First, what inspires you?

In the past, as well as currently? For me inspiration comes in so many ways. Sometimes it’s another song, a moving scene in a movie, or something very authentic like a child laughing, a couple holding hands absolutely in love, or me experiencing profound sadness or joy. I think inspiration is all around us. We just have to open our eyes and invite her in.

What did you want to be when you were five years old?

At 5 years old…even then…I still wanted to be some kind of doctor, musician, poet, and painter. With a natural curiosity about everything, I always got records and stethoscopes. I oil panted by number, sketched, and played on the ancient TRS-80 DOS computers. And then eventually I got the microphones from radio shack that you could set to a frequency on the radio and sing over the radio. Wow…memories. Remember those?

How long have you been in love with music?

I’ve been in love with music probably before this lifetime. That’s the only explanation I have for the way we found each other again. After high school, I neatly placed music in the corner. I was going to engineering school, and nothing was going to stop me. I was aiming to get a good job and have a secure future. So I gave up clarinet, saxophone, and even the keyboard I had played for so long by ear. For almost 8 years, that keyboard traveled with me, from Nashville, to Milwaukee, to Philadelphia, and eventually back to New Orleans. It was at that point, in 1998 that I realized if I didn’t use my gifts, I would lose them. I think intuitively we all know this on some level, but the realization that we have something unique that no one else has is often hard to contemplate and accept. For me, the fear of losing the gifts I had taken for granted was greater than the fear of failure or anything else.

How long have you been singing?

I’ve been singing since I was a kid. I grew up singing in my church choir. I was always horrified that I would get picked for a solo….I laugh about it now, since I’m usually center stage. I remember just singing all the time, belting out these gospel (and secular) songs by all the gospel greats like Tremaine Hawkins, Shirley Caesar. It’s what my mom listened to. I really didn’t think I had any kind of a voice until recently. Aretha Franklin, I am not. Who would listen to me, I asked myself. I thought, “Hey I’ll play piano. That’s my forte.” And then I challenged myself to pick up a microphone and sing a little while I was playing in restaurants. Little did I know people would gravitate to my voice even MORE than my piano playing. It kind of made me giggle and even smile inside…but did they know it was only a dare I made with myself?….Needless to say I haven’t stopped singing.

Why jazz?

I think most musicians – piano players anyway – either start in classical, gospel, or jazz. Because I didn’t grow up playing piano in the church and I didn’t have access to classical training as a kid, jazz hit me as an adult. I actually quit classical lessons after a while because it was too confining for me. I love the feeling, improvisation, and freedom of jazz. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of purism in the genre and if you don’t fit within a certain mold or sound, you’re not really playing jazz. Couple that with a heap of sexism you’ve said a mouthful. What is it about the genre or yourself that moves you to produce it? I’m working hard to divest from the jazz label. It’s hard not to categorize yourself as something. The music industry requires it. I started out as a jazz musician, but naturally, I’ve evolved into something more than just jazz as I have found my voice. Taking away the jazz label has allowed songs like “When The Levee Broke” to come forth. So I’m working hard to continue to evolve as an artist and let the music happen.

Where were you when Hurricane Katrina hit?

When Hurricane Katrina hit I was in a place called Enterprise, Alabama. A group of us, we called ourselves the Village, all held up at one of our families homes. It was quite an experience from the reality of what was going on in our city and only being able to hear about it and see it from the radio, to text messages from people we knew still in the city, etc. Most of us were scattered from our families. My brother stayed since he was a police officer. My partner at the time had no idea where most of her family was including her mother. I think it became yet another defining moment in my life much like most people in our parent’s generation remember exactly where they were when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, I’ll never forget that time and what it stirred within me.

What is it like going back to New Orleans now? Wow that’s a tough question to sum up…how much time do you have?

I’ve been going back to New Orleans for 2 years now starting right before Hurricane Rita. I chose to come back and live, rebuild, and wait for instructions. The first time I came back into the city shortly after the storm was really intense. The destruction was still everywhere. The saying “it looks like a tornado’s been through here” really made sense to me. We always casually use the saying, but it took on another meaning when I reflect back on it. Being able to travel outside of the city has helped some, but coming back is always something else. Most of the time the airport is quiet and lonely - a sign that tourism is not yet back. There are neighborhoods still depopulated. There are so many systems not working in the city right now. Look at us, our city, combine it with a natural disaster and then look at your own city and imagine a government that doesn’t work. What do you think it would look like? So many people feel abandoned by the government. The irnony is our flooding was caused for the most part, by the government. Ours was a man-made disaster. New Orleans could be any city in a natural disaster away in the United States.

"When the levee broke” is a song you wrote in testimony to your experience in Katrina. Many New Orleans musicians are using their talents to promote awareness about the hurricane and its aftermath. Is the public hearing you? (Clarification: Do we understand your words correctly? Do you feel as though your music and your effort are understood?)

Well, I think there’s a short and long way to answer that. In short, yes, musicians from New Orleans are definitely being heard. Some have even gained more popularity, and rightfully so, since the storm because of musicians being exiled in other cities and blessing the city with they’re talents. However, and this is a big however, we musicians are just one part of a larger wheel. I think the nation is not hearing the people of New Orleans as a whole. Most people here don’t feel like there’s any support for them and their efforts to rebuild their lives, homes, and spirit. So we, the musicians are just one of many voices desperately seeking to be heard.

Contemporary musicians (particularly in R&B and rap) have faced recent scrutiny for the content of their material, since the situation with Don Imus and his usage of the term “nappy headed hoes”. In your opinion, where is music headed?

I can’t really tell you where the music is going. It’s going to go where the music listeners and musicians/artists collectively decide to take it. We do this with our dollars, our attention, & our respect for the music that is created. Who’s paying attention? Definitely record companies, advertisers, etc. What’s hot is what sells, whether it’s good artistically or not. For example, how does a song like “Chicken Noodle Soup” do so well you ask? We all like a little smut in our lives. We read People Magazine and then we read “The Color Purple.” We are complex people with complex tastes and needs. Additionally, the music world is as polarized as politics and often our music is rooted in our politics or lack thereof. I just hope we can elevate each other and not tear each other down at the end of the day. Do you….make your music…..make your hustle, but let’s not tear each other down. There are too many forces – monetarily and otherwise – keeping some artists from making any different choices. Media is powerful and so is the money it brings. It’s alluring, it’s sexy, and sometimes, fame and money themselves bring power. But if we can’t think and analyze beyond that, we are no better than creatures operating at a survival level. I still believe in the power of art and music. I still have hope that music listeners and music makers will co-exist. Bottom line is, we can’t support music that doesn’t support us. It was much easier in the past because there were more options on the radio and music overall was just more authentic. How else do you explain the amount of oldies radio stations that never seem to play the same songs in a day.

What is music today lacking? Can it be saved?

Well I guess that depends on what music you’re referring to. I think there’s a lot of great music that continues to be made. And then I think there’s a lot of lazy, unimaginative music being made. The bigger question is who will save the music listeners. Record companies have done a fabulous job of confusing the masses. Our ears have become to accept the business of music with the art of music. The same producers are making most of the music we hear on the radio. That’s why a lot of it sounds the same. So we get used to hearing the same thing and almost looking for the same sound. And then a lot of these same producers are coaching the artists to sing the same way. Are you familiar with the new R&B cadence – that talking-singing kind of rhythm a lot of vocalists are using? It’s annoying at best and sad at the least. You’ve heard it; you just may not have realized it. That’s why it’s so amazing when someone comes along who can break that mold. We don’t even realize that that’s what we’ve been missing on top 40 radio…. original vocalists and musicians. The only thing that will save the music is the ability of the music consumer to reach beyond top 40 radio, to seek out good independent artists who pursue their craft, actively purchase their music and not try to find new ways to get it for free. Musicians and artists have to make it easier for avid music listerners to find them amongst the minutia of the thousands of websites on the Internet. We live in a microwave popcorn society that expects everything to be fast, user-friendly, and affordable or even free.

What obstacles (if any) have you faced as a black musician? A female musician?

Of course there’s lots of sexism, and even some racism which shows up in this commoditization sort of way. Even women artists have trouble with the concept of joining forces for a greater cause. That’s why you don’t see many all girl bands. Someone always wants to take all the spotlight. No one wants to be a part of the team. Most people don’t expect artists to be able to conduct business, understand music law, or know their rights. To be a woman producing your own music and being a band leader like myself has definitely had an impact of my life as a musician. There’s so much patriarchy and chauvinism. I find myself usually working with progressive thinking (or read as well behaved) men or women. Capital is always a challenge. So I look at creative ways to get product out and to diversify myself. If you’re not willing to that kind of work, you’re not going to have much longevity. The days of just showing up to rehearse or sing at a gig are over. There are just so many artists making great music. One has to learn how to diversify and market oneself regardless.

What are your hopes for your music?

I think my hopes for my music are similar to artists in general. I’d like my music to be heard. I want my music to heal, motivate, inspire, incite like the wild women artists I admire like Nina Simone. My goal is to write songs that people have to talk about….e.g. Girl, did you hear that song? I think the mark of a great song is in its timelessness, its ability to conjure up an experience, emotion, and make the listener feel essence, a good song can open doors, and open hearts. Just listen to many something. In movies coming out now. It’s no accident that a lot of the scenes are married to a great song.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

In five years I’d like to be wiser than I am now, wealthier than I am now financially and spiritually, and more experienced than I am now. I don’t want to have too many expectations, but no matter where I am in life, I’m sure I can work towards these goals.

What advice do you have for The Coup Magazine readers?

Support independent artists. If art dies, then so will a part of each one of us. Don’t underestimate the value or quality of your support even if it’s buying 1 single song on I-Tunes or an artist’s website. You never know what it can do to encourage an artist to continue to create. Get a passport, keep it up to date, and travel somewhere new as often as you can. Each time I travel outside of the U.S. I learn more about the country I live in than when I stay in my own backyard. Question it all…..run the other way from the pack. Think…think….think…..get some fresh air everyday. Treat yourself like a queen; don’t wait for someone else to do it. And most of all enjoy the time you have now in the present.