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 Thursday, April 5, 2007 9:52 AM CDT |
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Getting her just due
BCPA to host jazz singer Dianne Reeves
She's been a queen of the jazz-singing hill for two decades now. But it took an A-list fan's admiration to bring four-time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves to the masses in a really big way. Her admirer: actor-writer-producer-director George Clooney. The occasion: his 2005 one-man movie show, "Good Night, and Good Luck." From the evidence on screen, Clooney clearly knew what he was looking for when he hand-picked Reeves to provide his acclaimed Edward R. Murrow chronicle with its mood-setting aural vibe. His aunt, after all, is the late Rosemary Clooney, one of the great vocal stylists of the '50s, the decade in which his Murrow saga exists. Reeves plays the unnamed jazz singer who periodically dispenses soulful, after-dark renditions of standards like "One For My Baby" and "Solitude." Her vocals do as much to anchor the film in its period as does anything else on view, from the black-and-white cinematography to the uncanny Murrow portrayal by David Strathairn. "That opened up a lot of things for me that had never come way before," admits Reeves, a child of the '50s herself (born in 1956, in fact, part of the time frame covered in the film). And it will doubtless be responsible for attracting a segment of the audience who will experience her for the first time live next weekend at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts (8 p.m. April 13). Anticipation is running high for what should rank among the definitive B-N musical offerings of the year -- an understandable expectation for an artist routinely cited as the young century's premier female jazz singer. "I think Dianne's the legitimate extension of all the good things that have gone on before, from Ethel Waters to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah [Vaughan] and Carmen [McCrae] ... She is earth mother, lover, she is the hurt child; she manages to get inside each one of those things," jazz vocalist Joe Williams told Down Beat magazine a decade ago. In an interview from her home in Denver, Reeves says that "all the music in the film was selected by George Clooney so that it became part of the storytelling. The thing I loved more than anything about it was that I could deliver my lines just like the actors." Though her on-camera time is spent singing as cigarette smoke envelopes the film's moody monochrome world, she isn't just aural wallpaper. The lyrics she so eloquently phrases are there to provide a running Greek chorus-style commentary. "I was singing to the audience with the lyrics I love," she says. "And I loved it that I was handed a script (by Clooney) so that I would have an idea of what was going on. I also loved it that the music was so intelligent and that this was a very timely and important film that will continue to be around." Would she consider more work along those lines? "I would LOVE to do more acting," she says, adding, "with some small roles." Certainly, Reeves didn't need that stroke of "Good Luck" to seal her reputation. For the first half of the 21st century, she was on an unprecedented roll, setting a Grammy Awards record in the process: Her Best Traditional Female Jazz Vocalist wins in 2001, 2002 and 2003 make her the only singer to have won that award for three consecutive recordings. Then, after a three-year break from winning, she took home the award a fourth time last year for the "Good Night, and Good Luck" soundtrack. "It's great!," says Reeves with obvious appreciation. "Especially considering that I'd received a lot of nominations (prior to 2001), but no wins, up to that point. I think there were seven in all." For someone who'd been performing professionally since jazz great Clark Terry asked her to sing along with his band at age 16, this was anything but an overnight brand of success. All dues had been paid in full. Terry's invitation came in the wake of a childhood of nurturing from her musical family, which included her parents, her Denver Symphony uncle and, especially, her well-known cousin (pianist-producer George Duke). Though born in Detroit, Reeves was reared in Denver by her grandmother following her father's death when she was only 2. "I think the biggest thing I received from my family was the idea that it was OK to be an artist," Reeves says. "They were very supportive of me -- always very right there -- and made me realize what I wanted to do." Emboldened by that bedrock family support, she forged ahead. "By junior high school, a very difficult age, I found I could sing, and that it was powerful, and that not only was it affecting people around me, it was also affecting me: it made me feel strong, and it was something uniquely mine. It saved from a lot of things." Someone who knew the great things that were in store for her was the aforementioned Clark Terry, who heard the teenaged Reeves sing at a high school music festival. He was impressed and became a major mentor, inviting her to perform with his band in between her school assignments. "I met a lot of great musicians at an early age as a result," Reeves says. "And they stayed in touch and recommended me for other things." In 1976, Philip Bailey, a member of one of the era's top R&B groups, Earth, Wind & Fire, invited her to Los Angeles to join a new side group he was forming. She went, she joined, she sang. She also left a year later, feeling that jazz, not pop or R&B, was her true calling. "It was music that demanded not only that you find your own voice, but that you study and become masterful at what you do ... and learn to communicate in this powerful language of improvisation," Reeves says. "Plus I had my own ideas and I didn't feel like being in a group was going to allow me to realize them. I wanted to be out on my own." In the 30 years since, there's been no turning back. She spent a chunk of the early '80s collaborating with the likes of Harry Belafonte and Sergio Mendes, "who introduced me to the world, and showed me that the whole world loves this kind of music." Belafonte, in particular, taught her how "to be on a stage and conduct myself in a way that my voice would shine and people could hear who I am. He taught me about simplicity and lyrics. Before that, I loved my voice as an instrument, but I didn't understand that I needed to connect it to something greater -- my soul, which is the true voice." When she became the first vocalist signed by premier jazz label Blue Note Records in 1987, her solo career was launched on its definitive course. It continues, 17 albums and countless awards later, to this day, with no loss of momentum. Reeves promises a healthy sampling of that entire spectrum in her BCPA concert next weekend. Beyond the "strong" likelihood that she will offer up "Good Night, and Good Luck's" most requested anthem, "One More for the Road," she's loathe to make any other specific promises. "I don't plan my sets prior to going on stage. I just call out the music when I get a feeling for what kind of journey the audience wants me to take them on." That free-form approach "makes every show more exciting ... more of a unique experience," she says, adding, "the one thing I can promise is that we'll be speaking to everyone's hearts, minds and feet." At a glanceWhat: Dianne Reeves with The Dianne Reeves Trio When: 8 p.m. April 13 Where: Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, 110 E. Mulberry St. Tickets: $23 to $36.50 Box office number: (866) 686-9541 Reeves in review• Birth date: Oct. 23, 1956 • Origins: Born in Detroit, raised in Denver • Family musical ties: Father sang, mother played trumpet, uncle played bass with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, cousin was an established pianist (George Duke) • American idols: Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae • Early mentor: Jazz trumpeter Clark Terry, who asks a 16-year-old Reeves to join his group (she does, while still a high school student) • Invitation she couldn't refuse: From Philip Bailey, of R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire, who invites Reeves to Los Angeles to sing for a new band he'd formed (she does, a year into college ) • Moving on: Leaves Bailey's group after a year because she wanted to sing jazz more than R&B • Crucial alliances: Forges extended performing relationships during the '80s with the bands of pianists Billy Childs and Sergio Mendes, and singer Harry Belafonte • Date of note, pt. 1 In 1987, Reeves becomes the first vocalist signed to premier jazz label, Blue Note Records; her first hit, "Better Days," earns her the first of many Grammy nominations to come • Date of note, pt. 2 In 1992, she leaves Los Angeles and returns to her Denver roots, where she remains embedded to this day • More Grammy nominations: "Quiet after the Storm," 1995; "That Day," 1997; "Bridges," 1999 • Record Grammy wins: Becomes the only jazz singer in Grammy history to win three consecutive awards in the same category (Best Jazz Vocal Performance), for 2001's "In the Moment: Live in Concert," 2002's "The Calling" and 2003's "A Little Moonlight" • Widest exposure: Playing the TV studio jazz singer whose voices carries the mood throughout George Clooney's Oscar-nominated 2005 film, "Good Night, and Good Luck" (which also earns Reeves her fourth Grammy win) The boys in her bandProviding Dianne Reeves with bedrock musical support at her Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts concert will be her critically hailed touring trio, each third of whom, she reminds us, is a major jazz figure in his own right: • Peter Martin, piano, musical director, 35: Raised by classically trained musician parents, Martin began his musical journey on a likewise path, studying violin and piano at age 3, no less. After his schooling, he moved to New Orleans, where he forged his reputation in jazz, both as a solo artist and sideman. Not only does he currently serve as Reeves' pianist and music director, he has arranged and/or co-produced her most recent albums. • Reuben Rogers, bass, 32: A tip-off to Rogers' status in the jazz community can be gleaned via his current CD, "The Things I Am," which features an all-star band lineup that includes David Gilmore on guitar, Joshua Redman on sax, Nicholas Payton on trumpet and Aaron Goldberg on piano. Barely into his 30s, he's already amassed a resume of 60 album performances. • Gregory Hutchinson, drums, 36: Began his career as teen sideman for trumpet great Red Rodney, then forged youthful associations with the likes of Betty Carter, Joe Henderson, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman and Ray Brown. In addition to his touring gig with Reeves, he also drums for Harry Connick Jr. and rapper Common. 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