For jazz singers Joyce Grant and Kelly Fuller, all roads lead to Ella Fitzgerald, so it’s no surprise that the two female singers’ highly anticipated collaboration is a tribute to the “First Lady of Song.”
“Ella Fitzgerald is an iconic jazz singer,” Fuller says, “and she’s definitely someone I’ve always looked up to and respected. She was a huge influence on my singing. In fact, I’d say Ella is the artist who introduced me to the Great American Songbook before I even knew what it was.”
Aptly titled “For the Love of Ella,” their September 28 show at the Empress Marquee Club is a love letter to Fitzgerald, and while they’ve performed separately at the club, the show will mark the first time Grant and Fuller have shared the stage together.
“We’ve been looking forward to this for a long time,” Grant said.
“I met Joyce because she was a birthday present,” jokes Fuller, a regular performer at the Blue Note Napa. One year, she asked her husband to surprise her with dinner and live music. Her only condition was that she hear a great female vocalist.
At the time, Grant was approaching his 30th year at Zingari Ristorante and Jazz Bar in the Donatello Hotel. With a winning combination of talent and food, Fuller caught the attention of the audience. She quickly got talking to Grant during intermission, and “we immediately hit it off and became friends.”
Kelly Fuller appears onstage with Joyce Grant at an evening of jazz honouring Ella Fitzgerald at the Empress Marquee Club on September 28. (Photo courtesy of Tom Fuller)
“Ella was and still is my favorite vocalist of all time,” Grant says. “I always thought to myself, ‘When I grow up, I want to sing like Ella.'”
The great-granddaughter of famous ragtime composer Scott Joplin, Grant’s talents carry on a rich tradition of musical excellence. She has been performing for decades and has been a frequent fixture throughout the Bay Area, including Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay, Nick’s in Pacifica, and the West Coast Ragtime Festival.
For Grant, Fitzgerald’s ability to improvise and scat remains the true hallmark of her talent. “It’s a journey,” she said. “It’s going to be a lifelong journey that I’m still working on.” But Grant plans to scat in the show in her own style, combining it with Fuller’s.
Improvisation is essential to jazz, but also to collaboration and performance in general. “Anytime we play a live show, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Grant says. “But we like each other and we’re ready to have fun, so we’re ready for whatever happens.”
Now that it’s finally on the calendar, Grant and Fuller are taking a deep breath and getting ready to enjoy the event.
“Joyce has her style and I have my style, and in some ways we’re similar and in some ways we’re different,” Fuller said, likening the collaboration to a pot of different flavors. “We complement each other perfectly,” she added.
Songs that are staples for Fuller, like “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” aren’t Grant’s favorites, and vice versa: “She’ll say, ‘I’ll do this,’ and I’ll say, ‘I don’t know that song, but it sounds great!'” Fuller said.
In creating the setlist, the singers were tasked with choosing from hundreds of songs. “But that’s the beauty of it,” Grant said. “There are so many songs to choose from. You always want your show to ebb and flow, rise and fall. You want different types of songs, different tempos.”
The mix of songs ranges from ballads to fun, upbeat numbers, sprinkled with unexpected duets that Fuller says “will be a crowd pleaser.” The show plays to Fuller and Grant’s vocal strengths while also reflecting how they first encountered Fitzgerald as listeners. The show is a celebration of what Fitzgerald brought to their lives.
“We have our own style, our own interpretation, our own voice, but we’re paying tribute to her and giving her flowers,” Fuller said.
IF YOU GO:
What: “For the Love of Ella” When: Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m. Where: Empress Marquee Club, 324 Virginia St., Vallejo. Tickets: Dinner and show are $75, show-only tickets are $35, and can be purchased at empresstheatre.org/event/love-ella .
Source link