There are great singers that seem to define a musical genre. First of all, let me say that I have an issue with the word, “genre,”because I think this was something originally created as a marketing tool. Music is too dynamic, too fluid for such a confining term. For the purposes of this post, however, we’ll use it as a term that labels a specific type of music that the general public associates with certain performers and musicians. Singers like Whitney Houston, who is commonly associated with Pop and R&B music, or Ella Fitzgerald who is one of the heavies of Jazz, have become household names for these genres and have even contributed defining characteristics to each of these types of musics over the years.

What happens when vocalists branch outside of musics that are within their comfort zone? I thought of this one day while scrolling through a social media site as I came across a song called,”Thy Will,” by Hillary Scott & the Scott Family. Hillary Scott is one of three members (along with Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood) that make up the country group, Lady Antebellum. Although Hillary Scott is known for the group’s country music albums, the song, “Thy Will,” is considered a part of the Christian/Gospel music genre from a collaborative album project that she recorded with her family, titled Love Remains.

Here is a song from Lady Antebellum, called “Need You Now,” so that you can get an idea of what the band sounds like:

Whether for personal or financial reasons, vocalists sometimes branch out and experiment with different types of musics. It’s only natural because vocalists as artists love to try new things or experiment. I, myself, have always been impressed with singers who have amazing fluidity (the ability to adapt to a multitude of musical situations almost seamlessly). There are not very many who can accomplish this successfully. However, Hillary Scott’s song, “Thy Will,” is just one of several great examples of singers who can. Scott’s song references prayer and God throughout, but isn’t preachy or kitschy. The song is written and performed in such a way that is relatable, catchy, and upbeat, even though the theme of the song is very somber. Hillary Scott’s voice also adds hints of edgy Pop influence while still maintaining a certain amount of innocence.

Another example of a vocalist who has attempted to “cross-over” is Selena. Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (commonly referred to as Selena) was a Mexican-American singer and songwriter. She was called the Queen of Tejano music, starting her career singing songs in Spanish, including her hit, “Como La Flor.” Listen below:

Later in her career, she would record an album, titled, Dreaming of You; an album that mixed English and Spanish lyrics, elements of Pop, R&B, and Rock music. The album, which was released after her untimely death, would be at the top of the Billboard 200 charts that year. Would she have lived, she would have most likely been a very successful singer and performer. Below is the title track from the album, called “Dreaming of You”:

The other singer that I have to bring up in this discussion is Gregory Porter. Even though some would peg Gregory and his music as simply Jazz, I would argue that he redefines it, blurring the lines between this music and the of Soul, Gospel, R&B and Pop musics. Gregory Porter has taken his talents to other types of music as well, collaborating with Hip-Hop artist, Common, and performing an electronic version of his original song, “Holding On,” with the duo, Disclosure. Below is Gregory Porter’s version of “Skylark,” a Jazz standard with Porter’s own twist:

Below is Gregory Porter and Disclosure’s version of “Holding On.”:

Porter is a modern example of a successful singer and performer who is constantly pushing the boundaries of musical genres, stepping outside of the box by simply bringing his own unique approach to each different musical situation.

Are there any groups or singers that you think have successfully “crossed-over” to other genres or blurred the lines? Leave a comment below!

This past weekend I participated in a performance piece called Out-Let: A Song Circle. The piece featured myself improvising off a set of four poems written by Scott C. Wells, while a musician named Conrad Burnham played sounds both in the background and almost in reaction to what I was doing vocally. It was organized by artist Paul W. Evans and had shirts designed by artist Sophia Allison. The piece was performed on the south side of South Weddington Park in Studio City in front of a bent tree. It was presented by KCHUNG Radio and it was created for CURRENT:LA, Los Angeles’ first public art biennial.

Although I have done something similar to this before (A Sublime Madness of the Soul), it was also very different. I was able to take different parts of each poem–words or phrases that stuck out to me–and sing or speak them in whatever way that I wanted. I was lucky enough to be collaborating with an organizer and writer who gave me the creative freedom to do what I wanted and trusted me to not completely mess up their piece. I was also incredibly lucky to be working with a musician  who was intuitive and musical enough to interact with what I was doing and/or independently create his own ideas. Everything flowed surprisingly easy for a collaboration that really came together in only two weeks.

Below is the advertisement for the piece:

The image was created by Sophia Allison and the whole advertisement was put together by the organizer Paul W. Evans. Below is an image from the actual performance:

I hope to be a part of something like this again. The experience was another one of those opportunities that push you out of your comfort zone and test your abilities–the real time where you can truly grow as an artist, musician, and person.

For the past couple months, I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate on a recording project with some great musicians, called “I Won’t Hold My Breath.” Chris Rios played drums and was co-editor in video/audio editing, Romeo Palacios was on guitar, Chucky Kim played bass, I wrote the lyrics, melody and sang; David Castañeda wrote the music for the track and edited audio and the video.

After participating in a project like this, I will say that practicing the track ahead of time definitely would’ve helped in the recording process. The more you practice a song, the less you worry about lyrics and melody, and the more likely you are to try to step out (or in this case, sing out) and bring your own unique interpretation of the song to the recording. Plus, knowing the song makes the difference between two recording takes and, potentially ten takes.

I was extremely impressed with the amount of musicality, taste, and intuition that came from each musician that contributed to this project. When you have great people and musicians to work with, it creates a great, conducive working environment for creating, and it makes you want to create more.

Below is the link to the track on Sound Cloud. Please take a listen and feel free to leave any comments you might have.

Music video for “I Won’t Hold My Breath” should be released within the next couple weeks. For now, I hope you enjoy the track. Please listen and share.

This week, I’ve had Cecile McLorin Salvant’s version of “Wives and Lovers” #OnRepeat. I know I’ve written about Cecile before, but after seeing her perform live at the Playboy Jazz Festival this past Saturday, I just have to mention her again.

To be honest, I’ve been stuck on Cecile McLorin Salvant for awhile because of her incredible voice and ability to manipulate her sound. However, seeing her perform live is a whole other experience in and of itself. She takes full command of the stage and fills the whole theater with her sound and performance style (and I was sitting almost in the “nose-bleed”section of the venue). I highly encourage everyone watch their favorite vocalists or musical groups perform live; live music allows you to see how musicians adapt to real-life, musical situations and how their musical performance style differs from musician to musician.

“Wives and Lovers,” in my opinion, doesn’t deliver the best message to its audience, but the melody is catchy, and the lyrics have the same playfulness as the melody. Cecile really utilizes this playful, flirty ambience in the song, by whispering and using the higher part of her range. At the same time, though, she has such a powerful instrument that demands s0 much attention, it pulls you in.

Take a listen below to Cecile’s performance of “Wives and Lovers” from the 2015 season at the Hollywood Bowl:

Who are some new vocalists or musicians that you can’t stop listening to? Leave a comment below!

This week, I came across a cover of Brandy’s “Have You Ever,” by Matt Bloyd, Mario Jose, and Vincent Cannady and I’ve had it #OnRepeat non-stop. I’m not a huge fan of cover performances (except for nostalgic purposes), however, this is one of the few covers that I enjoyed very much.

“Have You Ever” is a 1998 song performed by Brandy, who is a singer, songwriter, and actress, most known for her television show Moesha and songs such as “The Boy is Mine” and “I Wanna Be Down.” The song, “Have You Ever,” was written by Dianne Warren and quickly became Brandy’s second Billboard Top 100 single off her second album, Never Say Never.

The hit song is about loving someone else so much, but not being able to tell them. This angst and almost, sense of unrequited love can be felt in these three singers’ performance of “Have You Ever.” Each vocalist brings their own unique interpretation of the song to this great performance. The harmonies are evenly balanced, yet you can distinctly hear each one of them, individually. The way that each vocalist plays off the others is intriguing  to watch as well; their chemistry is amazing.

Take a listen below:

Here is Brandy’s original version of the song for you to reference as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrNb397wS-A

So what do you think? Do you know of any other vocalists or musicians who perform a cover of a song in a great way like these guys did? Leave a comment below!