Laurie Antonioli is a creative jazz singer with a warm alto voice.  Whether singing an original composition, scatting a hip bebop line or purring on a standard, she sounds like the world’s most relaxed singer. A San Francisco Bay Area-based performing and recording artist, Laurie is also the Director of the Vocal Program at the Jazzschool in Berkeley, California. Along with her extensive teaching responsibilities, she also books and organizes all of the vocal workshops and concerts.  The Jazzschool’s vocal department has fifteen instructors who teach everything from vocal technique, theory and  improvisation and stage presence to performance-based classes that focus on jazz as well as blues, R&B, Afro-Caribbean, South American, Irish, eastern European and classical Indian styles of music.  Laurie has also developed the curriculum for the vocal component of new Jazzschool Institute’s baccalaureate program in Jazz Studies now in its third year.  The Jazzschool is constantly presenting the hippest workshops and classes in jazz education today, and since she took the position of Vocal Director in 2006, the program has become a “go to” spot for many vocal artists to perform and conduct workshops.

 

 

1.  Laurie- when did your passion for music and singing begin?

 

My life changed when I got a guitar at the age of twelve.  I was fortunate to have a class in the 7th grade where we learned basic chords and songs of the day.  This was in 1969.  It was the hey day of the singer/songwriters like James Taylor, Carole King and Judy Collins and so these were the first songs I learned.  It was very liberating to be able to sing and play for myself.  It gave me a medium to express myself and it was also a lot of fun.  I starting writing songs the moment I learned a few chords and took my guitar with me wherever I went.

 

2. What music inspired you as a youth?

 

My early favorites were Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. Then, at the age of 16, my maternal grandmother laid the “Nellies” on me.  That was Nellie Lutcher.  It was a collection of 78s that featured Nellie playing piano and singing songs like: “Hurry on Down” and “Fine Brown Frame”. I heard “I Thought About You” from Nellie and ended up recording that on my first record.  My grandmother was a member of the “Louis Armstrong Fan Club” – I’m not sure where the club actually met, but, she was a member.  She’d heard Louis play in San Francisco in the 40’s and loved to talk about that.  She also heard Nellie many times.  Nellie ended up living in Los Angeles and was the president of the musician’s union there until she was well into her 80s.  Nellie really appealed to me.  She swung and she also did a little scatting. Then, around that same time in the mid-70s, was when the Pointer Sisters were popular. I loved them. They did “Cloudburst” with Jon Hendricks’ lyric as well as a lot of cool jazz tunes.  I also liked how they dressed and subsequently raided my high school drama department’s costume closet, wearing the 40s-style pencil skirts and short padded-shoulder jackets.  I went to the second-hand clothing stores and started building the wardrobe that I would eventually start wearing on gigs — things that were black and spangled, beaded and slinky.  I began dressing in eccentric ways that stood out at my high school – my mother had married her second husband, a cowboy, and we were relocated from the affluent Marin County suburbs into a double-wide trailer in Elko, Nevada. There was virtually no chance at getting a music education in the high school there.  I tell you this because, if I didn’t have the Nellie’s and Joni Mitchell and the Pointer Sisters, I would have died. I stayed up late every night listening to the BBC from Canada. They had jazz shows that I could tune into out there in the Nevada desert at night. I was tired every morning going to school because I stayed up all night listening to the radio. I heard the big bands and the singers, Billie and Ella.  At the age of 17 I drove by myself from Elko to Salt Lake City to hear Count Basie.  He was performing at the University there and a friend from high school got a tickets for me – a front row seat!  I was about 10 feet away from the Count himself.  I cried. I cried tears of joy. I’d never had that experience – all those horns playing and SWINGING!  It knocked me out and from that moment on, I knew what I had to do.  I think you could call that a “pivotal” moment.  It’s still clear as day.

 

3.  Do you play an instrument and were you a disciplined student in school?

 

I played guitar and did my first gigs as a solo act with guitar. It was mostly folk songs and my own songs.  At the age of 16 I had a little gig in a restaurant and sang for 30 minutes and waitressed for 30 minutes. I learned a lot about people during that time.  For instance, they were much better listeners after they’d had their meal. Anyway, when I went off to Mt. Hood College outside of Portland, Oregon, I enrolled as both a guitarist and a vocalist. It took no time for me to realize that jazz guitar was out of my league. I dropped the guitar once I became a serious student of jazz (I don’t recommend doing this) and regret not focusing on piano at this juncture.  I worked on my singing and took jazz theory and keyboard harmony (the John Meehegan book) classes as well as the vocal jazz ensemble under the direction of Hal Malcolm.  Hal, and his buddy Waldo King from Seattle, were the two guys that really got “vocal jazz” started in the schools.  They offered “Vocal Jazz Ensemble” and this is still one of the main formats most schools offer for singers.  I met Hal and Waldo at a summer camp in Lake Tahoe in 1975 and was offered a scholarship to go to Mt. Hood.  Being at Mt. Hood was amazing.  It was one of THE places to be for jazz.  Many of the players populating the Kenton Band, the Maynard Furguson band and Buddy Rich’s band were pulled from the students at Mt. Hood.  I was there at the same time as Steve Christofferson (Nancy King’s accompanist) and Essiett Essiett (a consummate sideman who’s lived in NY for many years) as well as others like Frank Griffith, Rudy Petschauer, Herb Besson, Phil Baker and George Mitchell.  All great players who have spent their lives as professional jazz musicians. We were really lucky to be at that school as it was a kind of jazz haven.  I was a good student at school, but, as is the case with most singers, struggled with theory.  While at Mt. Hood, John Prince, who was at Cal State Long Beach, heard me and offered me a scholarship to come to CSLB.  John Patittuci was in my class there in Long Beach and I remember he was very kind and helped me with my counterpoint homework a couple times.  I sang in the vocal ensemble there as well.

 

. I spent hours and hours listening, learning and singing bebop lines.  I wore out my Jamey Aebersold “Charlie Parker” LP practicing all those tunes. The Charlie Ventura “Bop to the People” band with Jackie Cain and Roy Kral was hugely inspirational.  Even though they were known as a cabaret act at the end of their careers, in the beginning they were “bopping” wordless lines with the horns in this band. It was the up-tempo stuff I found particularly exciting.  I liked Lambert, Hendricks and Ross and also, because I lived in Portland, went to hear Nancy King all the time.  She was a personal favorite and the first real live jazz singer I got to hear regularly.  I had a fake ID so I could get into the clubs and went out whenever I could to listen and also participate in jam sessions.  The first song I ever sang at a jam was “Confirmation” by Bird.  This was at the age of 19.  I learned instantly that because I knew this song, the instrumentalists liked having me around.  By building my repertoire with instrumental jazz tunes, I became a welcome addition to the jams, rather than the “dreaded” singer who didn’t know her keys or what tempo to count off.  I loved Betty Carter and of course Ella, Sarah, Billie, Carmen and Nancy Wilson.  I loved Mark Murphy and got to know him when I was about 20 years old.  I was so fortunate to meet and know singers like Nancy King and Mark Murphy.  They were so accessible and generous. I found that the trumpet players, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Kenny Dorham, were great musicians to emulate and wrote songs that were very singable and so I listened to them a lot.  The “Clifford Brown/Max Roach” recording with “Dahood,” “Joyspring,” and “Jordu” was a personal favorite.  I listened to everyone and everything I could get my hands on.  As time went on, I found that the more dreamy ECM recordings were appealing to me.  Keith Jarrett remains one of my heroes.

 

 

4. & 5.  Describe your method for leading a band, choosing songs to perform or record 

(what motivates you to choose a piece?) and running a rehearsal.  Do you decide who will solo on particular numbers in concert?

 

My method of leading a band is similar to how I teach.  It depends on whom I’m working with and what we’re doing. There is an intentional “hands-off” approach, especially when first establishing an arrangement or feel.  I generally almost always have something in mind, but I like to see what the players do with the material before I say too much.  This is because I work with great musicians and they bring a perspective from their instrument that I could never know.  The bass player is an expert on all things bass, so why not find out what kind of a pattern he would play through a section and see if it works?    I was very fortunate to start off my career working with truly the best people in the business.  Call it karma or luck, the fact is, I sought out and put myself in range of the best musicians.  When I made my first record at the age of 27, it was in duo with George Cables.  I learned so much about “process” during those rehearsals for our “Soul Eyes” recording.  George is a consummate sideman and accompanist and that recording was truly a collaboration.  He did not simply accompany me, we made the music together. Once you’ve had that experience, you’re hooked.  Nothing is more fulfilling than connecting and creating music with another person.  This is a really important point that singers need to realize:  the band is not there just to “accompany” you – they are there as collaborators and co-conspirators to make music with you.  My entire philosophy of teaching jazz singing is based on this premise.  At the Jazzschool Institute we provide a world-class rhythm section so that singers can experience the feeling of the music.  It’s in the collaboration that the seeds for arrangements and ideas are often born.  It’s important to be prepared and have the charts together and then get out of the way and see what happens.

 

6.  What year did you become the vocal jazz chair in  Graz, Austria?  When you moved to Graz to teach, what impressed you about their program?  Were the jazz singers required to study classical voice and do you advocate classical voice study?

 

I went to Graz in 2002 and stayed until 2006.  The gig was a rotating “guest professor” position that was held by luminaries Sheila Jordon, Jay Clayton and Mark Murphy – they each went for one semester and alternated this job amongst themselves for many years.  Andy Bey, Lauren Newton, Michelle Hendricks and Tom Lellis also taught there at different times for over about 20 years.  I was the first person to stay on for more than a semester.  After I left to return to the States, Dena DeRose was hired and I understand that she is now tenured and will work there until she retires.  I owe my current life as a full time educator to Sheila, Mark and Jay who all recommended me for the job.  I was not an academic and had only taught privately and done some workshops and adjudicating through the years.  So, it was a big deal, and one that I took very seriously, when I was presented with developing a program for university jazz singers.

 

I was impressed with the program in Graz simply because they actually had a real program for jazz singing.  When I arrived, there were 25 or so singers that studied privately each week.  That was quite a load.  And yes, those singers were all required to study privately with a classical technique teacher. As far as I know, this is still a requirement in their program – you’ll have to talk to Dena as she’s overseeing that now.   At first I was doubtful about the whole western European classical approach.  I had had a negative experience in my teens with a classical voice teacher (such a common story!) and didn’t see the value of or relevance of this to developing jazz singers.  I grew up hearing opera and was familiar with the sound and tone of classical singers.  To me, there was nothing linking jazz and classical.  I was proven wrong.  In fact, in the end, the classical teacher and I had the same perceptions about what the students needed to do to improve their singing.  It taught me that good technique is good technique, no matter what the style.  As well, the discipline of learning classical songs only proved to enrich students’ lives and provided musical challenges that were different from jazz.  It was tedious for some of the students, understandably, to learn arias or sing in three languages, but, in fact, they benefited from the classical training and had a technical foundation that helped their jazz singing.   I think there comes a point when a singer must choose.  The sound that the classical teacher was going for was different from what I wanted to hear from the jazz singers.  The ever-present vibrato and focus on the head voice in classical vocal technique are two things in particular that separate the styles.  With all the cross-pollination going on genre-wise in jazz, the sound of jazz singing has changed.  This is a much larger issue than we have time for here, but, all to say, the classical training is a

plus, but, at a certain point the student needs to make a choice about the sound they are going for and develop that. In my opinion, jazz singers need to access a healthy chest and soulful mix of chest into head as well as finess dynamics, color, straight tone and vibrato.  To me, the bridge between classical and jazz is found in musical theatre. The musical theatre singers maintain the vibrato but also incorporate the speech-inflected style used in jazz singing.

7.  Have you adopted methods of teaching vocal jazz that you learned in Graz?  What are the differences in the approach to playing and singing jazz in Europe compared to the U.S.?

 

The line continues to blur between jazz in Europe and the States.  There’s a blues-centered feel and rhythm that is harder to find in European jazz, but, it’s not as if they don’t hear all the same music we hear anymore.  Back in the day, like twenty or thirty years ago, I think there was a much bigger difference in the players.  Europeans have always been fascinated by Black American music and are not only fans but have learned how to play this style well themselves.  There are a number of wonderful educational institutions in Europe so the students definitely have access to the information and opportunity to study.

 

In Europe,  music education is an essential and valued part of an overall education. Europeans definitely honor art and culture in a way that Americans don’t. Many of the students I met in Europe had had music lessons throughout their lives and played classical piano very well, read music and had already performed in recitals, often in beautiful concert halls, from a young age. The basic musicianship of the European singers going into the universities is, in general, higher than in the States.

 

“The Great American Songbook” is not always “relevant” for the young European singers.  It’s hard enough for young Americans to relate to some of these songs so, I know there are some cultural things in the repertoire that might make it difficult for the Euro singers to fully embrace the lyrics and meaning.  I’m a strong believer in learning the “standards” as a backbone for developing jazz singers, however.  If jazz is truly an American art form, then, it needs to be defined by a repertoire that is American.  As jazz singing becomes more international, the definition of what a jazz singer is continues to morph.  With all the genre-bending going on, the look and feel of a “jazz singer” is going to be completely transformed in the next ten years. We may need to reconsider the repertoire and requirements we are currently developing in the jazz institutes.

 

8.  Tell us about your CD “American Dreams” ?

 

Thanks for asking about this Roseanna. This recording was the sister to “Foreign Affair”.  If you listen to both, you’ll find the sprinkling of traditional music mixed with jazz that makes for a true hybrid.  In the case of “Foreign Affair” it was Balkan traditional sounds (I am half Yugoslav, my family home is in Budva, Montenegro and the Antonioli’s have lived there for almost 500 years!) – and the musicians on the date were from Serbia and Albania.   Those two countries have been in conflict for some time, but, music transcends all of that.  There is also the great drummer John Hollenbeck and the German saxophonist, Johannes Enders on the recording as well.  “American Dreams” was my reaction to being away from home for so long.  There was a musical and emotional intention behind both projects that created a “sound” that I had imagined and then was so happy to hear come to life.  In “American Dreams” I knew I wanted a slide guitar on some pieces and I also knew I wanted to have a kind of “Americana” flavor.  The musicians, Matt Clark on piano, John Shifflett on bass, Jason Lewis on drums, Sheldon Brown on bass clarinet, saxophones and harmonica and Dave MacNab on guitar, are all very sophisticated and grasped the concept immediately.  Going from “America the Beautiful” to an Ornette Coleman-like free piece “Stimulus Plan” is kind of a stretch, but, because of who is playing and how they are playing, we were able to bring it together.  I wrote the lyrics to nine of the twelve songs and tried to tell a story by the songs I selected.  It, for me, was like putting together a movie.  The thing I am most proud of with all my recordings is the interaction between all of the players – the chemistry and the subtle shadings, the spontaneity (every recording I’ve done has been “live” in the studio) and the group sound.  I was very lucky to have had the “American Dreams Band” perform most of the songs in live settings numerous times before going in the studio.

 

I’m looking forward to my next recording with Richie Beirach.  He’ll be coming to the Bay Area soon and we’ll spend a day in the studio recording some of his gorgeous new compositions with my lyrics.  This is completely different than the “American Dreams Band” which is fantastic – I love the challenge and complexity of his material and an opportunity to work directly with such a wonderful composer.

 

9.  You’ve put together many excellent workshops and programs at the Jazzschool.  What are your most successful classes?  What would you and Susan Muscarella like to see in the future for the Jazzschool?  And are there any books or cds that you recommend ‘a must’ for study?

 

The Jazzschool comprises two different programs,  “The Jazzschool Institute,” a baccalaureate program offering a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and the “Jazzschool Community Music School” which is open to instrumentalists and vocalists of all ages and levels. I oversee the vocal classes and workshops for both programs.  It’s been a pleasure to present many, many great artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Kurt Elling, Nancy King, Sheila Jordan, Mark Murphy, Karrin Allyson, Gretchen Parlato, Kate McGarry, Janis Siegel, you, dear Roseanna, and numerous others.  These workshops have been hugely successful and we will continue to present these artists, many who will be back for a second or third time.  As well, I coordinate all the vocal classes for the Jazzschool which includes wonderful teacher/artists like Maria Marquez, Julia Dollison, Maye Cavallaro, Kerry Marsh, Raz Kennedy, and once again, too many to list.   We also feature our local greats, like Kitty Margolis, in yearly master classes.  I hate starting these lists because inevitably someone is left out…let me put it this way, there’s just a handful of vocal artists who have NOT come to the school…like Dianne Reeves and Tony Bennett, but I’m working on getting them!  In the next three months, for example, we’ve got Theo Bleckmann, Becca Stevens, Sachal Vasandani and Peter Eldridge all coming through for workshops and concerts. In terms of which Jazzschool Community Music School classes are the most successful it’s hard to say. Certainly the performance classes are more well-attended than the theory classes. The teachers that have been with us for some years have very loyal and devoted followings.  Maye Cavallaro for one is among our most popular teachers and always has a waiting list for her classes.

 

I teach the repertoire-driven Vocal Performance classes in the Jazzschool Institute. Vocalists take eight semesters of solo singing accompanied by a world-class rhythm section. Students are required to learn 80 songs with individualized charts by the time they graduate. They also must take 2 semesters of Vocal Ensemble which is currently led by Kerry Marsh. They must also take weekly private lessons and we’ve got some great teachers for the students to pick from including Julia Dollison, Sandy Cressman, Raz Kennedy among others.  As we get more students, I hope to expand the vocal faculty.  Anyone interested in working at the Jazzschool should definitely be in touch!

 

Susan Muscarella, the founder and director of the Jazzschool is an amazing pianist and educator.  She is a visionary and an entrepreneur and has designed the school with the utmost respect for the history and importance of the music.  Our mission statement is as follows: “The Jazzschool is a music conservatory providing a dynamic community of students, artists, educators, scholars and audiences with a forum to study, perform, teach, research, appreciate and enjoy jazz and related styles of music from throughout the world. Comprised of two distinct programs, the Jazzschool Institute baccalaureate degree program and the Jazzschool Community Music School, the Jazzschool honors the contributions of past masters and promotes artistic innovation, bringing together a diverse music community to develop practical skills, acquire artistic sensibility, realize creative potential and find artistic voice.”   We believe that the Jazzschool will continue to grow and become one of the most comprehensive, relevant and exciting schools anywhere.  We are auditioning students throughout the year and anyone interested in more information is welcome to contact me at  HYPERLINK “mailto:laurie@jazzschool.org” laurie@jazzschool.org.

 

Thanks for asking such great questions, Roseanna!  It’s a wonderful service and resource you’ve created with JVOICE – it brings us all together and provides a warm community online that is informational and also a lot of fun.