Recognizing that you can’t be a jazz singer unless you put the work in, jazz
newcomer,
Kemba
Cofield
has done just that. She has been “shedding” for the past
few years, gaining an intimate knowledge of the jazz standard and developing a
respect of how to approach the music. Her time spent in jazz clubs, concert halls,
hotel ballrooms, church choir stands and high school auditoriums brought her to
the moment she released her debut record Shades of Kemba.
Growing up in
Frankfort, KY
, Kemba always sang in talent shows, beauty pageants,
musicals and church. After seeing Sarah Vaughan perform at age 12, she knew that
she wanted to sing jazz, but it wasn’t until she moved to
Atlanta,
that her
opportunity to learn the technical aspects of jazz came. Former Freddy Cole
drummer, Bernard Linnette, heard Kemba sing during a Tuesday night jam session at
nd was impressed by her voice. Kemba soon began gigging with his sextet and
Linnette became her mentor. She taught chorus and piano lessons to high school
students during the day, absorbed jazz during the night and began working on her
Masters in Music on summer breaks. In 2003 Kemba met trombonist, Wycliffe Gordon who invited her to sing with his ensemble as well as to appear on his album, In The Cross. Her relationships with Linnette and Gordon have exposed her to new audiences and have provided her with an entrée into the broader jazz scene.
The hard work is apparent as she steps out on her own. Her 2005 debut album enables her to move through traditional standards such as How High the Moon, Great Day and
Cheek to Cheek with a comfortable ease that is fun and fanciful. The moodier
numbers, God Bless the Child and For All We Know display a great control and
patience with the texture of a tune. Jazz’s
New Orleans
roots shine through as
Wycliffe Gordon leads an all-star ensemble in When The Saints Go Marchin’ In and
the commitment to her gospel roots are strongly expressed in I Want Jesus to Walk
With Me featuring Gordon (trombone), Victor Goines (saxophone), Marcus Printup
(trumpet), Reginald Veal (bass), R (Doron) Johnson (piano) and Alvin Atkinson, Jr.
(drums).
Whether singing in the church choir, teaching scales to students, gigging
with the likes of Wycliffe Gordon, Don Braden, or Bernard Linnette, or with her own ensemble, when Kemba sings, there is a soulfulness that wraps itself around the song. She
reminds us of how music transforms and how the essence of jazz transcends.
