Jazz Monthly.com Interview with khani cole

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Khani Cole

Smitty: My distinguished guest joining me here at JazzMonthly.com has significant roots in my career. She was my very first interview many years ago. She’s just an explosive yet sultry singer and has such a repertoire of great tunes. You may know her from her Places project, Piece of My Soul, or Lifetime, which is her latest project. She’s toured around the world and just wowed audiences beyond compare. I’m so happy that she’s here to talk about her exciting life and career. Please welcome the magnificent Ms. Khani Cole. Khani, how are you?

Khani Cole (KC): I’m fantastic. Thank you for having me today.

Smitty: Yes, it’s a pleasure to have you here. I’m afraid to ask you what’s new because we’d be here all winter. (Both laugh.)

KC: This is true. There’s so much going on. It’s just so true.

Smitty: Yeah, but it’s beautiful.

KC: Mm-hmm.

Smitty: Yes, now, you and I have little something in common in that of all the interviews I’ve done over the past few years, you were the very first interview I’ve ever done.

KC: That’s right. You know what? I’m remembering that now. That is so true. I’m honored. I am. (Both laugh.)

Smitty: Yeah, you were my springboard. How ‘bout that, huh?

KC: All right. Well, there you go and here I am back again.

Smitty: Yeah, so we’re sort of full circle in a way, huh?

KC: Mm-hmm, yeah.

Smitty: Yeah. So, now, you’ve got some wonderful things happening in your life and that’s always beautiful, and you’ve been in the Arizona area for a number of years now.

KC: Mm-hmm.

Smitty: Talk about what it’s been like for you after moving from the Midwest to Arizona?

KC: It was really wonderful moving here and, of course, I came here not really anticipating anything. I sort of came out here wandering in the wilderness. I didn’t know anybody here, I didn’t have a job, I was living with my sister and her husband with my two babies, and I just wanted to work, but Arizona really embraced me. I met so many great people here. I ended up finding the love of my life here and we’ve been married 12 years, we’ve formed a production company, we work nonstop, and I’ve been able to record three CD’s, travel all around the country, all around the world, and still have a nice life here in Arizona.

Smitty: Yeah, and it’s just been wonderful, and what a move that was.

KC: Yeah.

Smitty: And you’ve gotten some great work there. When my friends are visiting Phoenix or Scottsdale I tell them to stop by and catch your show. You have been to Phoenix / Scottsdale what Celine Dion has been to Las Vegas. I often tell people “Khani owns Arizona.” (Both laugh.)

KC: Wow! Thank you, what a nice thing to say. Oh, you know, really, we just finished up this great gig that we had at a resort and I was literally there ten and a half years, and the great thing about that job was that I was able to come in and out, and whenever I needed to go out on the road, and I guess not so much for me but for the other band members, we didn’t have to move any equipment. So we finished that up and then on to new things.

Smitty: Yeah. Now, you’re a fantastic performer. I speak of your voice all the time and I love all your projects and I have a favorite song and that’s “Somebody.” It’s just one of my favorite songs and that one’s close to me because it’s sort of like my theme song, you know? (Both laugh.)

KC: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it does have great lyrics. It’s a great tune.

Smitty: Yeah, but tell me, of all the great performances, what do you like most about performing live? Because you are the consummate performer.

KC: Aw. You know what? I do love performing live. I just think it’s…it’s what I’m most comfortable doing, I love to make people happy that are out in the audience, I’ve got a great band and just being able to work with them as often as I do…we’ve really become a unit so that when we ebb and flow with the music, it kinda all moves as one and I get chills listening to my band and just the whole feeling of it, it’s just wonderful.

Smitty: Yeah. Isn’t it great that music, when you have great tunes, a great band, that even performing for a number of years, it’s continually fantastic in that it’s always fresh, it’s different, and it moves you in a different way each time.

KC: Sure. I mean, even if you’ve sung the song or if you’ve played the song hundreds of times or even more, you try to just make it fresh and new every time, and then so many times, for me I just feel a lot of times that I’m the vehicle for it. You know, kinda moves through me and it surprises even me sometimes how great it could feel.

Smitty: Yeah, and that’s just the beauty of music in that the creativity never stops.

KC: Yeah. Right.

Smitty: Especially when it comes from within the soul and from the heart, it’s just a beautiful thing.

KC: Yes. And you don’t have to be the performer, you don’t have to be in the band, you could all participate, and that’s the great thing about it. What’s so cool is that you feel that energy from the whole experience, the whole room or the whole venue, wherever you are.

Smitty: Yeah. Talk about some of the comments from your fans that really let you know that you are reaching them.

KC: I think one of my very first performances was Piece of My Soul in Minneapolis at The Dakota and there was a table of people that came up to me and they were a couple of guys, there were three guys, and one of them had been listening to Piece of My Soul on the radio and had the CD and now I was performing live and he kinda pulled me aside after the first set and he had tears in his eyes, and it’s kind of a sad story but, I mean, it took my breath away. He just said he had been through a bad relationship, he was out with some buddies, and for him to hear that live that night just touched him and just made him feel better about what he was going through, you know, that he was gonna see the light at the end of the tunnel type of thing.

Smitty: Very cool. What kind of energy does that generate in you when you hear these great experiences and great comments from your fans?

KC: It’s humbling more than anything. I feel really humbled, it’s so much bigger than me, and I just want to be able to continue to touch people and to be able to make that kind of creative experience.

Smitty: Yes, and you’ve traveled abroad as well. I know you’ve been to Germany and a number of countries outside of the U.S. Talk about what means and what the audiences are like in comparison to the U.S.

KC: Yes, I did a couple shows in Germany a few years back and I will say that the audiences were just really enthusiastic about the music. I mean, they knew the lyrics and I didn’t know their language, you know, I knew a couple phrases but, I mean, here they were, knew the lyrics to my songs and yeah, and then the people stay up late and we didn’t even go on until one in the morning and it was jam packed with people. And the diversity, the whole—there’s a diversity of everything, of people, of lifestyle, of music. I think that was really engaging for me. It’s so different from the United States, where you have pockets and it’s sort of this is this and that’s that in different areas, but Europe is just much more broad to me, from my experience.

Smitty: Yeah. Do you feel a different energy when you’re there?

KC: You know, I think people are people no matter where they are. I think that’s the one thing that we all kinda need to think about, that it doesn’t really matter where you are in this world, we’re all the same, we’re all connected, we can all have the same feelings and everything.

Smitty: Yeah, I love that, Khani!

KC: And that kind of good energy is the same wherever you might be.

Smitty: Yeah, isn’t that amazing? Until you’re actually in a different country and conversing with different people around the world, you find that we’re not really that much different.

KC: No.

Smitty: And that’s the beauty of music. It is so international, so universal.

KC: Mm-hmm.

Smitty: Because we connect in such a similar way regardless of where we are.

KC: You’re right. Or any language barrier, economic or anything, you know, we really need to make that like touchstone, you know?

Smitty: Yeah, absolutely. So, now, speaking of performing.

KC: Mm-hmm?

Smitty: You mentioned leaving the other venue. You have something new working for you now and I must say congratulations as well.

KC: Thank you, thank you so much, thank you so much. Yes, my husband I have opened a supper club. It was an existing restaurant, so we’ve expanded it to have the dining room and the show room, and it’s a cozy, intimate setting. Of course, we have a wonderful stage and a great sound system. The room sounds fabulous. We’ve slightly tiered the seating in the room so there’s not a bad seat in there, and the food, our partners are Michael Lepore and his wife Patty Lepore, so it’s just outstanding Italian cuisine, and so we serve fine dining…The club is called Vocé [Lounge]. It’s spelled V-o-c-é and it means voice, translates to voice in Italian.

Smitty: Ah! Very cool.

KC: We’ve wanted to do this for quite some time. We just needed to find the right location, the right partners, of course we wanted to blend the great food with the music, and we’re also gonna be bringing in lots of different talent—national, international, the best regional—into the supper club. I mean, we wanna do some great, great things over there.

Smitty: Oh wow. I know you will. I’m looking forward to it. I’m gonna visit next month, so I’m looking forward to that.

KC: Oh good. Good, good.

Smitty: Yeah, so it’s Italian cuisine?

KC: It’s Italian cuisine and it is spectacular, and I have to say, you know, I love Italian food, I think a lotta people do, but being that my husband is Italian, he’s kinda picky about his Italian food, and it’s so good I can’t describe it. I mean, it’s just the flavors and the things that he comes up with, just fabulous, and they’re nice people too, really nice people.

Smitty: Yeah, well, tell Mike I like his approach. If you can’t find good Italian food, open your own restaurant. (Laughs.)

KC: There you go. That’s right, that’s right. Yeah, we can’t say we’ll ever go hungry.

Smitty: Exactly. Oh wow. Well, that’s amazing. So, now, your performance there, talk about what that’s like. Is that nightly?

KC: As of now, yeah, for now. We’ve actually only been open since the 26th of December.

Smitty: Right.

KC: So we’ve only been open a few weeks. It’s still kind of surreal because we’ve done a lot of the work ourselves and it’s really truly a labor of love in that respect. I’m there Wednesday through Saturday for now. We’re gonna be bringing in saxophonist Marion Meadows on Wednesdays.

Smitty: Nice!

KC: Yeah, and we’re gonna bring in another group on Tuesdays, I think a Latin group, and we’re just open to bringing in all kinds of, like I said, talent from really everywhere.

Smitty: Solid.

KC: Yeah, so it won’t be just me, and the voice, vocé, I mean, it’s art and the voice of art, the voice of, you know, whoever it might be.

Smitty: Yes, wow, it sounds like an exciting venue.

KC: It really is. We’ve gotten just great feedback so far.

Smitty: Sweet. The location, is it Scottsdale?

KC: It’s in Scottsdale. It’s in the McCormick Ranch area of Scottsdale right off of Hayden [Road] and Shea [Blvd.]…and real easy to get to, lots of parking. Like I said, we’re very new but the restaurant has been there for quite some time. We just remodeled and re-branded and expanded onto it. We’re really, really excited, and for me being on the stage, it’s incredible.

Smitty: Oh wow, I know. I can just imagine. (Laughs.)

KC: It’s just incredible because it’s literally my second home, you know?

Smitty: Yeah. So when I’m in Scottsdale, that means I can come in, golf in the morning and listen to great music at night.

KC: Exactly, and have some great food on top of it. And we’re gonna serve food in the lounge until midnight.

Smitty: Oh wow, that’s excellent.

KC: You must taste the wood-fired pizzas, homemade pizza…

Smitty: Oh yeah, whoo!

KC: So it’s a great combination: great, great music, great food, great ambience, yeah.

Smitty: Yes, well, what a wonderful way to start the New Year.

KC: Yes, this is so true.

Smitty: So, now, does the supper club have a Web site or a My Space or something like that?

KC: It has a My Space. In fact, if you go onto my My Space, Vocé is, of course, one of my friends. Just click on that and check it out and join up or whatever.

Smitty: Yeah. So expect a barrage of calls from managers and people of the like wanting to get their artists into your fantastic supper club. Wow.

KC: Yes, yes, absolutely. I mean, like I said, there’s a lotta different ways we can work any given act, and actually Frankie Valli has already stopped by to say hello.

Smitty: How ‘bout that, huh?

KC: Yeah, he was in town doing a Fiesta Bowl event and I guess he’s coming back—I guess he came back in town this week. I guess he’s coming in tomorrow again. So we hope to have a lot of kinda high profile people, celebrities, and of course everybody else. I mean, it’s just a comfortable place to be. It’s not stuffy at all.

Smitty: Oh, sweet. I like that. I’m glad to hear you say that.

KC: Yeah, yeah, no, it’s very comfortable.

Smitty: Oh, nice. So, now, speaking of music.

KC: Mm-hmm?

Smitty: Any new music in the works?

KC: Yes, I absolutely have a lot of new music in the works, actually. I have a bunch of tunes that I’ve already been performing that I’m planning on recording and I have another record situation, so to say, that is pending and I’m very, very excited about that, and it’s kind of amazing how it coincided with the opening of Vocé and a new record coming out, so…

Smitty: Wow.

KC: Yeah, 2008 is definitely starting out right.

Smitty: Yes indeed. I have to ask you, how are you keeping up with all of this? That’s a lotta things happening.

KC: Oh, you know what? I don’t know. I always kinda say to myself, you just never know what you can do until you have to and then you find out.

Smitty: Yeah.

KC: I do try to have some down time when I can, but not too much of it lately.

Smitty: I can imagine. You’ve got this great supper club and then the nightly performances, a new record, and I gotta think that you’re gonna be traveling a little bit on the road too when the new record drops, you know?

KC: Yes, I will, so it’ll all be interesting how it unfolds.

Smitty: Yeah. Well, listen, Khani.

KC: Yes?

Smitty: I just wanna say once again, thank you so much for being, first of all, a fantastic performer, a great person.

KC: Aw.

Smitty: And you deserve everything that’s happening for you now.

KC: Thank you.

Smitty: And I wish you all the best and I wanna be a part of it. I wanna get out there and get in there and sit down and get my drink on and listen to some great music, you know?

KC: Definitely, definitely.

Smitty: All right, and you mentioned your husband (Mike Florio).

KC: Mm-hmm.

Smitty: And I wanna give him some props because I know he’s one of the hardest working guys in the business.

KC: Oh my gosh, yes.

Smitty: And I wanna congratulate him for taking such great care of you over the years and down to now.

KC: Yeah, he is just, like I said, he is amazing. He’s like…he’s a rock star.

Smitty: (Laughs.)

KC: He’s my rock star. I swear, he’s tireless.

Smitty: Oh yeah, yeah.

KC: So maybe we just kinda sort of feed our energy off each other and he is just amazing, and besides being an unbelievable musician, producer, manager, and he just gets things done.

Smitty: Yeah, he’s got some hats.

KC: Yes, he does.

Smitty: Well, Khani, thank you so much for taking a few minutes out of this busy schedule of yours and catching up and talking about these great wonderful things you have planned for 2008 and for being an integral part of great live music. Let’s get back together later in the year and talk more about some of these great things that you’re doing, all right?

KC: Absolutely. Let’s do that because we’ll have more to talk about and make sure you…you’re gonna come see me, right, in about a month?

Smitty: Absolutely, yes.

KC: Okay, good.

Smitty: We’ve been talking with the incredibly talented and so beautiful, Ms.Khani Cole. You can experience her fantastic live performances at her gorgeous new supper club, Voce’ Lounge in picturesque Scottsdale, Arizona. Log on to the club website to see what other great national performers that are performing at Voce’ Lounge. She has a new studio project coming soon that’s sure to be a great experience as well. Khani, congratulations again to you and your entire team. All the very best in 2008 and beyond, my friend.

KC: Oh, same to you. Thank you so much, Smitty.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.myspace.com/khanicole and www.myspace.com/vocelounge