9 minute read

Michele Hendricks, Vocalist

from Musicwoman Magazine

by Musicwoman and Musicman Magazines

from Musicwoman Magazine, page 17

Musicwoman Magazine

Michele Hendricks, Vocalist

JC: Michele, where do you live?

MH: I live 14 kilometers northwest of Paris, in Sannois, France

JC: How did you first come to music?

MH: I have always been singing. From a very young age, I took violin lessons to the horror of people around me. I sang in the junior choir at church, the glee club at school, the city choirs, and regional choirs. I love harmonies. I get goose bumps everywhere, when I am singing harmonies. So, I was always singing.

At 8 years old, I asked my father to let me sing the Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan version of Frank Foster’s Shiny Stockings.

I listened to that 50 million times, until I had that solo down. And I begged him to let me sing it. So, finally, one night, he said, “OK, you’re going to come to the gig and sing.”

I got onstage and it was the first time I was in front of a big crowd like that. So, I freaked out and started crying. Eventually, the music was playing, and I started singing the song along and I got through it. I will never forget that first experience of seeing everybody look at me. I studied dance for six years. I wanted to be a musical comedy singer-dancer. My goal was to play Anita in West Side Story. I never did, though.

JC: Your mother & father sang together?

MH: No, my mother was Colleen Moore. She was a singer, but she didn’t sing with my father. Judith Dickstein is his second wife. She started singing with my father, after the night I sang with my father at 8 years old. My parents divorced when I was four.

JC: Did you study music theory?

MH: Much later, as an adult, I studied solfége in self-defense?

by Dr. Joan Cartwright

JC: In self-defense?

MH: Yes, because I couldn’t communicate with the musicians as precisely as I wanted to. The musicians would dismiss me because I didn’t know how to read and write music. I was just a singer. But I was very specific about what I wanted. I would show them the arrangements. I wanted a break here, and this kind of bassline, here. But I had to sing everything to them, and they would get very frustrated and flustered. So, I decided to learn music theory, so I could write my own arrangements.

JC: Did you study before college or in college?

MH: When I was very little, 7 or 8, I took piano lessons. I wasn’t very serious about it but I learned the basics, notes, staff, and intervals. Of course, I forgot most of it as an adult.

JC: What’s your birthday?

MH: September 27, 1953

JC: Where did you attend college?

MH: One was south of San Francisco. The other was The College of Marin in Corte Madera on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. I was there for two years studying music.

I met friends studying music. The universities didn’t have any jazz. It was all classical. So, we formed a group, met once a week, and worked on arrangements. We got some gigs. That’s when I sang away from my father. We did little passthe-hat gigs. My first paying gig was at a pizzeria with the group. We got paid $7 dollars each and a slice of pizza. We were so proud to be paid. That’s when I branched away from my father to sing on my own.

JC: What was the name of the group?

MH: Chelsea

JC: Who was in the group?

MH: I was roommate’s with Lisa Goulder, the pianist. I just said Happy Birthday to her a couple of weeks ago. She sang, too, so we did harmonies together.

JC: Do you write music?

MH: Yes, I’ve written about 20 songs. I’m with ASCAP in the states and SACEM in France. My publishing company is Shellrose Music.

JC: Have you thought about putting your songs in a book?

MH: No. I have the lead sheets that I made to copyright my songs.

JC: I published my books at www.lulu. com/spotlight/joancartwright. This is my mission to get women to document their music in a book. I will help you to do that. Do you play piano?

MH: I use the piano for composing and arranging. I can pluck out some chords. But I do not play professionally.

JC: Are you aware of the challenges that women musicians face in the music industry?

MH: A little. I have several women musician friends who tell their stories. A lot of the challenges come from fellow musicians. It’s not about convincing organizers and promoters to hire you. But being hit on and belittled by the other musicians, constantly, is a problem. I’ve heard some stories and I said, “What? He did not!” and she said, “Oh, yes, he did!”

JC: You live in France, but where are you from, originally?

MH: I’m from New York. I was born in the Bronx.

JC: You’re married to a Frenchman. What’s his name?

MH: Pierre

JC: Of course! Pierre what?

MH: Pierre Bornard. We got married in 1992, and we have two children.

JC: Is he a musician?

MH: He retired from being a sound

Michele Hendricks, Vocalist

by Dr. Joan Cartwright (con’t)

engineer for Radio France. He sings with a vocal group, Jocalizz. He plays vibraphone and percussion. He’s a huge jazz fan and sings along with all the solos on CDs.

JC: Your children?

MH: My daughter, Azaria is studying at Les Beaux Art in Nantes, in Brittany. My son, Daniel, is a video game designer.

JC: You sang a long time before you got married, right? Who did you work with?

MH: There’s a video of me with Benny Carter’s Big Band. I was at the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival a few times. I sat in with a lot of my parents’ friends. I didn’t appreciate it then. So, I don’t remember them all. I remember singing with Benny Carter, Buddy Rich, Stan Getz, Bobby McFerrin, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Benny Golson, Benny Green, Tommy Flanagan, George Adams and Don Pullen, Count Basie, and Kurt Elling. I sang at clubs like Ronnie Scott’s in London. French musicians I performed with included Arnaud Mattei and Edison Knight on piano, Bruno Rousselet on bass, Philippe Soirat on drums, and Olivier Temime on sax.

JC: Who are your working with now?

MH: I have a group of musicians here that I have been working with for 25 years. The band members were Lisa Goulder-piano, Donald Maus or Chuck Sher on bass. When Chuck Sher developed carpel tunnel syndrome and could no longer play, he was so sick of incorrect fake books, he published CORRECT fake books and the New Real Fake Book series for which the music world is forever grateful! We had Kevin Hayes on drums, and either Ray Scott or Chris Hayes on guitar. Chris left Chelsea to join

Huey Lewis and the News. There was Jimmy Nadel on sax and David Watson was another singer.

JC: What was you most exciting moment in music?

MH: When I first met Bobby McFerrin, he blew me away, right from the get-go! This was before he was known. I was in an afternoon jam session in San Francisco and this guy walk up on the stage and did Misty in a medium swing, and he killed it! So, I was like, “WOW, Who is this?”

I told my father to come see him, but he never would. Finally, my father heard Bobby at his gig. We were in San Francisco on a Friday. The following Tuesday, we were working at Sweet Basil’s or Fat Tuesday’s in New York. My brother left the group on Friday out and we needed a replacement. I said, “Call Bobby!” He flew out. For the next two days, I was singing his part, typing out the lyrics, and going through it with him. We opened on Tuesday, and he knew the whole repertoire in three days. I could not believe it! He is a musical genius. He worked with the group for almost a year. I was so impressed with the a cappella thing that he was developing. There’s nobody like him.

JC: What is your advice for a young woman coming into the music industry?

MH: Be strong! Do not be intimidated. If you have shortcomings and you are dismissed because of it, do something about it. That’s why I learned music theory so I could write my own charts, arrangements, and songs. Know your craft, especially if you’re a singer. There are so many Bad Singer Jokes out there. They don’t know when to come in. They don’t know their key or tempo. A musician wouldn’t last

without knowing those things. So, what makes a singer think that they can without knowing music?

Ray Drummond was a bass player in San Francisco, who was on my first three CDs. He had a gig in New York and invited me to sit in. I called Honeysuckle Rose in Bb. They started the intro, but it wasn’t right. I asked if they were in Bb. They said, “Oh, we thought you said Eb!”

After the set, Ray said, “We knew you called Bb. We played it in another key to test you. You passed the test! You know what you’re doing, Girl!”

JC: You will receive a membership letter, stating that you are a lifetime member as a gift from Eldred Ellis, our Champion! Be sure to read the monthly newsletter, which is a video and slides. It comes in email, but you have to click the links for the full newsletter.

MH: Eldred is a good soul!

JC: He is one of our strongest supporters and we appreciate him so much, especially, since he brought us YOU!