DENISE STEWART

Interview 11 June 2002

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(Picture to be added shortly)

Well I'll be in London at the Jazz Express with Norman Connors during the 2nd week in August. He's currently trying to get some other work thee as well so we can stay longer.

Guess what I'm doing today? You'll never ever ever guess!

I'm actually "temping" for my husband at his 9 to five! He's been in the hospital since last Wednesday and I've been at his computer doing His work...would you believe that?! anyway - it's cool cause I can handle it and
I've finally got access to a computer!

My name is Denise Stewart and I was originally born in Austin Texas. But I spent most of my youth in Chicago Illinois, where I was a member of Jesse Jackson's Operation Breadbasket youth choir. Yes I did start singing at 6 in church - but it was a Methodist Church. So my first experience with singing was in Chorale Music as opposed to Gospel Music. Gospel music came later when I joined the Black Mass Choir at Fisk University.

My mother introduced me to classical piano. My father introduced me Jazz and my grandfather introduced me to Baseball and The Beatles! The first record my grandfather gave me was "I wanna Hold Your Hand"...(don't start guessing my age)

Conflicts with Jazz and Gospel? Not really. My uncles who are all Southern Baptist Preachers didn't approve of my singing in night clubs on Saturdays and Sundays, but musically my approach to everything was jazzy. Whenever I learned a new song, whether it was R&B or Gospel, I had to put some kind of jazzy "thang" to it for my own listening pleasure.

I transferred to Fisk University from Roosevelt University (in Chicago) and graduated with a B.A. in Music. I started out a Piano Major but switched to Voice at the beheast of my voice teacher Mr. Jones. I immediately joined the Black Mass Choir, which consisted of 100 voices! We were awesome and won many gospel workshop competitions during that time. We actually cut a record which featured myself and many other very talented people. While at Fisk I also had the pleasure of working under Robert Holmes, who was the
head of the music department. He also directed the Jazz Orchestra there where I learned to play cello. He turned out to be the most influential person in my musical life as he taught me arrangement stylization, jazz
orchestration and stage presence. I loved being in the Jazz Orchestra because I was the only girl and it didn't bother me or the guys one bit!
When Mr. Holmes discovered that I could sing, he immediately made me get rid of that cello and put me in front of a microphone!...that's where I started singing jazz. We've performed with many Jazz Greats; Ella Fitzgerald, Quincy Jones, Duke Ellington, Roberta Flack, Dizzy Gillespie...I could go on and on. These wonderful people would actually come to Fisk and give a workshop and at the end of the course, perform with us...the highlight of my career at Fisk was when we made an appearance on the Merv Griffin show in
Los Angeles with Quincy Jones! It as great and yes, i fell in love with L.A.! I promised myself right then and there that i would return one day and I did (haven't left yet either).

As a matter of fact, Norman Connors and The Starship Orchestra's appearance at Fisk University was the turning point in my decision to sing jazz as a professional. Seeing Phyllis Hyman, Jean Carne and Michael Henderson singing such beautifully soulful songs with a Jazz Orchestra backdrop defined the direction I wanted to take. Urban Jazz. Even though it was called "Contemporary Jazz" then, the R&B undercurrent gave it an urban sound - even then. I promised myself that one day I would sing for Mr. Connors
when I got out of school and he will be impressed because he loved (still loves) real vocalists. I kept that promise too - but that was much later.

Once I graduated from Fisk, I returned home (Austin, Texas) to get my Master's in Music. While there, I met the great Gil Askey ("Lady Sings the Blues" Diana Ross) through James Polk, who was touring with Ray Charles at the time. I started hitting the local clubs around town and boy was I busy!
I would play piano bar on Mondays singing Barbara Streisand stuff, I was featured in James Polk's Jazz trio on Sunday nights and then I was a full member of a funk band called "Backbone" where I developed my Chaka Khan chops! Needless to say, I got "discovered", cut a demo and set my sights on Hollywood!

Many, many, many things happened during the first three years of my arrival in Hollywood. The most significant being, I became a member of a 10-piece band called "Network". We did all originals and we sounded like Earth Wind & Fire meets Rufus and Chaka Khan! It was awesome! I was also the only girl
in that band too! Which I still didn't mind! We gave many showcases and performed only original tunes which attracted a few producers and hot shots. Pete Moore (of the Miracles) was one of the first people to put his money where his mouth was. He took us into the studio and produced about 8 tunes on us - five of which were my originals. Capital Records had an interest in us but our timing was bad because it was during this time that large bands were breaking up: Earth Wind & Fire, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Tower of Power, etc. One thing led to another and Pete decided to manage me as a solo act.
Through that association, I met many people in the industry and performedfor an innumerable amount of local shows - none of which resulted in a deal.

In the meantime, I started playing piano bar at a very popular supperclub in Hollywood called The Simply Blues. On any given night, you could run into the likes of Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Mike Tyson, Magic Johnson and even Norman Connors. One night I did. He heard me and he promised me that he would return and employ me one day. One year later he did. We played practically every jazz club in the Los Angeles area! Then we hit up north and Capital signed him to do his "PASSIONS" album. In this interim, Pete Moore re-surfaced and offered me a record deal over at his label Satellite Records. My first single was called "VICTIM". You know what you should see the album cover - I'll send it to you. I look like a 80's version of James Bond's Soulsister! I've actually got a gun in my hand! would you believe that? When I find those pictures, i'll email them to you. Pete signed me to a 3-year deal on his independent label and it was wonderful because I was still the only girl on his label! and I had no problem with that either!

Would you like to guess who the producer was on my first album under Satellite records? Craig T. Cooper. His style was unique and his musicianship was very impressive. He was very hot cause he was so young and he was playing and programming for all the 'cats' in LA. From DeBarge to Anita Baker to LeVert! He was a master on the Lind drums. Just about every R&B record you heard coming out of LA was his programming! But it was his Jazzy flair that attracted me to him. Although Pete was marketing me as an R&B artist, Craig and I started collaborating on Jazzier/Urban tunes. One of our first ballads was written with Phyllis Hyman in mind "Quality Time".
Anyway, the deal with Satellite didn't pan out so Craig and I decided to start working together as a songwriting team, which rendered quite a few tunes. What I really liked about Craig's music was his sensuality. You
could put on one of his records and drift off into another place that was filled with the anticipation of romance. His music provided a wonderful backdrop to my imagination. It was Craig who encouraged me to seek out that
deeper part of my voice. One of my challenges as a vocalist was finding that part of my voice that communicates how music really makes me feel. Because I have such an extensive range, it's difficult to hone in on a niche, but Craig, he found that niche and I love it. I love the way I sound when I'm singing in his studio and singing on top of his moods. That's what it is - moods. Music makes me moody. Do I sound moody on "Decide on Me"?

I must tell you this story: I met Craig at a gig where he was playing guitar (when I first hit LA) and I was so turned on by the command he held on his guitar (he had a serious rhythm guitar playing wrist) - I think I was singing "You Got The Love" (Rufus & Chaka Khan). Anyway, I just kept turning around checking this young brotha out and giving him his props. So when the gig was over, he politely informed me that he was gonna be my producer and that was that. That was in 1979, five years later, he was doing just that and has been doing it ever since. I love everything about Craig and I'm hoping that our records on Expansion can generate enough interest in us as a team to afford a tour - you know like George Clinton and the Brides of Funkenstein?!
(don't laugh - but you get the gist) We've done quite a few concerts together when "Quality Time" was out but not as many as I would like. Craig is my 'homey' and I'm looking forward to many more projects with him.

Although Craig and Norman are both in the same market, their styles are very different and Norman on the other hand likes the other part of my voice. I've been featured on 3 of his albums and if you've heard me on Craig's stuff, you probably wouldn't recognize me on Norman's stuff. Anyway, Norman re-surfaced after the "Passions" album was cut and it was on this album that I was exposed to the incredible Marion Meadows. He and Jacque Burvick were instrumental in providing the hit "I Am Your Melody" which afforded Norman
with a tour budget. Although I did not make it no the Passions album, I did have the pleasure of touring with The Starship Orchestra during its release.

My first trip to Europe was from this wonderful album, we hit the
UK with Spencer Harris, Lonnie Liston Smith, Jean Carne and Ronnie Laws. We played the Odeon and it was great! England was great and the people were great. We came in the summer so the weather was great too! We had a great time and I made a few friends while there and promised to return, which we did in 1993. Along the way, I've had the pleasure of being featured Marion Meadows' first project, Norman Brown's first project and Duke Jones' first project. I have to mention Duke Jones' album because it is still one of my favorite joints - "Thunder Island". It was released I think in 1990 and I'm featured on 4 cuts - one of my favorites is called "You and I" (not Stevie Wonder). Look for it - it's awesome.

I've also done a duet with Mark Winkler on his "Color of Love" album and we did quite a few live dates togther during the release of his hit "Cries and Whispers". That song got a lot of airplay on the Urban Jazz stations - did it ever play over there? I bet you didn't know this: that I had a single release over there in London in 1993? I think the song was called "Take Me In Your Arms". Norman produced it and a local guy wrote it. Craig found the single in a record bin recently and bought it for me just so that I would have it.

anyway ...am I going on too long?

This conversation with Denise is likely to be continued................

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