Why Dianne Reeves is the Pre-eminent Jazz Vocalist in the World

My love affair with jazz started as a young girl in a music class. On the recent World Teachers’ Day, I thought of my music teachers and the gratitude I have for them. My confidence, resilience, analytical thinking, collaborative spirit and self-drive all are thanks to music classes and choir. I don’t take that privilege for granted and it’s why I am a big supporter of Safaricom Jazz as proceeds from ticket sales go to support the work Ghetto Classics is doing – they give underprivileged kids the opportunity to learn music and open doors that were not available to them.

Before I was familiar with the history and could read music, I loved jazz. My teachers encouraged us to explore music outside of our comfort zones and my dad played jazz records at home and so from an early age I felt the magic of the music. I was familiar with the legends like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonius Monk among others. It’s not for a lack of trying that I was not familiar with more women jazz musicians, but as a consequence of the prominence of male musicians over their female counterparts. I eventually discovered Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday and Shirley Horn. I also discovered African jazz musicians like Hugh Masekela, Oliver Mtukudzi, Miriam Makeba and Manu Dibango.

Most of the biggest jazz musicians, even contemporary ones, tend to be virtuoso musicians through an instrument especially the saxophone, trumpet, guitar or piano. However, jazz vocalists are also an important part of jazz and have helped shape the genre. The voice is an instrument and in the right hands, an incredibly powerful one. Some of the jazz vocalists have been a huge success in mainstream music charts with crossover hits and it’s been interesting for me to discover that they are in fact jazz musicians and question my limited perception of what jazz is and can be.

Dianne Reeves was a beautiful find. I was looking at the list of the Grammy Winners in 2015 and I saw her name under the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female. Intrigued, I had a listen to her album, ‘Beautiful Life’ and I could not believe I had not known who she was until that moment. Imagine my surprise after doing some research on her and finding out that this was her fifth Grammy! So, it goes without saying that when I heard she would be headlining at Safaricom Jazz Lounge on October 18^th, I was over the moon.

Born in 1956, Dianne Reeves started singing and playing the piano while in high school. She studied classical voice at the University of Colorado and was leaning towards classical music, but then changed her mind and settled on jazz. She was signed by Blue Note Records in 1987 and her career took off and has been soaring ever since.

What does it take to be considered the pre-eminent jazz vocalist of our era?

1. 5 Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female. Dianne Reeves has won in this category for 5 albums that include, ‘In the Moment – Live in Concert’ (2001), ‘The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan (2002)’, ‘A Little Moonlight’ (2004), ‘Good Night, and Good Luck (2006)’ and ‘Beautiful Life (2015)’.
2. Dianne Reeves is the only singer to have won a Grammy award for 5 albums in a row. This is an incredibly impressive feat.
3. Dianne is the one of the few women to receive the Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Out of 132 jazz masters in 32 years, only 16 have been women. (Previous recipients are Dave Brubeck, Gerald Wilson, George Wein, Jack DeJohnette, Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, Chick Corea, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, and Terence Blanchard.)
4. Dianne was recognized by The Juilliard School with an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts for her “Breathtaking virtuosity, improvisational prowess, and unique jazz and R&B style.” And has an honorary doctorate from Berklee.
5. Her repertoire is impressive with Dianne recording the soundtrack for George Clooney’s six-time Academy Award-nominated “Good Night, and Good Luck” and working with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding as well as performed at President Obama’s State Dinner of China and the Governor’s Ball.

Dianne Reeves is a world treasure and I cannot wait to see her perform at Safaricom Jazz. The festival has given Kenyan audiences an opportunity to see jazz legends on stage at an affordable price as well as helped to introduce jazz artistes to a Kenyan audience. I know that a lot of Kenyans do not know who Dianne Reeves is, but is the beauty of Safaricom Jazz and of jazz in general – you are always discovering artistes and music and it is a wonderful experience. Dianne is the first female musician to headline Safaricom Jazz and hopefully this will be the start of having more women headliners.

This edition of Safaricom Jazz will have 2 shows – on the 18^th  of October at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi and on the 20^th of October at Hell’s Gate in Naivasha. Tickets for the Nairobi show are on sale at Ksh 2,000 for adults and Ksh 500 for students while tickets for the Hell’s Gate show are Ksh 10,000 for an individual and Ksh 150,000 for a corporate table inclusive of dinner. Tickets can be bought through dialling 1511. Safaricom has partnered with Enashipai to offer an accommodation package for the Hell’s Gate show and bookings can be made by calling Enashipai directly.