Jazz Monthly.com Interview with Kellylee Evans

“Jazz Monthly Feature Interview” Kellylee Evans

Smitty: My next guest at JazzMonthly.com has such a great voice; and she’s got such a vibe that is so mesmerizing. Her debut solo release is called Fight or Flight? and it’s loaded with spine tingling grooves, mesmerizing rhythms, and infectious lyrics. You’ve got to hear this great new record and I am so happy to talk with her. In fact, we have been talking so much before the recording here, we’ve probably done the first interview already, but we’re gonna do this again and share it with everyone out there! Please welcome the wonderful and amazing Ms. Kellylee Evans. Kellylee, how ya doin’?

Kellylee Evans (KE): Hey, thanks so much for having me. I’m doing really well….by talking to you. (Laughs)

Smitty: Yeah. So, now, I love this new project because, as we were talking before, I think when I first heard it I was mesmerized by your voice. Just listening to you talk, your voice is so melodic. It has such a flow. And then when you put that great voice to your music, it’s just amazing. I really love this new project of yours.

KE: Thanks so much. I’m so happy that you like it and you’re not related to me, so you have no real reason to like it.

Smitty: Yes, that’s right. (Laughs)

KE: I’m not paying you to say that, am I?

Smitty: Oh, no, you’re not paying me say that at all.

KE: That’s good. It’s always good when somebody that’s not related to you likes your record.

Smitty: Oh yeah, I love it, it’s fantastic. You know what I love so much about it is that you are reaching such common ground with your audience with this music because you’re singing and you’re talking about things that people identify with automatically, and that’s life, and you do that so well by putting it to music.

KE: But, you know, I really didn’t know that other people have these feelings. I know it sounds really silly, but I didn’t think there was common ground with other people. I felt that these were issues that only I was dealing with, and when I found out, when people began to come up to me and they say “That song, that’s about me” or “That song really made me cry” or “No one’s ever put it in those words, but this is how I’ve been feeling.” All of a sudden these ideas that I’ve been having that I felt were just solely my own, they become less forbidden. And I realized that it’s part of the human experience and I feel less isolated in my feelings and that’s always a really good thing. It’s good to feel a common ground with others.

Smitty: Yes, and isn’t that the way that most people feel when they have things in their heart or on their mind, that they sort of personalize it to the point that they feel like certain experiences and feelings are isolated to them….That they are the only one feeling a certain way. But then when they hear it from someone else, there’s such a comfort and there’s such a coming together when they hear that from someone else, and there’s a measure of relief too.

KE: Huge relief, huge.

Smitty: Yes, and by the way, I just want to mention that these are all original songs on this project.

KE: Yes.

Smitty: Absolutely. So talk to me about the title track, “Fight or Flight? (Help Me, Help You).”

KE: “Fight or Flight” is about not wanting to connect with others and being really apathetic in society and so many things happen in the world outside of our country and you only have to have to watch one week of Oprah. If you don’t watch the news, Oprah brings the news from outside into your home. If you’re not into finding out what’s happening in other countries in the south and the so-called Third World, and it’s very easy to kind of not wanna be involved in others’ lives. There’s often this gray issue of just feeling like you’re being ineffective and feeling that you’re the one that need more help than somebody else. So the whole idea is like, saying to this person that’s in need “Help Me, Help You,” tell me how to help you because….the lyrics are “Help me help you, though I’m not sure I want to. Teach me to know, show me which way to go. Help me help you, although I’m afraid.”

Smitty: Yeah. I totally get it. Now, you were born in Toronto.

KE: Yes.

Smitty: And if I understand it right, your first solo was in kindergarten?

KE: Yes, in kindergarten. You know, you do those little recitals. I’m sure it was a Christmas recital, that was the first time that I can remember performing for a group of people was in kindergarten. My first solo, yeah.

Smitty: Yeah, now, you’re gonna have to help me with this one because I’m just baffled….someone said that you could be heard vocalizing at three months old in church.

KE: Yes, and that’s true. When I was growing up I was Seventh Day Adventist and my uncle….my mom was a nurse and so I don’t know if you know what nurses’ hours are like, but they’re pretty crazy hours….and so my dad’s brother and his wife would take care of me during the day when my mom was working during the day. And they would take me to church with them, and they would hear me and I would be on pitch, in cue, in tune, singing along or making sounds along with the choir and with the other singers in church.

Smitty: You were on pitch and in cue?

KE: Yes. You know, I loved to sing and it’s funny. I see my daughters now love to sing too and trying to write little songs. And my grandmother, who is now in her eighties, she still directs the choir at her church….At a Baptist church in England. I guess singing is just in my family.

Smitty: So you were just destined to be a singer.

KE: I was, and it’s funny. I’ve always wanted to do it, but I was also really good at a lot of other things and so the feeling was, well, you know, it’s great that you can sing and everything but you’re also really good academically….I was a gifted student and so it was all about crack and hit the books. There was always something else that was more rational to do. When you think about it, I’m a child of immigrants, so they came here to Canada with the hope that I’m going to do well. There were really only three choices in terms of a career growing up, is a lawyer, a doctor, or an engineer. That’s it. I think those are the choices for most kids of color when they’re growing up, that’s what they’re told. I think most immigrant parents at that time felt like that was the way you gain respect in society and that was the way that you would be successful. You want to take care of your parents, you know?

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!

Smitty: Yes. I have a special love for Colorado.

KE: I have to say like that the Jazz Aspen Snowmass people were amazing. The foundation, they’re amazing. They took five bands from across North America and they brought us all to Aspen Snowmass, they put us up in hotels, they get the best people on our instruments to tutor us and to mentor us, and they pay for our hotel, they give us food to eat every day. As a musician, you can’t be treated any better. Anybody that feeds you is a good person. (Smitty laughing) Plus to be treated so well, it was amazing and, I mean, I just have so many good things to say about it, the experience. I loved it and my band loved it, and oh, I just had so much fun. I don’t know what else to say. Christian McBride’s hilarious. He’s like the older brother I never had.

Smitty: Oh, that’s too cool.

KE: Just a really good guy, a really good guy.

Smitty: Yeah, so what would you say was the most striking thing or the most important thing that you took from that experience?

KE: I think, again, the feeling that….it’s another step up, another pull up, people at that level look down and say “Listen, you’re coming along quite nicely. Keep going, keep doing it.” I think that’s what came out of that for me, just the extra push. I mean, they would come in to our rehearsals and they would help, nudge a song to be more beautiful.

Smitty: Oh yeah.

KE: And they gave so much encouragement to us and each and every one of us came away from it just feeling blessed. Feeling blessed that somebody would take the time to help us hone ourselves a bit more. The people, I mean, that’s the thing, especially coming from Canada and not really being in a center like, say, New York or something like that where you can brush against the greats that often. I mean, we’ve got lots of greats in Canada, even where we live. So the neat thing about Aspen is we had greats coming from all over America congregating in one place and their sole job for that week that you’re there is to help you. We were there for 10 days and these people are there to help us and even if you’re playing on a gig with somebody, you don’t really get the opportunity to sit with somebody and ask questions to that extent, you know what I mean?

Smitty: Yeah. Yes.

KE: For them to be focused on making your material better or whatever, it’s just like…I think that it’s such a good system. I hope that it stays around for a long time and that more people get a chance to take advantage of it. I know that one of the patrons was mentioning that their mandate is to make sure that even more women take part in it.

Smitty: Yes. I love that.

KE: Yeah. So that’s what they’re hoping for in the coming years. It’s a good organization.

Smitty: Yes, it sounds very good, wow. Well, going back to your record, you mentioned something to me earlier when we were talking before the interview here. You mentioned your music as Hallmark cards and I thought that was kind of unique and cool.

KE: Yeah. You know, it’s that idea of somebody feeling like they don’t really know the words to say, but you’re going out there into the Hallmark store and picking up a card and you’re like “Okay, that’s exactly what I wanted to say,” and a lot of times it’s funny, I would help people edit their papers when I was a T.A., a teacher’s assistant in University, and people would say “I want to say this and that and I would like to say this idea” and I’m like “Why don’t you just write it?” “Why don’t you just say it?” And they’d be like “Oh well, maybe it doesn’t sound so smart, maybe it sounds stupid” and I’d be like, “Just say it.” You know, a lot of times people try to be very complicated and try to….

Smitty: Dress up their words?

KE: Yeah. And one thing that I felt uncomfortable about my music because I didn’t feel very poetic and I thought maybe a lot of my songs were kind of more colloquial. I was singing or writing the way that I would speak, but I realized that there is really nothing wrong with that. I’m saying what I want to say, you know what I mean? And this is what my brain is thinking right now and this is what I’m saying, and I found that those are the songs that people don’t really have to like wrack their brains to figure out what I mean. I’m being pretty clear and in some way they feel that that song is identifying with what’s inside, what they felt inside, and so that’s why I feel that they’re like little Hallmark cards.

Smitty: Yes.

KE: People will say “That’s what I was going to say.”

Smitty: Yes, and you’re reaching them because I remember you telling me that someone, a friend of yours, was having a bad day and they sent you an e-mail or called you and said “Hey, things have been rough this week, but I put your record on and I’m feeling better.”

KE: And for me that’s amazing. I think it was even more amazing because if you’d go to his CD collection, he’s got rock CD’s and he doesn’t listen to a lot of jazz, and my music’s like more soul jazz, and for him to feel that my music had a place in his home is amazing.

Smitty: Yeah.

KE: That he would use it to soothe himself. To me, I don’t know what a better compliment would be.

Smitty: Well, have you finally come to grips with the fact that you totally connect with people with your music?

KE: Kind of, I guess so. You know, I think I am. At first I felt really guilty about this particular line of work because I’m a bit addicted to performing. Not a bit, I’m a lot addicted. It’s like it’s very much a fix to me when I perform. And I get a lot out of doing it from an energy sense.

Smitty: Yes.

KE: And I felt bad that like I needed it so badly, like there must be something wrong with me that I need to be up there singing and there must be something wrong with me that I come off on such a high…. and the rest of my time like there’s nothing really out there in the regular world that makes me feel that. The only other thing might be painting. I really enjoy that. Oh, and acting. I really like that.

Smitty: Oh wow.

KE: So those three things for me give me the biggest rush. I don’t drink coffee; I don’t smoke or take drugs or drink. So I don’t really have any other way to get that feeling that people are always looking for.

Smitty: Well, Kellylee, you know what it is.

KE: Tell me.

Smitty: You’re just doing what you love. Like everyone else.

KE: I thought you were going to say “You know it is: you’re just an addict.”

Smitty: I guess we all are to a certain degree, but it’s a good thing in that I think it’s all perspective driven and it’s all about what we’re doing, what we love to do. Regardless of whether it’s a positive thing or a negative thing, we’re all addicted to something because it’s very difficult to be that well balanced, and when we find something we love, be it reading or bicycling or whatever it is, it’s something that we love and we could do it for hours.

KE: Yeah.

Smitty: So whatever that is, yeah, I guess you could term that as an addiction, but the word “addiction” doesn’t have to have negative connotations all the time, so I think it’s beautiful when we have an addiction that is helpful to other people and it helps us at the same time. And that’s affect of your music and your live performances.

KE: Now you made me feel even better. I’ll remember that.

Smitty: Hey, Kellylee, that was my Dr. Phil routine.

KE: It was good, it was good. Get your own show with your own Web site. You’re on your way.

Smitty: (Laughing) Okay, you got me laughing now, man, I’ve got to quit. Okay, so where can people get the record?

KE: Well, it’s available in every Barnes & Noble across America.

Smitty: That’s right! That’s right because you have an exclusive with them. How ‘bout that?

KE: Oh my gosh, they’ve been good to me. They’ve been so good to me and, again, I don’t know, if you ever hear me complaining, please slap me because I have no reason to complain about anything. People have been so good to me and Barnes & Noble have been one of them and they’ve been promoting the CD in stores and that’ll be going on to the end of October.

Smitty: Very cool.

KE: Yeah, I mean, it’s super, super, super cool. So that’s one place and also it’s available on iTunes. Yeah, those are probably the best places for folks to get it.

Smitty: Yes. All right, so give me your Web site.

KE: It’s www.KellyleeEvans.com

Smitty: All right, wow. Well, I must tell you that I am stoked over this CD and I just think that everyone should listen to this record because I think it’s got that groove, it’s got a dance groove, but it also has that comforting vibe. And I just love that combination.

KE: My friends, or not even just friends, like people would say, “Oh, your CD, it’s so calming yet energizing.”

Smitty: Yeah.

KE: I think it’s funny that I started to see the CD as kind of like a drug because a lot of times it freaks me out when I would be performing and people would be kind of in a trance…..Adults and kids, and it used to scare me, but now I’m getting used to the sense that maybe my music is a bit of a drug and it’s a safe drug, so I’m good with that.

Smitty: Yes, absolutely. I couldn’t have said it better. Well, I am certainly excited, as I mentioned, and I can’t wait to see you perform live. Are you doing much in the U.S.?

KE: One show so far. It’s a pretty big deal for me. It’s going to be at The Kennedy Center. Again, blessed again. Remember what I was saying. If I’m complaining, slap me.

Smitty: Yeah.

KE: I tell you, again, like they’ve just been so good and Kevin Struthers, he was a programming director there, at The Kennedy Center they have a jazz club and they have this Discovery Jazz Series and they’ve been so kind as to invite us to come and play October 20th. So we’ll be there in Washington, D.C. on October 20th at The Kennedy Center, Jazz Center.

Smitty: Oh wow. I wanna go!

KE: You want to go? Well, come! Will you come?

Smitty: I will definitely work in. I have to look at my schedule, but I would love to do it, yes.

KE: You need to come.

Smitty: Okay. I will work on it because I’d love to be there because I just love your voice and I would just love to see the reaction of the audience too because I’m just so into that.

KE: I mean, that’s a big kick for me, just seeing people leave glowing, that honestly….it’s one of the best, best, best jobs in the world, to make people happy.

Smitty: Yes it is.

KE: To be part of that, I love it, I love it, I love it, love it, so I love performing and I want to be able to do it more and more and be able to perform for some bigger and bigger audiences, so that’s my dream.

Smitty: Well, I think that dream is going to come true quicker than you think, my friend.

KE: From your lips.

Smitty: Yes.

KE: From your lips.

Smitty: Yes indeed. Well, I wanted to say once again, this is a wonderful project. It’s called Fight or Flight? from Kellylee Evans. You must put this one in your CD collection. Kellylee, it has been such an honor and a pleasure to talk with you about this great record, your life, your career, and I hope we get to talk again soon.

KE: We will in Washington.

Smitty: Yes, okay. Oh, thanks again and all the best the rest of the year and beyond, my friend.

KE: Thank you very much. Thank you so much. You know, thank you so much for having this site, and congratulations on a very successful, what, we’re at nine, ten months?

Smitty: Yes indeed, ten months.

KE: Well, let’s hope for many, many, many more.

Baldwin “Smitty” Smith

For More Information Visit www.KellyleeEvans.com or www.jazzaspen.org or www.monkinstitute.com