Smitty: Yes indeed.
KE: So yes, and it’s funny because I grew up in Scarborough, which is a very multi-cultural place, so all my friends are Korean, Chinese, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, East Indian….there’s just so many of us and we were super competitive. We all thought we were going to be a lawyer, doctor or engineer. (Laughs) I think as you get a little bit older that you realize that there are other choices out there and that maybe you could make yourself happy in being different.
Smitty: So the music took over?
KE: It did but it took a long time to take over. But I fought it for a long time because I wanted to make my parents happy and I really wanted my mom to be happy with my choice and I also felt like I could do anything so I might as well just choose to follow their guidance. In that case, I was going to do legal studies, so I did legal studies and I took my undergraduate in legal studies and at the same time I did my undergraduate in English, so I graduated with two degrees, one in June and the next one in August of the same year. And then I went back to get my Masters in legal studies because by that time I knew I didn’t want to be a lawyer, but I also didn’t really want to do anything. All I wanted to do was just stay in school and study the theory of law. How law works in society. But if you think about it, I was in school since kindergarten and the nice thing about doing something that long is that you know what to expect. So I know that I need to show up every day and I know that I need to behave a certain way with the teachers, I know that I can do a certain amount of work to get the job done, I know where to get the information at the library. I mean, everything is there for you to succeed. I did not want to leave.
People were asking me “So like when are you going to stop getting degrees?” And “Why are you taking legal studies? Are you going to be a lawyer?” “Nope.” “What are you going to do?” “I don’t know.” That’s the pattern and I loved that until the day that I found out my mother was sick, and I could still remember going back to class thinking, you know, listening to these people talk about these issues and saying “What does this have to do with real life?” And that was when I just really kinda disconnected from being in school and, I mean, like I’d done all my coursework, I had like a chapter left on my thesis, but that one chapter left on my thesis took me another two years to write. I mean, I just never seemed to get it done, you know, and I had my eldest daughter around that time and nobody could convince me that I was better off writing my paper or hunkering down and doing the research for that last chapter instead of like taking care of my daughter, you know? I was so not into school anymore, which was the strange for me because I was one of those people that like, you know, come the end of August, I am happy. I can’t wait to get to school in September. But it changed for me and it was one of the best things in my life when I decided to drop out of my defense and pursue music. It was scary, it’s still scary sometimes, but I feel much more happy more times than not.
Smitty: Very cool. You have received so many rewards for pursuing music as well, most notably in 2004 when you were awarded second place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. That must’ve been a blissful experience.
KE: Holy smokes! I felt like…I still get excited about it! To me it was a really amazing experience because I literally went from singing in the shower the week before to singing at The Kennedy Center!
Smitty: Yes, and listen to the judges for that event; Now, here you are, you’ve gone from the shower to The Kennedy Center in D.C. and you have as judges Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Jimmy Scott, and Flora Purim.
KE: Yeah, unreal.
Smitty: And for them to give you second place, that’s mountains of accolades in itself.
KE: I tell ya, I’m still floating from that experience and, I mean, I know I should move on and everything, (laughing) but it’s still a big thrill for me. I’m trying to think of what was the best part about it. It’s funny, I’m going again next week to the Competition in Washington, they’re doing the piano competition, and I just want to go to see it. I’m going as just a spectator because honestly, while I was there, I was floating on such a high and preparing for performing and competing that I didn’t remember some of the experience. People would come to me and they’d say “What did Quincy Jones say to you?” and I was like, you know, I only remember snippets. But I was in such a daze.
And so I just want to go and re-live it and remember and meet some of the folks that are going to be there this year. I think the neatest thing about being there was riding in the elevator with Jimmy Scott, or meeting Kurt Elling while you’re passing in the hallway and they’re just normal, you know what I mean? In that sense of them being just like me.
Smitty: Yeah.
KE: Yeah, it made a career like that feel possible because for me, I had just recorded my CD and it wasn’t out yet. I was just still trying to just kind of get my bearings, and for them to say that they thought I was good enough to get second place, it made my decision to drop out of school and to pursue this route feel less crazy.
Smitty: Yes.
KE: Yeah, and it’s been so helpful just in the publicity and recognition.
Smitty: Well, speaking of publicity, you’re a regular contributor to CBC Radio in Canada, Rogers TV, Toronto’s City TV, and I can’t leave out Wayne Brady of Whose Line Is It Anyway?
KE: I think that was fun. We did a show here in Canada.
Smitty: That’s incredible.
KE: It was fun. To be honest, I’m just having the time of my life because I’m doing all the things that I always dreamed of doing when I was little. It was funny, like we sat down to watch TV this afternoon and the kids were….well, I wasn’t watching TV, my back was to it….my kids were screaming “Mommy, Mommy, you’re on TV!” I’m on this show that comes on just about every day, it’s for kids, and it’s called 4 Square, and it’s the show where I sing and it’s neat, I always wanted to be known across the board, I didn’t want just older people to know me, and I got my wish.
Smitty: That’s amazing.
KE: So all that’s come through the Competition, and just increasing my visibility and having people want to hear anything from me. The judges at the Monk Institute, they’ve done so much for me just in that one nod, that one step up, that one reach up. They helped me get up a little further and I’m just so grateful to them for that.
Smitty: Yes. Now, tell me about the scholarship to study with bassist Christian McBride.
KE: Oh my gosh, that was so fun! (Laughing)
Smitty: Yeah. In Aspen, Colorado, of all places too!
KE: Oh, it’s nice there. Oh my goodness!
