well-paying gig for the Von Hodads to open for a traveling burlesque troupe that was also touring with the Grand Marquis. I couldn’t pin all the members down about it, so I said, “Eff it. I’ll still take the gig.” [Mark] Southerland and I put together a book of standards, and I started looking for a piano player. I asked around for a player that was young, fun, not stuffy, could play his ass off, wouldn’t mind doing a cabaret-style gig, and liked to drink whiskey. About ten different people pointed me to Mark Lowrey. The Marks and I rehearsed for a month, played our 45-minute set on June 5th, and each made $500. After that, Lowrey asked if wanted to do more gigs together, and I thought, “Why not?” So we got some smaller gigs, then we got a monthly at Jardine’s, and it all kind of progressed organically from there.
me to Brad Cox, and that man changed my musical life. So much of who I am is because of those guys. What precipitated your enthrallment with Brazilian/Portuguese music? SE: I was loosely familiar with bossa nova and had certainly heard some of the classic Jobim recordings with Astrud Gilberto and Elis Regina. But it really happened when I saw a Djavan video on YouTube. I was researching music for an oceanthemed gig, and I stumbled across this video of a man I’d never heard, playing guitar and on stage by himself, and it was so haunting and beautiful. And everyone in this huge audience knew every word to the song, by a man I’d never even heard of, and I was smacked in the face by exactly how small my world-view was. So I learned that song, then I sort of fell down a rabbit hole. I was voraciously consuming every new artist and genre and album I could find, and I wanted to learn all of it.
What was the most difficult or intimidating part about navigating that transition? SE: It took me time to become comfortable with the improvisational nature of jazz. I was constantly worried about missing entrances or losing my place. I was so used to structured song form and length that I had to sing the song in my head while people soloed so I would know where in the form we were. I was also afraid of not being a competent musician in the genre. Most of the guys I played with had not only played jazz for years but had studied it in high school and college. We didn’t even listen to jazz in my house growing up. I don’t think I heard Ella Fitzgerald until I was 23. It’s an intimidating world to step into, and it can be a bit of a boys’ club at times. I just spent my first few years trying to keep my head above water.
Describe as pithily as you can the heart/ soul of that music. SE: Ha. Me, pithy. The vast majority of Brazilian musical styles derive from samba, and in the heart of samba is an understanding of the inherent cruelty and sorrow of living. Tristeza não tem fim Felicidade sim “Sorrow has no end; happiness does.” Basically, life sucks, we’re all poor, so let’s dance and make music and make love because it’s how we can make create enough moments of joy to keep moving through this life.
Who first helped, advised, and encouraged you during that time? SE: Mark Lowrey, Mark Southerland, and Jeff Harshbarger were the entire reason I was able to survive and thrive. My first quartet was with Lowrey, Jeff, and Mike Shanks, and we were together for years. Those guys held my hand and let me make all the mistakes without too much fear of judgment. It was a long time before I played with any other chordal players. Southerland was a mentor for me. He was a great sounding board and professionally pushed me again and again beyond my musical comfort zone. In 2007, he introduced
You married a drummer—and a Brazilian— Giuliano Mingucci. From the perspective of a singer, what are some of the traits of an elite drummer or percussionist? SE: Time. Time. Time. Time, feel, and groove. You can have fancy chops all day long, but if I don’t trust where your one is going to be or you’re not in the pocket, it’s just not going to soar or glide. There are definitely times where the feel can be loose and flexible, but as a general principle, solid time is so important. The drummers that really pay attention, keep the groove locked in tight, and give space for others to move are the ones who
MARCH 2019
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