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Take Five With Sylvia Brooks

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The content of this article has been updated since its 2009 publish date.

Meet Sylvia Brooks:

Since the release of her captivating debut, 2009's Dangerous Liaisons, jazz vocalist Sylvia Brooks has displayed a gift for inhabiting different personas, with a subspecialty in film-noir inspired femmes fatale. On her fourth album, Signature, she embraces the most challenging role of all, defining herself with a set of beautifully crafted original songs. Her evocative lyrics and emotionally direct delivery imbue the music with hard-won authenticity. Whether looking back with wry affection on her walk-on-the-wild-side youth or lamenting a lost love, Brooks brings bracing honesty and poise to the material. Like on her previous album, 2017's The Arrangement, she's keeping company with the Southland's most creative accompanists. The stellar rhythm section tandem of drummer Ray Brinker and bassist Trey Henry on almost every track. And ace pianists Tom Ranier, Jeff Colella, and Christian Jacob designed beguiling, harmonically rich settings for her incisive lyrics. The cautionary tale "Red Velvet Rope" is a bit of a feint. It's set to a sensuous Latin groove by cuatro master Kiki Valera, scion of a legendary Cuban musical clan. But aside from that Afro-Cuban jaunt, she's swaying through swingtown, from the witty "Catch 22" to the passionately romantic "The Flea Markets of Paris." The two songs she includes by other artists, Melody Gardot's bluesy, organ-driven "Your Heart Is as Black as Night" and the Leonard Cohen/Sharon Robinson erotic lament "Boogie Street" seem to raise the temperature of her own work. Signature isn't her maiden voyage as a songwriter. Brooks included three impressive originals on The Arrangement, but this album marks a quantum leap reflecting years of concentrated effort. "I really worked hard on trying to make the stories deeper and richer," she says. "Each song is really a story within itself."

Instruments:

Vocals, songwriter.

Teachers and/or influences?

Growing up in Miami, I was heavily influenced by Cuban music. My mother and father were both musicians, so I was exposed to many different musical styles as a child. I also loved the original r&b music from the '70's—people like Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye. I loved Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Duke Ellington, Michel Legrand. And now, of course, as a writer, Leonard Cohen.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...

It was really never a choice. I grew up with music around me, so it was always inside of me. But I think when my dad passed away, I realized that I wanted to continue on with his legacy, which was jazz. He was a wonderful jazz pianist.

Your sound and approach to music.

To me, music has to reach people. I try to make people feel something, experience something through the melody and the lyrics. That's what I see as my job. I am a story teller, and believe the music is there to underscore the feelings and the story within that piece of work. Signature is quite a departure for me. I've written the majority of the songs, and made it a much more intimate album, using fewer pieces.

Your teaching approach

It's funny, I've had people ask me if I teach, or can I work with their voices. Up to this point—I haven't gotten into teaching.

Your dream band

I'm so thrilled with the work that we did on Signature—I feel like I've worked with my dream band! But I would like to work with Pharrell Williams, George Cables, Leonard Cohen, Vince Mendoza... there are so many people who's work I admire.

Favorite venue

I loved performing at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. It had just been fully restored, and I was able to perform on the same stage that Lena Horne had performed on several years before. It was an inner moment of recognition.

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?

Signature. I believe that it is the most intimate piece of work I've ever done.

What do you think is the most important thing you are contributing musically?

I would say that I am trying to reach a new audience of jazz likers. I want to be able to bring in younger minds. And help them to understand the value of this music.

Did you know...

That I never kill anything. Even a spider or a mosquito—I pick them up with a tissue and put them outside!

The first jazz album I bought was:

Immortal Concerts by Oscar Peterson Trio with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen.

Music you are listening to now:

Jazzmeia Horn: Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force (Impress Legacy)
Catherine Russell: Send For Me (Dot Time)
Kurt Elling: Secrets Are The Best Stories (Edition Records)

How would you describe the state of jazz today?

I think that we are in a very exciting time. Styles are blending more—allowing creativity to open up to more ideas. I love that Jon Batiste won album of the year. It's becoming more inclusive.

What are some of the essential requirements to keep jazz alive and growing?

Reaching younger audiences with something they can understand.

What is in the near future?

Well, I'm still taking a deep breath after completing Signature (it was just released on May 30th) I am starting to write again. My next album will be all originals, so there's a lot of work to do!

What is your greatest fear when you perform?

Not reaching my audience.

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Well, I've got a long way to go yet-so I haven't even thought about it!

What is your favorite song to whistle or sing in the shower?

"The Boy That Lived There" from my album. I can't get it out of my head.

If I weren't a jazz musician, I would be a:

An actor. There is some amazing work being done now. Great writing, character development, directing. We are definitely in the Golden Age of television.

If I could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be and why?

I would have loved to have joined Lena Horne, Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington for dinner. And of course Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell—to see how their minds work.

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