IN THIS DAY OF MUSICAL TECHNICAL FASCINATION, IT WAS A REFRESHING BREATH OF AIR TO HEAR A RECENT ALBUM BY THE CHICAGO SOUL JAZZ COLLECTIVE, ENTITLED ON THE WAY TO BE FREE. IT REMINDED ME OF THE ALBUMS THAT I GREW UP LISTENING TO, A MIX OF FUNKY JAZZ WITH A SOULFUL TWIST; YOU CAN’T HELP BUT SMILE WHILE LISTENING TO IT.
THE MUSIC ON THIS ALBUM WAS FRESH, FUN AND HAD A “LIVE” FEELING TO IT. ON IT WERE A FEW SONGS SUNG BY DEE ALEXANDER. I REMEMBERED THAT SHE PUT OUT A FANTASTIC ALBUM A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO.
WHERE’S SHE BEEN?!?
WELL, I SEARCHED HIGH AND LOW AND FOUND HER. YOU’RE GOING TO LIKE HER STORY, HER MUSICALITY AND HER ATTITUDE. WE FOUND HER, LIKE HER SINGING, PERSONABLE, SOULFUL, UNPRETENTIOUS AND FUN TO BE AROUND.
I FIRST HEARD YOU ON YOUR FANTASTIC 2014 ALBUM, SONGS MY MOTHER LOVES.THAT IS A FANTASTIC ALBUM
That album was my heart and soul, because I wanted to give my mother something. I first wanted to give her flowers while she was still with us. She was the reason that I’m doing all of this.
To this very day she plays her music, just like she used to every morning. My brothers and I were awakened every morning to Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone…all the greats. She would recommend to me “Why don’t you sing this song?”
She lives in Michigan; I live in Chicago and she’ll periodically call me up and say “have you heard this song? Ever think about doing it?” I built up my repertoire by taking the advice from my mom!
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“I built up my repertoire by taking the advice from my mom!”
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DID YOU EVER REBEL AGAINST YOUR MOM’S TASTE AND THINK IT WAS OUT OF DATE, LIKE SO MANY KIDS DO?
Absolutely not. The reason being was because I had the best of all worlds during the time I was growing up (in the 1960s). The music that we had access to: rock, soul, R&B, jazz was the best, the crème of the crème. I just listened to everything because in Chicago we’d listen to the soul stations, which unlike today’s 24 hour cycle, would only go on at a certain time on Sundays. I’d listen to WLX, which played America, Three Dog Night and those kind of cats.
I was raised in the church, so of course I had gospel, and my mom had jazz playing all of the time. There was a variety of music that I was exposed to; a variety of this wonderful music.
THIS RECENT ALBUM YOU DID WITH THE CHICAGO SOUL JAZZ COLLECTIVE (ON THE WAY TO BE FREE) PLAYS A NICHE THAT IS CURRENTLY IGNORED, “SOUL JAZZ”. WHAT GOT YOU MOTIVATED TO DO AN ALBUM LIKE THIS?
The music that we’re all exposed to now just doesn’t do anything for me. I like “meat and potatoes”. During the pandemic, (tenor saxist) John Fournier mentioned “hey, you’re sitting in your basement during the pandemic, what are you going to do?” So he started writing these tunes, and he’s been a fan of mine for a long time and he wrote them for me in mind, but he thought “Ah, she’s not going to want to do this.”
But I’m a very open individual and I like trying new things. It keeps you fresh.
So, he and I started having these ZOOM rehearsals. He was in front of his piano, playing and singing, and I’d say, “Oh, I really like that one; that one doesn’t do anything for me.”
They invited me to come and sing one or two songs, and we ended up with seven! That’s how it came in place.
I really appreciate anyone who writes music with me in mind. I was humbled by that. It was such a great group of guys, just sweethearts. Very accommodating, very talented, One of my sayings is ‘To thine own self be true” and as much as we hope that some people will “get it”, it may be just a small handful will “get it”. But somebody will “get it”. We didn’t do it for the masses to make a lot of money,
We just had Herbie Hancock open for Coldplay in front of thousands of people. I’ll never get to that level, and I don’t care if I don’t. I’m happy in my own skin-I can look at myself in the mirror and be happy with the work that I’ve produced.
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“One of my sayings is ‘To thine own self be true’ and as much as we hope that some people will ‘get it’, it may be just a small handful will “get it”. But somebody will ‘get it’”
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DID YOU MAKE A CONSCIOUS DECISION NOT TO BE A MEGA-TOUR TYPE ARTIST?
Oh, I’ve travelled. I’ve been to Europe, Africa and Singapore; I’ve made a decent living doing this.
But I really like the idea that I can go to Target and buy my own mascara. I’m not going to get to the point where like Michael Jackson couldn’t even buy his own toothpaste. I love going places and nobody knows me.
I was at a festival in New York, and it was so refreshing that nobody knew me. I could just sit back watch people. Watching them fall all over themselves. We’re funny as human beings-putting others on a pedestal, and that always leads to getting disappointed.
I’m just a down home girl from the West Side of Chicago where I still live. I have my community and that’s who I am.
SPEAKING OF COMMUNITIES…YOU WERE PART OF THE AACM, WHICH IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT COLOR OF THE MUSICAL PRISM. HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THEM AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
I would be remiss if I did not mention a gentleman by the name of Henry Huff. He is not a household name. Everyone called him “Light”. He passed in the early 90s.
He was one of those very talented, gifted, crazy, smart and wise individuals. He played all, and I mean all, of the saxophones as well as harp, percussion and bass clarinet. He also wrote music with me in mind. He was my mentor, telling me not to be afraid to take chances, to think outside the box.
“Don’t be concerned what people say and think about you” he’d say. “You’ve got to be true to yourself and your own heart”. I will take that to my grave with me.
Light was a member of the AACM, and that’s how I got involved.
The thing that I loved about it is that I worked under an umbrella of very creative individuals performing our own individual music. I’ve written quite a bit of music, and Light encouraged me to do that, with different themes in mind.
My friend Miguel De Lo Santos always says, “Tell your story, girl”. It’s important to get your story out there.
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“I don’t want to do anything that my mom or children would not be proud of.
I’m happy in my own skin-I can look at myself in the mirror and be happy with the work that I’ve produced”
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It’s always surprising to see how many people will latch on to your story, because part of it is their story too!
I love the AACM musicians. They’re crazy, super talented. I learned so much from them because of the way that they think. They paid tribute to our ancestors yet aim to the future. They also raised up the younger musicians and pulled them into our path as well. That’s part of the future as well.
Just give people ideas. I have twin granddaughters, and I know what they’re listening to, so I try to put a little bit of Old School into them. Children are listening.
I remember when my grandmother used to say to me things that I may or may not have taken heed to, but I’d remember it. My boys would say, “I know you said that” and they’d walk away with their heads down, but they remembered.
I love nurturing, because I was nurtured by these guys.
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“He’d say. “You’ve got to be true to yourself and your own heart”. I will take that to my grave with me”
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HOW ABOUT YOUR DAYS WITH MALACHI THOMPSON?
When I first met Malachi we used to really fight. Boy, we’d fight!
He was strong willed and kind of a chauvinist. Girls would tell me “Be careful of Malachi. He’ll try to use you, da da da da”
I had my guns loaded with him; if he said “Go right” I’d say, “I’m going left”
But what I learned from Malachi by working with him musically…
If he called me and say he wanted me to sing a certain tune, I wouldn’t get anything about the music until the day on the way to the session! He’d play a little cassette tape in his car and he’d say “That’s what we’re singing the next hour”.
I’d go “Malachi, I can’t do this” but he made me get in and dig deep.
I like being prepared, but sometimes what you get out of not being prepared is some of your most beautiful work.
It doesn’t always work that way, but I knew that with Malachi I had to go with his processes.
He eventually died of melanoma, and when I found out that he had it, I saw him. His energy was down, and he called me “Sis”. I stopped resisting him and I became his sister.
One of the last times I saw him he was still like the Last Man Standing. I had so much respect for him. He was sick as a dog, could barely stand and he still did this gig at The Green Mill. I was bawling, and when he came to my booth I didn’t want him to see me crying. He said “I’m going to do this music until I can’t do it anymore” and he played his trumpet. He didn’t give in. He played to his last breath.
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“It’s important to get your story out there.
It’s always surprising to see how many people will latch on to your story, because part of it is their story too!”
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IT’S THAT GENERATION OF YOURS, JUST LIKE YOUR OTHER ASSOCIATES BILLY HART AND GARY BARTZ ALL OF YOU WILL BE THE LAST ONES STANDING
I learned so much and am so honored to have been put into a position to be able to work with these brothers. I have the greatest respect for them. They respected me and treated me like a little sister.
All of the people that I’ve worked with, or opened up for, like the O’Jays, have been beautiful people.
They say you should always surround yourself with people that you can be inspired and influenced by. The Naysayers? I’m going into the opposite direction?
YOUR LATEST ALBUM HAS A COUPLE SONGS THAT SOUND VERY OJAY-ISH
I get inspiration from everywhere. I keep my ears open.
Listening should not be a lost art.
I love bird; I’m always listening to birds, especially in different parts of the world. I love buses, car engines, different peoples’ voices. Horn players, guitarists…EVERYTHING. My ears are open!
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“I like being prepared, but sometimes what you get out of not being prepared is some of your most beautiful work”
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OTHER SONGS SOUND LIKE THEY CAME FROM A CRUSADERS RECORD
Yes, I was a big fan of Joe Sample. On my radio show I play a lot from their second album, called The Second Crusade when they were just called “The Crusaders”
YOU DEFINITELY PUT THE “BROAD” BACK IN “BROADCASTING”!
That’s funny; I love it!
I have to give a shout out to Neil Tesser, who’s a broadcast journalist. He was working at WFMT here in Chicago the classic radio station. They started the jazz network that is syndicated and now goes to over 200 markets. They wanted their staff to be more diverse, so Neil called me.
I took up broadcasting in Columbia college, but I hadn’t done anything with it. So I went out there and we did a rehearsal. I was really bad. I was surprised they hired me. My first year I really sucked.
But I learned got help from my aids and got my own equipment and now do it in my own home. I love it now and so does the audience.
There’s so much music out there. Sometimes if you just listen to the radio you hear the same thing over and over again. I dig into music that is a little more obscure-They paid tribute to our ancestors yet aim to the future.
Thanks to Neil I got this job. Doing it at home, I can broadcast in my pajamas! (laughs)
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“They say you should always surround yourself with people that you can be inspired and influenced by. The Naysayers? I’m going into the opposite direction?”
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YOU HAVE A GREAT ATTITUDE. WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE SOMEONE GAVE YOU?
That would be from Henry Huff, “To Thine Own Self Be True”. Don’t be afraid to take chances or to think outside the box. How will you know unless you try?
WHAT DID YOU LEARN GROWING UP IN THE CHURCH?
SO much! Musical and spiritual!
Let’s do the music first, as its also spiritual.
I learned how to blend and how to work with other singers. It’s not all about me. I love singing in groups because I love the beauty of the blending of the by taking many voices and making it sound like one voice.
We grew up going to Sunday School; I was always a very spiritual child. I know that there is a Supreme Being out there.
A lot of people will scoff and say “How do you know?” And I say it’s because you see it every day. You see a flower bloom, when you hear birds.
When Henry Huff made his transition, he told me that he knew that he wasn’t going to live to be an old man. He had a condition called Sarcoidosis; it’s an autoimmune disorder that there is no cure for yet. It affects your lungs, and the bones of your hands and feet.
He, being an instrumentalist who used his lungs wasn’t able to play his saxophones.
When he transitioned, he came to me in a dream. In it, he told me that he wanted me to take care of all of the music that he wrote. So I got it copywritten and published with the blessing of his family.
As soon as the ink dried, all of these beautiful things started happening to me in terms of my career.
He wasn’t rich as far as money was concerned, but he was rich in terms of his talent, heart and spirit,
We have a lot of people with money in the bank, but they are unfulfilled and unhappy.
I’m happy and content. I don’t have millions but I’m comfortable enough. I am happy with my family.
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“Listening should not be a lost art”
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I TELL PEOPLE OUR AGE “ARE YOU GETTING CLOSER TO OR FARTHER FROM YOUR TREASURE”? IF YOUR TREASURE IS ON EARTH, YOU’RE GETTING FURTHER FROM IT
I keep my treasure in my heart.
There was a phenomenal gospel group that I worked with-Sue Conway’s Victory Singers. We traveled for twelve years across Europe during the Christmas Holiday. That was some of the most spirit-filled times for me.
To go to these little towns the mountains of Italy little churches that were over 1000 years old where it was freezing. We’d be performing in our coats. It was the sacrifice we took in order **to bring The Word of God and of Jesus to these people. They did not speak English and most of us did not speak Italian, but with music being the universal language that it is, we could communicate it just like that.
These 80 year old ladies with their wrinkled hands would touch your face and say “Belissima” 888with tears in their eyes, They were happy for what we gave to them spiritually, but it was reciprocal. You can’t get any more Spirit-filled than that.
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(The AACM) paid tribute to our ancestors yet aim to the future.
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WHO, LIVING OR DEAD, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SIT DOWN WITH FOR AN EVENING AND PICK HIS OR HER BRAIN?
How much time do we have (laughs)
One person, who I was able to actually meet, but not necessarily pick her brain, was Betty Carter.
Betty Carter was one of my heroes.
At the North Beach Jazz Festival we shared dressing rooms. I wasn’t going to go up to her and go with all of the cliches’ “Oh, Miss Carter, can you give advice to an up and coming singer?”
I just sat down and watched her. That was the best classroom!
To watch her perform, even watch her in her space in the dressing room.
She was very hard, because she knew her stuff. She was hard on her musicians if they didn’t give her what she wanted.
There were some things that she did that I would never do, in terms of working with her musicians, as she would give them a hard time even on stage in front of the audience. She’d say, “Do it like this” or she’d be all over the drummer. That’s not my style.
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“It was the sacrifice we took in order to bring The Word of God and of Jesus to these people. They did not speak English and most of us did not speak Italian, but with music being the universal language that it is, we could communicate it just like that”
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Dinah Washington was like that also. If you didn’t give her what she wanted she’d cuss everyone out.
My mom is living and my children are around; I don’t want to do anything that my mom or children would not be proud of
GIVE ME A FEW BOOKS THAT YOU’VE READ THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD READ
I think that everyone should read the autobiography of Nina Simone. It really brings you into the heart of what she was as a woman, as a performing artist as a mother and as a daughter, as well as a civil rights leader.
Another one that I’m reading now, which is A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing (laughs). It’s about the incarceration of African American women, from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland.
George Lewis’ book on the AACM will give you an in depth history from A to Z a list of all of the musicians and history of the music of the AACM
WHAT DO YOU LISTEN FOR IN A SINGER AND WHAT IS YOUR PET PEEVE WITH SINGERS?
First of all, I want to hear the story. I listen for tonal quality.
I love singers like Shirley Horn, those with rich contralto voices.
One of my pet peeves is screaming. I don’t like singers that do a lot of vocal calisthenics to do what we call “get house”, to get the audience excited. But that is what the audience is used to, all of that modulation, so the singer does all of these vocal riffs.
I just want to hear you sing the song.
I’m going to tell you who one of my favorite younger singers right now is Cecile McLorin Salvant. She has an instrument that is just incredible, very special. And, she can tell a story, and I love listening to her, and she’s quite the bad ass!
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“One of my pet peeves is screaming. I don’t like singers that do a lot of vocal calisthenics to do what we call “get house”, to get the audience excited… I just want to hear you sing the song”
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AND SHE ENUNCIATES CLEARLY, JUST LIKE YOU DO, WHICH IS WHAT DRAWS ME TO YOUR SINGING
Thank you. That’s another pet peeve of mine-slurring words. It’s like “What?”
Sometimes when I’m learning a tune by certain singers, and I look up the lyrics, I think “Is that what she’s saying?”
WHAT PROJECTS DO YOU HAVE ON THE HORIZON?
One thing that I’m getting ready to do is something with the Von Freeman family. Von Freeman was Chicago royalty. George Freeman is 95 and still doing his thing. Chico Freeman, Von’s son, reached out to me asked me if I’d be part of a concert that he’s doing in Chicago July 23 . It’s called “The Freeman Legacy”.
He’s doing this whole concert with a large band. He wrote all of the music, except for a couple of tunes written by George. I’m going to be featured in some of the songs, and I’m also going to be part of the band, being part of the sections, like the sax or trumpet section, for different songs.
Working with the AACM prepared me for challenging things like this, but when you challenge yourself you grow
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“Working with the AACM prepared me for challenging things like this, but when you challenge yourself you grow”
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WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SAY AT YOUR FUNERAL SERVICE?
It’s interesting that you should say that.
One of the songs that I want played at my funeral is Duke Ellington’s “A Single Pedal of a Rose”. I just told my friend Miguel “If I go first, I want you playing that on piano”.
I think people would say about me that I walked to the beat of my own drum
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“I really like the idea that I can go to Target and buy my own mascara. I’m not going to get to the point where like Michael Jackson couldn’t even buy his own toothpaste. I love going places and nobody knows me”
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IN THE BOOK OF THESSALONIANS, THE APOSTLE PAUL ADVISES US TO “MAKE IT YOUR AMBITION TO LEAD A QUIET LIFE, YOU SHOULD MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS…SO THAT YOUR DAILY LIFE MAY WIN THE RESPECT OF OUTSIDERS”. DOESN’T IT SEEM LIKE DEE ALEXANDER HAS LIVED THE MUSICAL LIFE IN THIS SENSE, AND ISN’T THIS WAY OF CREATING AND SHARING MUSIC WHAT PUTS THE ‘SOUL’ BACK NOT ONLY INTO JAZZ, BUT INTO LIFE ITSELF?