WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A VOCALIST? FOR SOME, IT’S TO INTERPRET A SONG; FOR OTHERS, TO DELIVER ONE’S OWN SONG. FOR LUCIANA SOUZA, HER SINGING AND WRITING IS A WAY OF GROWING AS A PERSON, A MOTHER AND A WIFE.
HER EARLIEST ALBUMS HAD HER TAPPING INTO HER BRAZILIAN ROOTS. SINCE THEN SHE HAS VENTURED INTO POETRY, MOST NOTABLY OF PABLO NERUDA AND ELIZABETH BISHOP AND MOST RECENTLY A COLLECTION OF POEMS BY LEONARD COHEN FOR HER ALBUM THE BOOK OF LONGING.
BUT THIS ONLY SCRATCHES THE SURFACE OF MS. SOUZA’S MUSICAL WORLD. HER MUSCULAR SPEAKING IN TONGUES ALBUM WAS A WORLD WIDE POST BOP AFFAIR, AND THIS PAST YEAR SHE TEAMED UP THE THE LEGENDARY YELLOWJACKETS FOR AN IMPRESSIVE MIX OF FUSION AND VOCALS IN RAISING OUR VOICE.
WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE A NICE TALK WITH LUCIANA JUST BEFORE HER SUCCESSFUL CONCERT AT ROYCE HALL. AS ALWAYS, SHE WAS GRACIOUS, AND WITH ALL HAPPY PEOPLE, WAS QUICK TO POINT OUT MANY TIMES HOW FORTUNATE SHE WAS TO BE AT HER PRESENT STAGE OF LIFE.
YOU DID AN ALBUM WITH THE YELLOWJACKETS THAT WAS QUITE A SURPRISE, AS YOU DON’T OFTEN WORK WITH JAZZ FUSION GROUPS.
I’ve worked in ensembles like that with John Patitucci on his electric bass, so it may not have been exactly the same type of music, but it was similar.
I don’t know if I’d call their music fusion; it’s a hybrid of many things. Russell Ferrante’s writing is so mature. He’s such a deep composer, and Bob Mintzer is a mainstream bebopper.
HOW DID THIS ALBUM COME ABOUT?
We’ve known each other for a long time. Bob and I used to teach together at the Manhattan School of Music. I’ve been a huge fan of his big band work for many years. Russell and I share the same agent, which I’ve had for 18 years.
They called me pretty late in the game for this album. They were looking for something, but they didn’t know what it was. We found a couple of days that worked. I met with Russell, and he was very clear, we got a connection immediately.
He said, “Maybe sing 2-3 things on the record.” I came into the recording session and we did seven songs! It was a beautiful project; I really love that record.
THE ALBUM HAS YOU SINGING IN ENGLISH, IN PORTUGUESE AND WORDLESS. HOW DO YOU DECIDE “WHEN TO HOLD ‘EM AND WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM” WHEN IT COMES TO LYRICS?
A melody itself may tell you itself.
They had a song from a previous album called “Solitude.” I started singing along with it and said, “I really feel like writing some lyrics for it. But it was Russell’s song, so I had to ask permission. He said to try it and see what happens, so I did. It felt so natural.
I think it’s more of a trial and error. Sometimes I try lyrics and it doesn’t work so I go back to vocalese.
I have to say that with them it was such an easy musical relationship. They’re all such solid musicians and they have this utility between them because they’ve played together (except for the bass player) for so long, but even Dane Alderson has been with them for three years.
You’re coming into a situation that is so familiar; it’s like family. They know each other and like each other. They were so generous to me. We went to Europe for a couple of weeks last October, working nearly every night, and it was such a joy to hear what they would do with the songs, how they’d develop them, and how professional they were about it. It was just incredible.
They’ve been together for 40 years and it shows in the music.
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“You’re coming into a situation that is so familiar; it’s like family. They know each other and like each other”
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RUSSELL FERRANTE WAS BORN TO PLAY ALONGSIDE SINGERS
He’s got that sensibility that few people have.
ANOTHER ASPECT TO YOUR ALBUMS IS THE INCLUSIO OF POETRY, MOST NOTABLY IN NERUDA, ELIZABETH BISHOP AND YOUR MOST RECENT RELEASE. WHEN DO YOU DECIDE TO WRITE LYRICS, AND WHEN DO YOU DECIDE TO RECITE POETRY IN YOUR SONGS?
For the Yellowjackets I was serving their music. It was not my project, so I had to match what they wanted.
For my recordings, it really depends on what is going on with my life. Speaking in Tongues was an album that was mostly wordless, and I included two Leonard Cohen poems, and that started me on the Leonard Cohen movement.
I set seven of his poems to music, two of which Leonard gave me permission for on that record.
I had these five poems left, and I had these conversations with Larry (Klein), who is my husband and producer. We selected four of them to be the core of my next record.
HAS THERE EVER BEEN A TIME THAT A POET HAS REFUSED TO LET YOU RECORD THEIR WORK?
Yes, it was Leonard! This was about 2007; when I first approached him, he said “No.” He had a relationship with a wonderful singer/songwriter named Anjani Thomas. She was setting a lot of his poetry to music. He said that his poems were already committed to her so let’s not do it. It was a very polite and gentle “no”.
Some time went by and I asked him again, about 1 ½ to 2 years later, and again he said “no”. (laughs)
Finally I sent him two demos, one was called “The Split” and the other was “The Goal”. He said “Go ahead.” So, it took three times!
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“Once you set a poem to music I kind of make it mine”
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YOU’RE PERSISTANT!
Well, they are beautiful poems. Once you set a poem to music I kind of make it mine! It’s like “C’mon, just let me do this!”
SPEAKING IN TONGUES ALSO HAD YOU WITH HARMONICA PLAYER GREGOIRE MARET. THAT WAS SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
I had never worked with a harmonica before. I loved the sound of Toots Thielman and his Brasil Projects. Toots had an album out around ’69 with Ellis Regina, and I loved that record and its sound.
I heard Gregoire in a concert and he just blew me away. He’s a brilliant musician and a great composer.
For that record I wanted everyone from a different part of the world. I wanted to make a statement about being a United Nations kind of band. Lionel Loueke was from West Africa, I was from Brazil, Gregoire is from Switzerland, Kendrick Scott is from Texas, and Massimo Biolcati is both Swedish and Italian.
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“I wanted to make a statement about being a United Nations kind of band”
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YOU HAVE DONE THREE POETRY ALBUMS, BUT ALMOST NO ONE ELSE HAS TRIED THIS GENRE. IS THERE SOME BARRIER TO ENTRY INTO THIS FIELD FOR OTHER ARTISTS? WHY DOES IT WORK FOR YOU AND YOU ALONE?
I can’t answer for them.
I can only say that for me I’m not a native English speaker; I wasn’t born here. This is not my primary language.
What I like about setting poems to music is that a poem is masterful and beautiful in the English language, so I can learn so much by setting poetry to music. It forces me to read a great deal of poetry to pick poems for music. It puts me in contact with the language in a way that is so refined and beautiful.
I find that it’s like going to school for me. So, I have an interest in poetry that is very selfish in a way.
Also, you are creating songs from a source of inspiration. I’m very interested in that. It excites me, and if I see a poem that I feel could use some music I try it out.
DO YOU THEREFORE EVER CATCH YOURSELF USING POETIC PHRASES IN YOUR DAILY LANGUAGE?
I think so. In my everyday language I’m not very erudite; I don’t recite poetry all the time. But actually put lines from poems in my own music. In my latest record I have Robert Frost’s “The Road Less Traveled” used in one of my own poems. So, it does become part of my language.
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“(poetry) puts me in contact with the language in a way that is so refined and beautiful”
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FOR THIS ALBUM YOU DID A GOOD SHARE OF THE LYRICS
For this recording I actually wrote the poems, and then set them to music. Most of the time when I’m dealing with songs I kind of write the music and poetry at the same time. So, it was the same thing as I would do to Leonard’s poems, just finishing my poems first and then writing the music.
YOU SING IN A VARIETY OF WAYS, DO YOU HAVE A “COMFORT” FOOD STYLE OF MUSIC?
As long as I’ve done my homework, I’m comfortable in each strain of music; they all reflect a different part of me. Of course, my native language is Portuguese, so because I grew up singing that there is a certain level of comfort there.
When I am presenting this new music, or if I’m doing orchestral music or a project like with The Yellowjackets, I still feel fortunate to be able to travel between all of these worlds.
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“the key to that is to keep working with other people and learn from others”
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EACH OF YOUR ALBUMS IS A DIFFERENT COLOR IN THE MOSAIC.
I think that the key to that is to keep working with other people and learn from others. Then, also not to rush into projects. The last 4 records that I’ve put out I put out 3 years in between. I’ve been busy working with other people and raising a child, being a wife and a sister and doing all of the other things that make my life rich make the project more meaningful as I have to work hard to put it together.
WHAT RECORDING HAVE YOU EITHER DONE YOURSELF OR DID FOR SOMEONE ELSE THAT REALLY PUSHED YOUR TALENTS?
The recording that really opened me up in a way that I didn’t realize was when I worked with Osvaldo Golijov, which was The Passion According to St. Mark. That was the piece for me that really stretched me beyond. That was a project that required everything I had; every cell in my body had to be connected.
The project was commissioned in 1996 and performed in 2000, so we had a couple of years to put it together. The first time we performed it was in Stuttgart, Germany. That piece changed my life. It was out of my comfort zone; it wasn’t a Brazilian thing or a jazz thing. It was a neo-classical piece, and I wasn’t singing classical. It was very big and different. It’s available on Amazon.
DID YOU DO ANY TOURS IN THE US WITH THE YELLOWJACKETS?
We did some work in Boston, and I think there’s some things scheduled for this year, even in California and some festivals.
YOUR COMFORT FOOD SEEMS TO BE GUITARISTS, AS YOU’VE TEAMED UP WITH THE BEST WITH CHICO PINHEIRO, LARRY KOONSE AND ROMERO LUBAMBO.
I think it’s because my dad was a guitarist and I’m so familiar with that sound. I just love how it’s such a versatile instrument. You can pass the guitar between three players and it will sound completely different. They way they pluck, harmonize and do voicings, it’s fascinating to me. It’s such a gentle instrument, too. It can be roaring when you add an amp to it, but most of the time the people that I play with play in a very supportive and intelligent way. I’m very lucky to have been able to play with these musicians.
HOW HAS BEEN BALANCING A CAREER WITH BEING A MOTHER TO A 10 YEAR OLD BOY AFFECT YOUR MUSICIANSHIP?
The older and more independent he gets the challenges change. He’s such a sweet human. Larry and I got so lucky. I’m learning a lot from him; he’s coming home from school and talking about the California Gold Rush and other things I didn’t grow up knowing. It’s wonderful for me because I get to learn from him and see how he is learning things.
WHAT’S YOUR NEXT PROJECT?
At this point, this latest project is going so well; I’ve got so much interest for (this) year, so I haven’t thought about what I might do next. I’m not going to rush into anything because this Book of Longing project still has a life, and I want to enjoy it fully. We’ll see what happens after that.
YOUR PRODUCER LARRY KLEIN IS ALSO YOUR HUSBAND. HOW DOES THAT DYNAMIC WORK OUT?
We were both very lucky in that we met at an advanced point in our lives. We’d both already had long marriages, so by the time we had gotten together we both knew what our foibles were and what mistakes we could make and wanted to avoid.
What brought us together was the music. It was the love we have for each other as humans and how we wanted to raise a child together. So, the foundation of our marriage is incredibly solid, and the music and the job that he does. He’s so secure and gentle and generous in his work, and I’m comfortable in my music.
So, when we come together the respect is so solid and available that it’s such a joy. I learn so much from him every time. I’m so lucky that I get to live with someone who knows so much about music and who can be so helpful and supportive of what I do.
I also grew up in a family where my mom and dad worked together, so I understood that dynamic as well as what worked and what didn’t work.
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“What brought us together was the music”
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MARRIAGE IS LIKE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PRODUCER AND ARTIST. YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT WHEN HE GIVES YOU CRITICISM OR A SUGGESTION, YOUR PARTNER HAS YOUR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART, AND THAT TAKES SOME FAITH AND TRUST.
Absolutely. And, one of the things that I admire about Larry is that he makes a suggestion but he stays open. It’s not an order, like “it has to be this way.” It’s more “I was wondering if” or “what if we tried this”. It’s more of a curiosity; he’s not imposing his ideas.
I hear this from all of the artists who work with him. It’s a real pleasure and not a chore to be together with him. It’s a real collaboration with give and take.
SO, HOW MANY TIMES DID LUCIANA MENTION HOW “LUCKY”, AND HOW MUCH OF HER SPEAKING WAS OF GRATITUDE? THIS IS WHAT MAKES AN ARTIST’S PATH WORTH FOLLOWING. WHO WANTS TO DELVE INTO THE CAREER OF A NEGATIVE SPIRIT? SURE, ITS A NICE BREAK TO DIG INTO AN ALBUM FOR THE LONELY AND FORGOTTEN, BUT FOR THE LIFE LONG TREK OF A PILGRIM, IT’S LUCIANA SOUZA’S JOURNEY WORTH TRAVELLING BESIDE. PACK UP AND HITCH A RIDE!