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“
SOME CRITICS CALL
ME A JAZZ SINGER
AND OTHERS CALL ME
A BLUES SINGER, BUT I
THINK OF MYSELF AS A
SOUL SINGER BECAUSE
WITH EVERY SONG I
SING I AM BARING MY
SOUL 100%!"
-Sweet Baby J’ai
nson
by Craig Joh
T
his year Sweet Baby J’ai
highlights her genre-defying
work at Palm Springs
Women’s Jazz Festival – Dinah
We e k e n d , w h i c h b o t h
embraces and expands jazz and
tradition. She’s been a creative force on
the music scene for over 25 years and it’s
been an eventful period. Full of surprises
and a seemingly inexhaustible energy, J'ai
commands the stage like few others. She
brings that energy and a wealth of
creative experience to the role of musical
director for the Palm Springs Women's
Jazz Festival. Sitting at her piano on a
cool Sunday morning, J'ai took time to
share some of her stories and field
questions about music, family and her
plans for Dinah.
GC: Where did you get your name,
Sweet Baby J’ai?
SBJ: I get asked that question quite
often. Most people think Sweet Baby J’ai
is my stage name or the name of the
band. It was actually my nickname
growing up. According to my father I
was the sweetest child ever born
[Laughter], but like most nicknames
they stay home when you go off to
college. After all, you can't pretend to be
grown when people are calling you
Sweet Baby! It was just about the time I
started working professionally as a singer that
my mother died suddenly. I was devastated. I
was in my mid twenties and I was lost without
her. When I came out of my grief-stricken funk
I decided to reclaim my name because it
reminded me of my mom. Now, whenever I
hear it I smile and think of family.
GC: When did you know you were going
to be a singer?
SBJ: I wanted to work in music as long as I can
remember. I started out wanting to be a guitar
player in a neighborhood band. I traded in my
beautiful little red bass for a 12-string guitar. It
was my first attempt at playing guitar and I
couldn’t figure out how to play the 12 strings so
that dashed my hopes of being the lead
guitarist in the band. I was trying to fight the
stereotype of the “girl singer”. I was on a
mission to find an instrument to play. I thought
it would be much hipper to be the cool guitarist
chick. In those days I could play a little violin;
I had studied it for a year in third grade
[Laugher], but my chops were rusty and that
didn’t cut it with the band. I couldn’t play the
drums, couldn’t play that damn 12 string and
had given away my bass! The only spot left
open was the one at the mic. I took it. I
played around at music for a while until my ex
convinced me that I should really start to think
seriously about singing as a career and get
some professional training. I didn’t appreciate
Educational Theatre Institute; we
produce and direct plays and workshops.
I’m a hard working woman. At this very
moment I am in the process of
producing a major jazz festival, a
children's play and writing music for a
new cd and my upcoming Caribbean
concert, all while trying to keep my
partner engaged because she hasn’t seen
much of me this year. [Enormous sigh] There are a lot of sacrifices I had to
make in order to keep doing what I love
to do. It’s not easy trying to juggle family,
career and finances. I am completely
blessed that my partner can travel with
SBJ & Dave Iliff Reboboth Beach Jazz Festival
me because I couldn’t do any of this
without her support. I have a beautiful
family that I love to spend time with,
and when I can’t be at home with them
sometimes they come to me. My son
and daughter (his wife) will occasionally
bring the kids to my shows. They both
are learning the piano and baby girl is a
natural born percussionist; she started
banging on dinner plates when she was
only 8 months old!
GC: What is the best and worst
musical experience you’ve ever
had? SBJ: Actually, I have one situation that
SBJ teaches air guitar in Rehoboth Beach Photos by Carolyn Watson
answers both questions simultaneously. I
think it was John Keats who said, “Nothing
that I was going to be “a real singer” until I got ever becomes real till it is experienced.” Well,
paid for my first gig and I realized I could several years ago I was offered a last minute gig
make a living doing what I loved to do. Then for a week in Mammoth Lake between
it was on!
Christmas and New Year's. I had to do a pick
up band, which meant that I had to hire a
GC: Were you one of those kids whose group I had never worked with before. parents had them sing for the dinner Normally, that would not be a problem, but
guests? b e c a u s e t h e s e g u y s we re n o t d i re c t
SBJ: How did you know? [Both laugh] My recommendations (I knew a guy who knew a
“Our Gang” group of neighborhood kids put guy who knew some other guy that
on plays for our parents.
I would write recommended them), it wasn’t a good idea.
musicals and assign the kids their parts. I think The drummer was cool, but the bass player
I wrote my first song when I was five or six was completely zoned out of his mind on
years old, “My Man Left Me To Be Free”. My drugs, I don't even think he knew where he
mother was none to happy about it either. I was. The piano player was an angry Baltic guy
would sing every one of the television who didn't read music, he didn't know any
commercials, drum on the dinner plates, and standards and he didn't play the blues. He said
make up songs about everything my brothers he was studying avant-garde jazz: jazz with no
did, which often got them in trouble. The form, no chord progression and no rhythmic
more I think about it I was actually one of meter. [Laughter] Usually I love a challenge
those kids whose parents had to bribe them to and will always work my way through it, but
baby...all I could think of was, “Help me, I
keep from singing.
have a week of this!” On the third night, lo
GC: What do you do when you’re not and behold, in walked one of my best musical
experiences the great cool daddy, Joe Sample. singing? SBJ: It depends on what time of day it is. He was so outraged that he took it upon
[Laughter] I wear so many different hats and himself to fire the band on the spot and just he
every so often I tap the top of my head to and I played together. I had a hip, slick and
figure out which one I’m wearing on that wicked rest of the week. It was definitely a
particular day. I’m a producer, arranger, memorable musical experience in both ways. composer, writer, educator, actress and
facilitator. We have a company called the GC: You’ve shared the stage with some
other great luminaries such as, Melissa
Etheridge, Etta James, Jill
Scott, Tom Waits, Koko Taylor,
Patrice Rushen, Sheila E.,
Stanley Turrentine and the late
Nel Carter and Eddie Harris.
Does anyone stand out in
particular?
SBJ: I learned something of value
from each one of them. I could
literally go on for hours talking about
the fascinating and extremely
talented people I’ve worked with, but
off the top of head some of the fun
stuff I remember is challenging
Melissa Etheridge to a washboard/
guitar duel at a party. I did a spoons
duet with Herbie Hancock at the Playboy
Mansion, shared a cabin in the woods with Nel
Carter at a Women’s Festival because both of
us refused to sleep in the tents they provided
for talent.
We kept each other up all night. I could hear
her screaming in the other room at every
shadow and creature...same as me.
His
soaring saxophone solo inspired me, so I
jumped up on stage and traded spoons/sax
fours with John Handy [Trading fours is a jazz
term which means that two soloists 'trade' four
bars each].
John Handy & SBJ / Central Avenue Jazz Festival
GC: When you play music at home who
do you listen to? SBJ: It depends on my mood. Of course I
love Billy [Holiday] Ella [Fitzgerald] Sarah
[Vaughan] Nina [Simone] and Frank
[Sinatra]; all the old greats, but I also listen to
Herbie Hancock, Dixie Chicks, Alicia Keys,
Bruno Mars, Rascal F latts and Amy
Winehouse. Despite growing up listening to
70’s Masters, Sly and The Family Stone and
The Funkadelics, I came to appreciate Indian
music and listened to Ravi Shankar. I’m an
avid music lover with very diverse taste. All of
the artists on my playlist have elements that
draw me to their music. There are some
singers and musicians that I'm constantly
Sweet Baby J’ai and Jeff Littleton (playing Uncle V’s bass) in the film,
Bessie, Billie & Ruth
learning from. I incorporate many different
styles into what I do and I am always reinventing myself. That’s the beauty of jazz - its
juxtaposition of the expected with the
unexpected. I refuse to be put into a box. I
play washboard and spoons in a traditional
jazz setting. On any given occasion you may
find me in a pair of cowboy boots playing
Jazz-Zydeco or in a gown fronting an
orchestra...it’s all good, it’s all jazz and it’s all
me.
GC: Frank Sinatra said Billy Holiday
was his greatest musical influence. Who
was yours? SBJ: That would be my Uncle “V” [Vernon
Gower]. He was a bassist with many wellknown artists such as Billie Holliday, Lionel
Hampton, Dinah Washington, T. Bone Walker
and others. He was known for his trademark
smile, as “Smilin’ Vernon”. Whenever I went
out on the road he insisted on giving me little
money to “hold me over”, even though I told
him I didn’t need it. But he wanted me to
have it because he remembered what it
was like when he was a traveling
musician. It was very sweet. I visited
him and my aunt Ted regularly and we
would sit and talk about the glory days
of Central Avenue. They had some
wild stories to tell.
GC: When did you come out as a
lesbian? SBJ: I officially came out on my first
Olivia cruise. I felt comfortable enough
on stage to yell out "Hey everybody, my
name is Sweet Baby J’ai and I am a big
ol’ Lesbo! I actually cried at hearing me shout
it from the stage. People in the audience
started laughing and then crying, we laughed
and cried together. I don’t actually recall
singing that much, but it is one of the most
memorable performances for me.
GC: Have you had second thoughts
about that decision? It probably cost
you a lot of money.
SBJ: Music has always been a labor
of love for me. It’s a lot of hard
work. You have to be focused and
dedicated. You don’t go into jazz
thinking about commercial success. This is not the music of triple
platinum record sales; my sales are in
the thousands not the millions. It’s
not about money. I love what I do
and feel privileged to be able to do it. That said, I would be fooling myself if
I didn’t admit that I paid a price for
coming out, but I have no second
thoughts. How much is your sanity
and dignity worth? Living in a dark
closet surrounded by a bunch of cash doesn’t
sound that appealing. It’s all relative, I have a
good life; I make a good living and do what I
love to do. It doesn’t get too much better than
that. Yes, I could do a lot of things and help a
lot of people if I had more money, but my
decision to be who I am is worth it’s weight in
gold.
GC: How excited are you about the PS
Women’s Jazz Festival?
SBJ: Are you kidding? First and foremost I’m
a jazz singer, having a jazz festival at Dinah
makes my heart soar. This is something that is
missing from the Dinah landscape; a respite
from the all night raves, and pool parties for
the twenty-something crowd. Don’t get me
wrong; those parties help make Dinah Week
one of the premier destinations for Lesbians all
over the world. And when I was in my
twenties, I loved it; went to some great parties
and made some great memories. The Dinah
divas have it going on, they know how to put a
party weekend together. But for all the women
who just don't do that scene anymore, the
Festival is a cure for the blues; a celebration of
Photo by Nicholas Wilson
women by women – sophisticated and fun! You
can see a dinner show, a movie, have jazz by
the poolside and blues and brew too. I'm very
excited and thrilled.
GC: How did you get involved with the
festival?
SBJ: I thought it would be a brilliant idea to
bring a jazz festival to Dinah. I've been talking
about it for a long while and finally convinced
promoters, Lucy and Gail that there is a
demographic being ignored during Dinah. No one is addressing the needs of women
feeling left out of the scene and golfers who are
too tired from being on the green all day to
dance all night (although we do have after
party dances that go into the wee hours for
night owls like me). This is a huge undertaking
and not one that you jump into with blinders
on. Lucy and Gail have produced musical
events for women in the desert and around the
country for over ten years and I have produced
shows for nearly twenty years. Combine that
experience together with a great team of
supporters and you have the makings for a
great festival. I'm also responsible for bringing
in national and local talent and I promise to
deliver one of the best world-class lineups in
women's jazz today!
GC: What’s the point of a women’s jazz
festival?
SBJ; The Palm Springs Women's Jazz Festival
celebrates the musical history and contribution
that women have played in jazz. The Festival
emphasizes stylistic and thematic diversity of
women in jazz by featuring straight-ahead
jazz, contemporary jazz, Latin jazz and blues.
There is this unwritten subtle presumption in
the jazz world that female musicians are
s o m e h ow l e s s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e
complexities of the genre. This festival
demonstrates the variety of professional
instrumentalists, composers, and arrangers that
help put that myth to bed. Dinah has a very
diverse group of women who visit Palm
Springs every year and we want to give them
Nel Carter & SBJ at Windy’s Hope Fundraiser
that said “Jazz is a relic.” What about
that?
SBJ: [Big laughter] The Mayans said that the
world was ending on December 21, 2012.
Well, I'm still here! [Laughter] And I still work
all over the world at jazz festivals, venues and
concerts so maybe we didn’t get the memo or
read that article! Jazz may never again be the
popular force that it has been in the past, but
it’s still swinging hard. There is beautiful
music being created, you just have to know
where to find it. GC: Women seem to be moving to the
forefront in jazz with bassist Esperanza
Spalding winning a Grammy for Best
New Artist in 2011 and drummer Terri
Lyne Carrington winning Best Jazz
Vocal Album for her Mosaic Project. Is
this a true reflection of what’s
happening with women jazz musicians
today? SBJ: Alicia Keys said it best, “Girls on Fire!”
If you are asking if women musicians are
inspired by those wins the answer is a
resounding yes! Yes! In choosing bassist-singer
Esperanza Spalding as best new artist, the
Grammys highlighted the tremendous
versatility of jazz. Jazz has the ability to affect
pop listeners and hard-core jazz enthusiasts,
alike. That’s what Terri Lyn’s Mosaic Project
brought to the table, a collaboration of women
and styles. It’s right up my alley; it’s what I
love to do. Women doing what they love to do
and being recognized by their peers for their
efforts inspire us all.
GC: Terri Lyne Carrington and Patrice
Rushen are your Saturday night
headliners at the Festival. As the festival
musical director how did you decide on
Terri Lyne and the group? SBJ: The moment we decided to do the
festival, I called my friends, Patrice and Terri
Lyne and without hesitation they said, “What
can I do to make this happen?” Terri Lyne is
a bad-ass diva, she’s been the drummer for
Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dianne
Reeves, Al Jarreau and many more. She won
the Grammy for an all female collaboration of
jazz heavy-hitters; she was the obvious choice. Multi-Grammy nominated artist, Patrice
Rushen is considered one of the world’s top
jazz pianists and one of the most respected
musicians in the country. She has worked with
Janet Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock
and Quincy Jones…the list goes on. Put those
two together with the fantastic line up,
including Suede, Tia Fuller and Carmen
Lundy and oops, there it is! Sistas helpin’
Sistas…can I get an Amen?!
a memorable weekend of music…a little
sumthin', sumthin' for everyone. If this first
one gets the audience we hope for, we can do it
again every year. In the end it's about filling
seats.
GC: Last November there was an article
in The Atlantic entitled The End of Jazz GC: On the Opening Night of the
Photo by Carolyn Watson
festival you are doing something called
“West Coast Cool.” How cool is that?
SBJ: Extremely cool! For the opening night
dinner gala the Dinah All-Star Band will be
performing an evening of “West Coast Cool,”
contemporary compositions and arrangements
by West Coast musicians. I like to mix things
up and I put together some of the best players
on this side of the country. This crazy-cool
explosion of music highlights jazz funk, new
wave and modern jazz, and features me,
pianist Karen Hammack, violinist Lesa Terry,
saxophonist Carol Chaikin, bassist Nedra
Wheeler, drummer Suzanne Morrissette and
“LA” on congas.
GC: There are a lot of things to do
during Dinah Weekend. What would you
say to women, who have lots of choices,
to get them to consider the jazz festival?
SBJ: Music washes away your worries from
everyday life and gives flight to imagination! If
you are looking for an alternative to the mad
rush of Dinah, the Palm Springs Women's Jazz
Festival is for you. This jazz crawl will offer
attendees an opportunity to visit several
venues, ranging from concert halls, bars and
restaurant to galleries, museums and hotels
with the Cultural District of Downtown Palm
Springs. All that and a bag of chips!
Sweet Baby J’ai is a woman who clearly loves
what she does. Upcoming concerts include
Oliiva’s 40th Anniversary Caribbean Cruise
and the Palm Springs Women’s Jazz Festival
For more info visit www.sweetbabyjai.com.
Interview by Gail Christian, former NBC
News Correspondent and partner in L&G
Events.