I grew up immersed in jazz music, listening to Dizzy Gillespie and Max Roach on records – and sometimes live, courtesy of the local performing arts organizations. For a rural girl in Vermont, I had a great deal of exposure to excellent music. My father plays the bass and trombone, and I would often tag along with my mother to hear him play. I soaked it up.
At the kitchen table in the mornings, we would listen to the oldies station, which my mom loved, and hear great songs like “Just My Imagination” by the Temptations and Jonathan Richman’s “Sunshine.” Jazz and folk blended with Motown, and I went off to school dancing and humming.
As I grew older, I began to assert my independence….using the car radio dial. My dad worked at a great, eclectic radio station, and also listened to NPR….but I always wanted to turn the dial higher to where Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston lived. I loved those pop sounds, the predictable tempo, the huge production values!
I remember the first time I was asked to share my musical taste…. I was in the sixth grade, and I carefully labeled my cassette tapes so that they would be returned to me: “Elizabeth – 6C” (C for the name of my homeroom teacher). Clutching them tightly, I proudly displayed my favorites: Michael Jackson’s “Bad” and Tracy Chapman’s debut album. Even now, I have these tapes (and I should really download them!) and think they sum up the dichotomy that exists for me in music. I still love those pop sounds that Michael Jackson made, and the arranging is incredible… but Tracy Chapman was able to evoke just as much emotion with just her voice and guitar.
The sparse settings she chose focused the listener’s attention on her voice, and on her words. You heard her stories. I felt closer to Tracy Chapman than I did to Michael Jackson. I felt as if she were talking to me.
elizabeth! is a songwriter, vocalist, and trombonist based in Los Angeles and NYC. She has played with Michael Bolton, St. Vincent, and Matt Wilson. She strives to make songs that speak to the listener and tell a story; her new album Brainchildren came out on Canopy Jazz on November 1, 2011. See why folks like CMJ and AOL have compared her to Norah Jones and Regina Spektor by checking out her new music video.
