bio
I grew up playing guitar and singing folk, soul & pop, but at my earliest had crawled around to Ella, Sarah, Louis Armstrong, the Duke, Frank, & discovered Dinah, Billie (played nothing else for months), Louis Jordan, Miles, Clifford. I could go on, of course. Latter-day: Daniela Mercury, Marisa Monte, Dianne Reeves, Eva Cassidy, Elis, Gal Costa & plenty of newer stuff too—indie rockers (I got from daughter Manjula) like Gillian Welch, Liz Phair—the list is endless.
My life: I was raised among the melange of cultures in Riverside, CA (hence loving languages)—but migrated up the coast to Santa Cruz for most of my adult years, except for life-changing sojourns in New York, Paris & Baja; later Kauai & Italy—& finally, my 2022 + living & performing abroad. Originally trained as an actor (Beatrice in Much Ado in the first production at the Performing Arts Theatre, UC Santa Cruz) and director (dissertation on Marguerite Duras), have always been a writer (day job). But I took to jazz and studied with Ray Brown (the Stan Getz trumpeter, not the bassist) as well as many wonderful vocalists: Michele Rivard, Faith Winthrop, finally my girl Trelawny Rose, who produced the vocals on my Four Sweets CD. I lost her to The Voice—she's been head vocal coach there now many years!
I've always preferred a place where I could perform regularly—and this was true from the get-go, in Santa Cruz when I started playing out. An amazing old gentleman & terrific trumpeter, Bob Smith, put together a full jazz band and we played every Friday night at Positively Front Street until it burned down. He had heard me sing and then asked me to front the band right away—I had no idea what I was doing, but it was a great gig with wonderful players. I could tell you stories! The booker at the gorgeous Shadowbrook saw me at Bocci’s, where the Jazz Society always played and I had a couple of regular Friday runs. I remember I did Dindi & other Brazilian tunes—and he booked me for a weekly night (Martini Mondays!) and I continued at the Shadowbrook off and on for many years. Looking back I completely get how lucky I was—to play with the likes of Murray Low, Stan Poplin & all the guys on my Softly CD, as well as more sweet wonderful Santa Cruz players than I can name. Softly was recorded at Ridgetop Sound studio in Aptos with Tim Prince.
When I half-moved to LA in '03, the city of angels took me under its tattered but shiny and flightworthy wing. Have had the great good fortune to play (and record Four Sweets) with some of the city's world-class artists: Liz Kinnon, Josh Nelson, Hussain Jiffry, Enzo Todesco, Gerald Clayton, Kirk Brundage, Roberto Montero, Dick Mitchell—and the opportunity to perform hundreds of times in many configurations & venues, in LA & all over the south, as well as north.
After long runs in downtown LA at small clubs, I settled in at Santino’s, a lovely (and happening!) Argentinian restaurant near my apartment in Santa Monica. Santino’s nourished the Los Pinguos band (how I met Fefe) and other great players like Fabiano Nascimiento and Norma LaTuchie. I was there for many years with guys like Bruce Forman, John Storie, Mike Scott, Bennett Brandeis, and a sweet long time with Dan Anderson—whom I would practice with in their tiny bungalow in Culver City, singing and waltzing with baby Stuart while Dan played.
I also sang for three years with a pop vocal trio: Three of Diamonds with Eric Vincent and Tony Perez, sweetest guys on the planet, and just what I needed to keep me at it in the last years of my mom’s life.
And I can’t leave out the Shadies. I’ve continued performing jazz in Santa Cruz even while usually in LA, but started singing with my dear friends’ band Playtime in 2008, great Americana/indie/alternative band, rockin! which morphed into the Shady Characters—same great music but all about the dancing now. I would sing in with them up north, upstairs in the wine bar at the end of the wharf, with the most gorgeous views on the coast.
This latest phase: My own repertoire is increasingly eclectic—widely ranging (Brazilian, jazz, soul, indie, you name it). Under Covid lockdown I started working on recording a series of songs at home to go with the craziness, collaborating with Fefe Lee of Los Pinguos recording in his garage: he was my wonderful accompanist pre-shutdown. To my astonishment and great good fortune, that core repertoire morphed into the foundation for live concerts I would give on my life-changing European tour (see later blogs). I visited and performed in nine countries (European, and including Wales and Morocco for when I had to leave Europe) during over a year of travel. That epic journey helped me uproot my LA life and settle fulltime back in Aptos in '23, and now am especially eager to give some house concerts for you, let me know? And, best of all, the recordings of the seven songs I made on the move—in guest cottages and garages—are ready!! The project is called Prodigal Tomboy, and it’s not much like my previous recordings! I’ll be releasing these gems one at a time—I can't wait to share this music!!