1937
vocal , Ella Mae Morse and others, that I began to develop a jazz vocal style of my own.

AAJ: Your community of jazz musicians in Houston seem a tight-knit bunch. Besides the obvious, how do you support one another in what has to be a challenging market in which to work?

TH: We are blessed to have an amazing online social network and jazz community through JazzHouston.com. I happen to also help run the site along with fellow jazzers Andrew Lienhard and Henry Darragh, and our friend and jazz photo journalist Pin Lim. It allows us to help promote each others shows, support live jazz venues and interact socially online. I don't know how I would have ever gotten so involved in the community here in Houston without it.

AAJ: Your recordings, including Two for the Road, focus a great deal on standards from the Great American Songbook. What things do you consider when selecting a standard to perform or record? What composers of the American Songbook speak to you loudest?

TH: I nearly always center the selections around a special ballad that rips my heart out. They are most definitely my favorite songs to sing. The rest of the tunes always seem to fall into place based on what I've been performing on the bandstand night to night. I'd have to say that the composers that speak to me the most would be tough to narrow down to one: Duke Ellington Duke Ellington
1899 - 1974
piano /Billy Strayhorn Billy Strayhorn
1915 - 1967
piano compositions have so much meat, Henry Mancini Henry Mancini
b.1924
piano 's are brilliant but Cole Porter Cole Porter
1891 - 1964
composer/conductor seems to dominate more than any other composer on my four records. His lyrics are witty and/or heart wrenching and the melodies are capable of being both haunting and strange and/or uplifting and light. I think he was probably quite the odd duck and I have a feeling we would have been kindred spirits.

AAJ: On Two for the Road, you go beyond the "standard" standards, addressing more recent and disparate compositions. Radiohead's "Creep," Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" are not jazz business-as-usual. Do your regularly incorporate newer, non-jazz songs in your recitals and how do you choose them?

TH: With the first two selections, I finally felt brave enough to give a musical nod to some of the popular music from my high school/middle school days. There was very little on the radio or of the music my friends were listening to that I had even a remote interest in. These were two songs that I always found very interesting and the 10cc song was a suggestion from my bassist on this album, Agustin Bernal Agustin Bernal
. He had a great concept for it and I immediately loved it.

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