Please Vote for Me in the Sarah Vaughan Internation Singing Competition

I love Jazz music and have been truly inspired by so many jazz artists that have come and graced the world with their wonderful talents. Sarah Vaughan is definitely one of those artists.

Her voice is da bomb. She has such an incredible range and her vocal stylings are fantastic. Some of the riffs that you hear in her songs, you do not hear from any other vocalist's voice. I love the depth of her voice and I like her approach a lot.

Often times, I find myself doing searches on artists or singing opportunities on Google. And surprisingly, I came across the Sarah Vaughan International Singing Competition and so decided to join in. For one, Sarah Vaughan has the biggest playlist of songs on my IPOD. I could listen to her voice and sing along with her all day and never get tired. Her songs and the way she sings them always makes me feel like getting on my feet and singing; wherever I am.

So when I went to the Indaba Music site and saw that this competition was live and on-going, I decided that it would only be right to honor such a wonderful singer as the Divine One.

The contest directs each singer to upload three selections that Sarah Vaughan sang by either downloading the track made available to competitors or some other suggested songs featured on a PDF file to choose from.

 

 

 

I'd like to invite you today to listen to y submissions and please if you listen and you liked what you heard, vote.  The only way for me to advance to the next round is by the votes of anyone willing to vote for me. I hope you will! Here are the links:

 

What Is This Thing Called Love https://www.indabamusic.com/opportunities/sarah-vaughan-international-jazz-vocal-competition-2014/submissions/7dfe51ca-257f-11e4-a0d0-22000b300299

 

Tenderly https://www.indabamusic.com/opportunities/sarah-vaughan-international-jazz-vocal-competition-2014/submissions/9f9ae646-257e-11e4-ad7b-22000b238357

 

I Can't Give You Anything But Love https://www.indabamusic.com/opportunities/sarah-vaughan-international-jazz-vocal-competition-2014/submissions/371c2f62-257e-11e4-816c-22000b2808b7

 

Thank you in advance for voting!

 

 

Cover of Mother's Finest "Baby Love" by Eric's Top Groove featuring Stephanie J at Farafinas

God is always working on my behalf and opening doors to great opportunities for me.

For instance,  I was blessed with the opportunity to perform live at the YSYM Showcase at Farafinas in Harlem, NY with Eric's Top Groove.

Eric Durham is a wonderful guitarist who always adds the right amount of funk to any song that he plays. Kind of cool to work with him whenever and wherever it is.

 

Together, we did a series of old school and new school. The event was in honor of music from the seventies and eighties. How perfect was it to add to the set list, my favorite song; Mother's Finest's Baby Love.  It is funky and I love Joyce Kennedy; one of my favorite entertainers because she kills it when in a live setting and if you have never had the opportunity to see her perform, please log on to youtube and type in Mother's Finest.

 

June is Black Music month, a month to celebrate music of old and new and to honor those who have inspired and contributed to the form of art that we love so much.  I'd like to start this month by honoring my favorite song and would like to share with you our performance at Farafinas: A cover of Baby Love recorded by OMG Entertainment. Please check it out here:

 

 

 

Thank you for watching. For more videos, please visit my youtube channel at www.youtube.com/sj1and0

 

A Tribute to Billie Holliday

A tribute to Billie Holiday (A poem)

( (c) by Stephanie Jeannot)

Eleanora Fagan

Started sangin

While a lil thang

She had that swing

And all that jazz and blues

And the fanciest poppin shoes

And a white gardenia

A Billy Holiday signature

Creative and vivacious 

Added her own touch

To standards and poems

U2 described her as the Angel of Harlem

And dem Gershwin tunes

Or that song "Blue Moon"

And "God Bless the Child"

On April 7, 2014 would've been 99 

Thankful she shared 

this that and those

And her singing of the poem 

"Strange Fruit" by Abel Meeropol

Added a sophisticated touch to songs

That even now have us be-bopping along

With that raspy sound

The diva won over crowds 

Billie Dove

Happy birthday to you in heaven up above

(She did inspire something in my life which has also become part of me as it was in her. Flowers in my hair! If it's not a flower, it's a hat with a flower on it. All I know is I dig her style. So much that it's a part of mine: 

Thanks for reading my poem. Have a great day.)

Btw. . . 

If you never heard The song Strange Fruit, first read the poem written by Abel Meeropol in the 1930s and then follow the link to a YouTube clip of Billie's performance of it:

Strange Fruit 

By Abel Meeropol

"Southern trees bear a strange fruit,

Blood on the leaves 

And blood on the root,

Black body swinging 

In the southern breeze,

Strange fruit hanging

From the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,

Scent of magnolia

Sweet and fresh,

And the sudden smell of burning flesh!

Here is a fruit fir the crows to pluck,

For the rain to gather, 

For the wind to suck

For the sun to rot, 

For a tree to drop

Here is a strange and bitter crop 

And here is the link: http://youtu.be/h4ZyuULy9zs

Forever Love

Still remarkable to me how love like that of my parents still remain through thick and thin, seasons of growth and regardless of changes in life or imperfections. Years never seem to grow old but the two individuals grow bolder in love and continue on through life as destiny suggested. This poem is dedicated to longevity. 

Forever Love

(C) By Stephanie Jeannot 

Love is meant to be celebrated

especially if the romance is heaven sent

like a relationship that lasts forever;

time seems to only get sweeter 

as the days go by.

So like birds of a feather you fly

on a journey of forever; two of a kind.

From sunrise to sunrise; timeless you shine

as one with love forever on your side, 

as God intended.

The following is a video clip of a celebration of love. After 20 years of marriage, the wife dedicated a live performance of their wedding song, Anita Baker's Sweet Love, to her husband. Please check out the YouTube link here: http://youtu.be/YfGoaO2gqa8

Day Two: Doctor's Orders (poem)

Day two of National Poetry Month and I’m fueled with a poem and hope that you’ll desire to read it; for it came to my heart inspired by life’s trials.

 

 

Doctor’s Orders

© by Stephanie Jeannot

 

The doctor told me life is but over.

Maybe I heard the wrong words wash over.

I seem to take things in like a coper.

I’ve been known to be an innovator.

 

Create in me a cause to want to be creative.

To the lines of a page, I am a native.

Life, as short as it is, is what you make it.

Love never made me feel oh so naked.

 

I walk with my heart like an outfit in fashion.

My face, so expressive, I emote a caption.

Whoever said life was to be approached in caution,

probably never purchased emergency medicine that had to be bought in an auction.

 

By medicine, I mean getting out there and letting go

For what tomorrow brings one may never know.

Today I awaken to the mighty star’s glow;

but what if there is no tomorrow?

 

So I asked him, “Doc! How should this knowledge be applied?

Should I let it wash over me like a tide?

When the wind blows should I take it for a ride?

Or is this my moment to let out a cry?

 

But then, I realized what he really had said.

For words, depending on how you cook them, is what you’re spoon fed.

But if you’ve envisioned tomorrow, dancing in your head,

you should let your life be spirit lead.

 

So I went to the pharmacy to fill my prescription

with no desire to swallow pills as per my doctor’s direction.

For I know what is for me, in my own dimension

but how could I be left with all these unanswered questions?

 

Like, why should I be the one to go without my smile?

And why am I to answer sad calls arrowed at me when dialed?

And why feel it in my heart for all this time?

And why are these dreams so deep within me that they run in my bile?

 

Sour sop was one of the meds I was to take

But singing seemed to be the sweeter healing to bake;

especially when it came from the pen when my mind spake

as if it were a hot summer day and the page was a refreshing lake.

 

Now on the follow-up visit to hear what doc has to say;

a check-up of some sort to put me in my place

before my living comes to one that is erased

and the many mansions of God stand before my face.

 

Words can tend to puncture holes in a shadow

and the circling of a message can dim the sun’s glow

so much that the stage that awaits for one to put on a show

can change its song and dance to a flow God enables.

 

What will be the healing over my own fate?

Because with tomorrow, I planned an intimate date

And hope to keep it and let faith sizzle in my plate

And choose today to live because even still, tomorrow might stand me up and never make its way.

 

 

Thank you for reading my poem. With all the ups and downs of life, sometimes you are left uneasy. Especially when faced with situations not used to. God is still awesome and makes miracles happen; perfecting what we have come to see as imperfect. As long as there is faith, there is a way. 

 

With that in mind, please check out a cover of Yolanda Adams' "Open Up My Heart" performed with Ladeezinthehouse Band here: http://youtu.be/i1kOZPvxoDA 

Prayerfully it will inspire at least one person who takes a gander at it.

Peace and blessings! 

Happy Birthday Sarah Vaughan!!!

That singer and musician with the incredible range who inspired the world with her amazing voice and 4-octave range, was also known as the incredible Sarah Vaughan.

90 years ago today, March 27th, the divine one was born and throughout her life, used her beautiful talent to croon songs that we all have grown to love and that still play on many of the world's jazz radio stations today. I think the songs I appreciate the most or at least the jazz vocal works I heed the most are pieces from Sarah Vaughan's huge collection of music.   That is actually how I came to know that it was the birthday of one my favorite singers in the world.

Every Wednesday night is jazz night at the Proper Cafe located at 217-01 Linden Blvd in Cambria Heights, NY and like most nights, I am blessed with opportunity to vocalize a few jazz tunes that have touched my heart; often a tune that Sarah Vaughan did a rendition of. Last night was no different. I heard The Divine one's version of "Black Coffee" and instantly fell in love with it and wanted to cover it. And I did!

Jazz night usually ends around midnight and that's when I have to drive back to Brookkyn, NY. While driving, music keeps me energized to find my way back home safely. Who would have thought I would have heard her best rendition of "I Cried For You" spinning on WBGO and also find out that today would've been Sarah Vaughan's 90th birthday?  Blessed to know and thankful to be able to celebrate her life and her legacy, even in this minimal way.

Her gift was amazing and I am so very inspired by her ability. How many singers you know that can hit the types of notes that she was hitting back in the forties?  So classy and great stage personality! Her voice was definitely an instrument and she used it well. And her scatting; incredible.  Thankful to know of such an awesome singer and to be able to listen to her recordings and to even attempt to do some of the things she was doing vocally.  

For instance; I went down to Smalls Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, NY for a jazz vocal workshop with Marion Cowings and was so inspired by her rendition of "Just One of a Those Things," that I tried to sing it. Check out the live footage of it here: http://youtu.be/zt1t0Z51_uc

Blessed by her legacy. I think I will be going on a Sarah Vaughan musical escapade, listening to her instrument, the whole day long. 

Happy 90th birthday way up there in heaven! RIP Sarah Vaughan and thank you!!!

75th Anniversary of Blue Note Records Celebration with EpistrophyEnsemble

                        

Monday, March 24, 2014 is a day to remember. Especially for those who were fortunate enough to be at York College in Jamaica, NY for the 75th anniversary of the Blue Note Record Label featuring the Epistrophy Ensemble.  The event was held in the lobby of York College's Performing Arts Center and the music was beautiful. 

The exciting musical event started with John Coltrane's Blue Train, and continued With Dexter Gordon's Cheesecake with a tenor sax feature by Omar Daniels. Followed by that was John Coltrane's Lazy Bird featuring alto sax player Carl Bartlett Jr. 

Other notable songs were Horace Silver's Song for my Father, Freddy Hubbard's Up a Jump Spring and Wayne Shorter's Speak No Evil just to name a few. 

What was great about the event was that it was more than just the music but also featured educational components about the Blue Note Records itself including the who, what, when, where and why about the label. The sound, the atmosphere, the knowledge; awesome!