Jami Jackson, R&B Singer/Songwriter

Metropolicks Let Love Live

2014-10-03T21:18:00.001-07:00

I've got exciting news! My song, "Let Love Live" is the feature song for the music video for a new book, Metropolicks, written by Victor Scott Rodriguez and Felicia Lin. Metropolicks was inspired by people’s true dating experiences in New York. The novel centers around five main characters that Felicia and Victor created. The male and female characters of different ethnic backgrounds, tell stories of comedic situations, romantic mishaps, and risqué situations encountered. Throughout the book, the narration switches from a female character’s perspective to a male character’s.

The music video for Metropolicks is the photo shoot for the front cover of the book and was directed by Robin C. Adams. Metropolicks is now available for pre-order on Apple iBooks, Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, and Kobo. The official release is on November 23, 2014.

Also, for this book, I was interviewed with Victor and Felicia about the making of the book by Donna Drake, for "Live It Up!" with Donna Drake (on Uhetv.com) at WILLiFEST. Once it's available for viewing, I'll follow-up with a link to the interview. I hope you enjoy the video!

Jami Jackson's "Statistics Song" at American Statistical Association Tal...

2014-08-24T12:27:00.001-07:00

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I was invited to perform at the 175th Anniversary of the American Statistical Association (ASA) for their ASA's Got Talent show on August 5th, 2014. Last year, they asked for their members to submit videos of their various talents, as long as they had a statistical theme, for consideration of the talent show. I knew that this was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up, so I decided to write a song about how I felt about statistics in order to send in a submission. I played the music on the piano and wrote the lyrics and crafted a low-quality video of my performance, without really expecting to be selected. I wasn't sure how they would feel about my song or if they would see past the poor video. However, they loved the song and my voice and invited me to perform! Not only that, they invited the Statistics Band who is part of our North Carolina State University Statistics department to perform as well. Four acts were invited to perform total. It was a great experience! My family went with me to see me perform as well. The audience was fairly large and really enthusiastic. I had to study for a PhD qualifying exam that took place the following week, but I am so glad that I went. It will be an experience that I will never forget. I hope you enjoy the song! This is the first song that I wrote about a subject, but maybe it won't be my last!

On Becoming an Educator at the Imhotep Academy

2014-01-17T16:19:00.000-08:00

I didn’t know what to expect on my first day as a teacher’s assistant for middle schoolers. It was my first teaching experience ever at the Imhotep Academy, a year-round program of The Science House at NC State University (NCSU) that introduces traditionally underrepresented students in grades six through eight to science, mathematics and technology (STEM). I was a first-year graduate statistics student at NCSU, so I still had a lot to learn, but now, I had the opportunity to get young students excited about mathematics and statistics. It was very important for me to a good job and present the field in a good light. The teacher for the class was very confident and had taught that age group before, but I was still nervous.

On the first day of class, we talked to the students about ratios and proportions. We garnered their interest by showing them a picture from the internet of what appeared to be thousands of shark fins drying on a rooftop. The question we asked them was, “How would anyone be able to provide a close estimate of the number of shark fins in the picture without actually counting them?” The students then brainstormed ways in which they could count the fins on the rooftop. The students thought of different strategies such as figuring out an average, using area, and even using volume to come up with a number. We really wanted to show them how the mathematical concepts they have learned in school could be applied to real-world problems.

We then transitioned the concept of estimation into developing scales and using proportions over the next couple of classes. The students received a picture of a crime scene and a scale for the scene. We then asked them to calculate the area of different parts of the crime scene using the picture and scale. We made it fun by recreating the crime scene so that they could check their work by physically measuring the scene. The students asked lots of questions as we walked them through the process of using fractions and making sure that the decimals were in the right places. We also had the students carry out the calculations by hand. We wanted to make sure that they knew how to manipulate fractions without the aid of a calculator. As the students asked questions, I started to realize how much of an impact that I could make. The strategies that I have used so many years ago to do long division and fraction multiplication came back to me and so I took the time to meet students where they were in their learning and explain step-by-step what to do. The individualized attention that I was able to give the students was something that they were missing in school.

Unfortunately, in a subject like mathematics or statistics, it is really easy to get behind if a student does not learn certain steps. I believe that in large and crowded classes, this becomes a common problem. Once students start to get behind, they start to think that they are not good at mathematics and they start perceive others who know those certain steps as “smart”. I think that these problems can be combated through more personalized attention in settings such as at the Imhotep Academy. I started to get really good at identifying where the gaps were for the students and explaining those gaps in a nonjudgmental and encouraging way. It was very gratifying because then, students would get that “Ah Ha!” moment and their frustration would immediately turn into exhilaration.

Transitioning from graduate student to teacher was a little daunting at first, but after interacting with the students, made me become really passionate about continuing to be an educator in academia in the future. I want to create and facilitate similar programs at my future academic institution to introduce and train young underrepresented students in mathematics and statistics. As a graduate student, I was reluctant to volunteer because I didn’t think that I would have enough time, but I am so glad that I did. The perspective that I gained at the Imhotep Academy has initiated a budding desire in me to become an educator.

Reprinted from: http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/blogs/news/?p=625

ASA Statistics Song

2014-01-15T15:54:00.001-08:00

The American Statistical Association is having a Talent Show to celebrate their 175th Anniversary this year, so I decided to write a song about statistics, since I am a 2nd year PhD student in Statistics at North Carolina State University. The video is not my best video because of the audio issues, but I think you can still hear the music and my voice well enough. Who knows, maybe this is something I can do more in the future! I hope you enjoy it. Tell me what you think!

My Latest Video, "Let Love Live"

2013-12-26T19:25:00.001-08:00

I really hope that you enjoy my latest video, "Let Love Live". It has photos that I think really speak to the meaning of the song. Feel free to leave comments!!

Recording Studio Experience with Brandon Pierre, Singer/Songwriter, and Josh Gunn, MC and Rapper

2013-07-25T21:34:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night, I went to the studio to help Brandon Pierre, the artist on the top, and Josh Gunn, the artist on the bottom, record a song that they were working on. Brandon has a beautiful voice!! It was the first time I met him. Me and Josh go waaaaay back, on the other hand. I've known Josh Gunn since middle school. I've always known Josh to be a talented lyricist and rapper. I met Brandon for the first time on Saturday and I was enamored by his voice! He sang with such passion and control. He was working with another songwriter that goes by Bread, and the song that they wrote together was a great song. It had a slow, soulful R&B feel to it, but the way Brandon sang it, it was so effortless and easy to get into. I really didn't have much to contribute to the song except for a high note, but I was glad to do it!! It's always great meeting new artists in the area and working with new talent. Once the song has been released, I'll be sure to show you where you can listen to it and buy it! Josh Gunn also worked on a song with Brandon that was really tight!! His lyrics fit right in with the song. He also played some of the music that he is planning to release this year and the songs are on fire! I'm really excited for him! He said he'll be doing shows all along the East Coast, so I can give you all updates regarding his project and shows as well!

Great Tips for Songwriters Given During Interview With Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Jami Jackson

2013-07-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

Songwriter/Producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins gave great tips for songwriters during the interview last night on Huffington Post Live! You may know Rodney for his work with with Lady Gaga, Brandy, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Michael & Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Destiny's Child and Justin Bieber, the list goes on. Rodney and his wife, Joy Enriquez, came on the show to promote their new upcoming reality show, "House of Joy", which will air on NUVO. The reality tv show will be about the life that Rodney and Joy have together with their family. Joy is a singer as well and is trying to start a singing career while maintaining a family. It sounds like a great show! Me and another songwriter had the pleasure of asking Rodney a question during the segment. Unfortunately, the time ran out so we only got one question in. I asked Rodney what is the most important thing that I can do as a songwriter to get my music heard by record labels and publishing companies and Rodney told me that I should take advantage of the opportunities online, such as with Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. He said if my music is great, then I will get noticed. He said things have changed from the past where songwriters had to ride buses all over and shop their music. This is good news for me and other songwriters that we have a greater ability to get our music out there right at our fingertips!! Also, the other songwriter, Christian Trent, asked Rodney what his experiences were working with Whitney Houston. Rodney talked about how outstanding a singer Whitney Houston truly was. She will be sorely missed. Check out more of the interview here at this link: Let me know what you think of the interview!!

Tune In To the Huffington Post Live Tonight at 8pm To See Singer/Songwriter Jami Jackson Featured in an Interview with Songwriter/Producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins

2013-07-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone!! Jami Jackson has been asked to speak at an interview with Songwriter/Producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, who is best known for his work with Lady Gaga, Brandy, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Michael & Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Destiny's Child and Justin Bieber. Darkchild is on the show to talk about his brand new reality show on NUVO. Jami and another songwriter will be asking questions about songwriting and the music business. The discussion will last approximately 25 minutes, will be moderated by the host Alyona Minkovski and will include members of the public. The interview will take place tonight, Monday, July 15, at 8:00 pm ET/ 5:00 pm PT at the following link: http://huff.lv/10X30yw. Tweet at Jami Jackson at @JamiJackson. Check it out!!

Jami Jackson's Newest Release, "Let Love Live" is Now Available!

2012-10-12T22:33:00.001-07:00

How are you doing?? It has been a year and a half since I last blogged!! Can you believe how time flies? A lot has happened to me during this time. I moved back to NC after living in NYC for 9 years and have started a PhD program in statistics at NC State University. Leaving NYC was a really hard decision for me, but I really needed to go back to school and further my education. So far, school is great! I have also finished a song that I have been working on for over 3 years and now it's finally released to the world! My song, "Let Love Live" is now available for download on CD Baby and iTunes. I appreciate your support!! Also, please leave a review on CD Baby and iTunes and tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter about the song to spread the love! You can take a listen to the song on my website at jamijackson.net. I hope you like it! Tell me what you think :) And if you have any ideas for a music video for this song, let me know.

Are you on Pinterest? I just started a board for "Let Love Live". Follow me and I'll follow you back!

What have you been up to during this time? I would love to hear your stories and updates!

There is a Balm in Gilead

2011-04-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, April 10th, I lead two songs for church service, "There is a Balm in Gilead" and "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired". I sang these songs without practicing beforehand, but what I like about singing at my church is that most of my performances are on the spot. The choir director asks me to sing and so I sing. It really helps me to learn to sing on the spot and to deliver a message right then and there. I have been working on how I sing the songs, so I try to experiment with my voice while I sing to sing songs differently each time. It's a lot of fun, so I'm glad I have a chance to express myself vocally in church.

"You Alone are God"

2011-03-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

During church service on March 27th, I sang a gospel song called, "You Alone are God". This song was written by Ron Hubbard and has been sung by Marvin Sapp. It was the first time that I sang this song live, so it was a really moving. I love the words to this song because it is so true; there is only one God and he deserves the praise. The music is also so pretty, and the choir really helped me to sing it. I have also included another video of me singing "Guide My Feet" at the end of church service.

Divas Underground Concert Marathon on St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

On March 17th, I performed for the Divas Underground Concert Marathon, sponsored by the MTA. The MTA started a program called the Music Under New York program to help underground musicians be a part of an official music program. In New York City, it is common to find musicians performing underground at different subway stations, but this program allows musicians to perform with amplified sound. It is illegal, otherwise, to perform underground with amplified sound.

I have been a part of this program for two years now, and it has been a wonderful experience! I love singing underground in front of unsuspecting travelers. Setting up for the show is always a little hectic, because I'm trying to test the sound while the travelers look at me curiously, but can't stay to listen. But once I start singing, it's nice to see the crowds start to develop. They just don't suspect the my strong voice in the noise of the subway station! Because it's underground, the crowds get larger and smaller, depending on the song and where I am in the song, but I always get people who ask for a flyer, who tell me that I should be on American Idol and the X-factor, you know, the usual!

This event was particularly fun because it was an all day event. There were female performers at Union Square from 12pm to 8pm, so it was day of diverse kinds of music. It was also St. Patrick's Day, so there were many people celebrating that holiday that night. I always enjoy the opportunity to perform in front of new people. Here are a couple of short videos and a picture from that night. Enjoy and share with your friends!

FLEX Cuban Choir gets Gold Award for singing "Keep Walkin' On"

2011-01-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

On November 21st, 2010, 2 translators from Cuba came to present to me a recording from the FLEX Cuban choir and a note of thanks. The translators gave the presentation in front of my church during service. The story about the translators is actually really funny - they never met the choir before they go the recording. It just so happened that they were in Cuba, and their tour guide was the father of the choir leader for Flex Choir. The tour guide found out that the translators were from Brooklyn and said, "Oh, so you must know Jami!". It just so happens that my church is in Brooklyn, so it worked out that they were able to get in touch with me and present to me the gift. The FLEX Choir really wanted to show their appreciation for the use of my song, "Keep Walkin' On". They participated in contests in Cuba by singing the song and won a number of awards. They won a Gold Award in the competition with all the different schools of Havana University. They also won a Gold Award at the university level. Lastly, they won a Bronze Award at the provincial level competition with the other universities. I was so excited to listen to the recording and to read the words that they had to say. In the letter, the choir talked about how they sang the song with love. It was truly a touching moment. The video above is a recording of the choir performing the song live.

Mentoring in Medicine Walking Program

2011-01-11T18:06:00.001-08:00

On December 4th, 2010, I performed for the Mentoring in Medicine Walking Program and Closing Ceremony. There were over 500 people in attendance for this event. The walking program's theme was, "Celebrating our Steps", so my song, "Keep Walkin' On" fit perfectly with the event. Everyone really enjoyed the song. A few people after the event inquired about the music and wanted to hear more. I also met Dave Nash, a former NBA player. It was so awkward to be standing next to him, because he is 7 feet and I am 2 feet shorter! But he was really nice and seemed to be used to the response to his height. I felt really good to sing an inspirational song for the purposes of healthy living.

FLEX Choir Performs on April 7

2010-04-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the FLEX Cuban Choir while they were having their performance at the Festival in Havana. They performed "Keep Walkin' On" and they have advanced to the next level of the competition with my song. There were 44 youths in the choir, though 10 boys were missing in the picture. Their next performance will be on April 28th. I'll let you know how it goes!! They are having a blast with their shows!

Rehearsal of FLEX Choir Singing, "Keep Walkin' On"

2010-04-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of the FLEX Choir practicing "Keep Walkin' On". You can tell they were having a lot of fun with this song!

Flex Choir, a Cuban Choir, Will Sing "Keep Walkin' On" During the Annual Festival "Flex Cultural Festiva" in April 2010

2010-03-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

The Flex Choir, a choir of University students between the ages of 18 and 23, will be singing "Keep Walkin' On" as one of their featured songs for FLEX Cultural Festival! The festival is held every year in a large theater in Havana, Cuba. Last year, there were just over 1000 people in the theater and they had a great response from the crowd during their performance. The choir has about 40 voices and the students sing in English. The festival is organized by the Federation of University students and it comprises many artistic expressions such dancing, singing, choirs, story telling, jokes, pantomimes, fashion shows, etc. The word FLEX is the acronym in Spanish for School of Foreign Languages. During the festival, the choirs compete among different schools of Havana University to become the best choir. If they win the competition, they will compete among different universities all over the country of Cuba to be the best choir. Last year, they won the competition at the festival as the best choir! Let's hope theyw in again!

I will post 2 more pictures of the Flex choir in my photos section. I will also post a video or audio recording of their performance on my website. "Keep Walkin' On" is making an international impact!

Jami Jackson's Rendition of the classic hit "Greatest Love of All"

2009-12-22T21:11:00.000-08:00

At my performance at the Broadway Baby Bistro, I performed "Greatest Love of All", made famous by Whitney Houston. David Berry played the song on the piano and it was a perfect song to perform live because I did not need background vocals or more instruments that a piano. It was a real hit! I first performed the song in high school with my school choir. I remember when the choir director played the song on the piano and I was singing in the big stage of a theater all by myself in front of a huge audience of the parents and teachers. I was betwee 15 and 16 years old. I was so nervous, but the song turned out great! It was nice performing this song again at my own show.

Jami Jackson's New Version of "Sista Girl"

2009-12-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

For my performance at the Broadway Baby Bistro, I performed a new rendition of "Sista Girl". "Sista Girl" is an original song off of my "Call My Name" album. It was co-written by my mother, Sandra Carr Jackson. My mother was inspired by my sister to write the song and wanted to write something uplifting for all women out there, in addition to the men that support them. I really like the version that is on my album, but it was difficult to recreate that song for a live show with no background vocals. So, we changed the music entirely to fit the show. I really like how it turned out, but it's a work in progress. If you like it, let me know!

The Audition for Dreamgirls on Broadway

2009-11-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

So on Saturday, November 22nd, I auditiioned for the Dreamgirls Broadway Show. I was soo excited to audition because I thought it would be a great opportunity for me. They were looking for African American females in their twenties for the parts of Effie, Deena, Lorrell, and Michelle. It's an equity broadway show, but they had open auditions for people who were not equity. I'm not an equity actress, so it worked out for me. Equity is a union for actors and actresses, but one hasto do an equity show before they can join. There were a couple auditions for the broadway show, so it worked out with my schedule.
However, I did not know what I was getting myself into! The audition was at the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, which I originally thought was cool, until I had to wait outside in the cold for 3 hours! It never got above 30 degrees outside! And the wind was vicious. Of course, silly me, I was trying to be cute for the audition, so I decided that I didn't need gloves or a hat. I did have enough wherewithal to wear a wool coat, but still! What was really funny about the audition was that a girl that I knew from college, who graduated before me, came right in the line after me! It was very unexpected because I hadn't talked to her for about two years, but I was so glad to see her there, and she was glad to see me. Had she not been there, I might have thought really hard about turning around and going home. But I didn't!
Not only was it freezing outside, the line was extremely long! It wrapped around the corner of the building. I was number 376 and I think there were more than 450 people there total! I had no idea that many people were going to show up. I had previously auditioned for the broadway show Rent and I literally walked in and walked out of the audition. As soon as I got there, I was able to audition because there was hardly any line. Apparently, though, the producers of Dreamgirls on Broadway advertised the auditions everywhere!
Now let me tell you about the demographics of the line. The auditions were supposed to be of women in their 20s, but seriously, there were women who were in their 40s and 50s auditioning too. I'm like, really? It was clearly written what ages the producers were looking for, but these women were in denial. It goes to show you that dreams never die! Not only were women way over their 20s, there were a good portion of women singing songs from the Dreamgirls soundtrack. Not that there's anything wrong with singing those songs, but it is too predictable. And the chances of someone else singing the same song is high. There were more "And I am telling you" renditions than I could count!
I ultimately auditioned with the song, "Never loved a man (the way that I love you)" sung by Aretha Franklin. Thankfully, they let us sing 16 bars, so that ended up being the first verse of the song, which was exactly what I wanted to sing. I love that song because it's got a lot of attitude, dynamics, and hits it hard at the end, in a short amount of time. We also had an accompanist which was nice because I didn't have to sing acapella. It was like deja vu because I had auditioned with the same song for the Amateur night and Showtime at the Apollo auditions. It was very cold when I auditioned for that as well and the line was extremely long. But this time felt different from then. The casting directors that I auditioned for seemed to really like me. They said I should definitely hear back from them is a week. Of course, I am to putting that much stock into those words. I definitely felt like I did great in the audition, but you never know about what these people really want. My look or voice may just not be what they are looking for, or it may be exactly what they are looking for. But it's got nothing to do with talent. So we'll see...maybe I'll hear something soon!

Jami Jackson is Presented the Rock Star Artist Award by LIFEbeat

2009-11-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, I tried to dress up as a Dreamgirl. However, everyone swore I looked like Diana Ross, so I decided to tell everyone I dressed up as Diana Ross. A choir member from my church gave me a gold dress that she used to wear back in the day with gold shoes to match, so I thought it would be great to dress it up for Halloween. I had actually auditioned for the Dreamgirls Broadway show in this same outfit, with the wig and everything. It was a lot of fun wearing this outfit, because I would never have another opportunity to wear an outfit like it and not look wacky!

LIFEbeat had their annual Volunteer Appreciation Party on October 27th. I had a great time there! I went to it last year, but I didn't dress up then. When I went last year, a lot of other people were dressed up in really cool outfits. One couple was dressed up as Huggies Kisses, with full aluminum foil outfits. I felt really out of place, so I wanted to make sure that I dressed up this year. There was a really good turnout of people at this event. There must have been a least a hundred people. There were a lot less people who dressed up, but there were a couple of really good outfits. One couple dressed up as Marilyn Monroe and JFK. There was also really great free food served. There were hor d'oeuvres throughout the event: coconut shrimp, pigs in a blanket, and chicken sticks. I made sure to be first in line each time the waiters came out! There was also an open bar of champagne provided by Barefoot Bubbly and dance music provided by DJ Boo. We were all jammin' to Michael Jackson and some people were even breaking out the Thriller dance!

LIFEbeat also presented the Hearts and Voices Rock Star Artist award to me for this year. I was really happy to receive the award. They cited the work that I did with the NY AIDS Walk 2009 and with "Keep Walkin' On" as the reason why I won the award this year. It was nice getting recognized for doing something positive. I hope to continue to help others and make an impact in this way in the future.

Jami Jackson's First Solo Performance at the Broadway Baby Bistro

2009-11-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

On November 10th, I had a great performance at the Broadway Baby Bistro!!! It was my first solo live performance at a night club. I have performed in shows all of my life, but this was the first of its kind for me. It was a wonderful experience preparing for the show and coming up with the music. I worked with a talented pianist named David Berry on the set. I originally wanted to do a show that would feature a full band, but I decided to make it simple this first time. David Berry is getting his Ph.D. degree in Classical Piano from Julliard. He is an excellent player. Even though the show only featured my voice with the piano and no background vocals, he was able to full up the songs with his playing. He would play solos for some of the songs and he would pick out some really cool licks to play in the songs. We worked really well together to prepare for the show. I also had to adjust how I sang the songs. Because I had no background vocalists, I had to sing the verses and hooks and ad lib, while still maintaining the chorus. It is definitely a lot harder doing these kinds of shows instead of singing to karaoke tracks! But I LOVED it!!!! I did not even spend a lot of time promoting the show, but I had a great turn-out of people. My friends, coworkers, piano teacher, members from my church, and even people that I never met, came to my show. My parents came up all the way from DC in a bus to see me perform. It is a great thing to be a part of such a great group of people. I realized that I had a real family in NYC. And that evening was beautiful outside. It was a mild night, not too cold, and thankfully, it wasn't raining. The music just filled up the room and my voice was strong all the way to the end. Everything went exactly as planned. I am still putting up the videos, but this video that I have is the opener selection of my show, "Keep Walkin' On". It was nice to sing it stripped down like this. Everyone had great things to say about the show. Some said it was inspirational, moving, some were brought to tears. I am so happy to give a gift that not only touched other people, but touched me as well. I have wanted to do a show like this for a long time; so I was able to release a part of myself to my audience. It was a liberating experience! I plan to do another show around the end of January or beginning of February. These shows are just the beginning!!!

Jami Jackson Performs at the ING NYC Marathon

2009-11-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

Performing at the NYC Marathon on November 1st was a lot of fun!! The night before, I went to a Halloween party in Harlem, not too far from where I lived. Although I knew that I had to sing in the morning, I still wanted to take advantage of Halloween being on a Saturday. The Saturday night parties were bountiful! And it was even better to have an extra hour to party, since it was Daylight's Savings Time at 2pm on November 1st. So I had to take advantage. For Halloween this year, I was dressed up as Diana Ross. I had a gold dress and gold shoes and a cute wig. I'll post a picture of me in the next blog.

That Sunday morning, I had to wake up semi-early to get ready. I needed to be at the location at 125th and 1st avenue at 9:30am, but it wasn't far from where I lived. There was a forecast of rain in the morning, so the coodinators of the marathon said that we could come out after the rain ended to avoid destroying our equipment. I arrived at the location around 10am. However, it was so hard to get there! A lot of the streets were blocked off and as a result, there was a lot of traffic. We finally got on the FDR to the location. Once we got there, it was relatively easy to find parking and access the location. I had my volunteer badge and permit ready in case there was any trouble!

The location was basically the street where the runners were going to pass me. It wasn't a sectioned off area or nook. I set my equipment, an amplifier, microphone, and ipod, up behind where the onlookers were going to be. When I started performing, the people waiting for the runners started to get interested in me. One man who was part of the FDNY asked if I had auditioned for American Idol. I can't count the number of times people have asked me that!! It's a compliment though because they believe in my talent enough to make it on that show. A couple other people were interested in who I was as an artist, and some people were dancing to my music. I kept the show short, to about 30 minutes at a time. I would sing a couple of songs, and then pause, then a couple more. In the beginning of the marathon, a few people would run by at a time, so I sang when they were close to us. I decided not to sing for an extended period of time in the beginning. I was able to see the professional women and men athletes run in the morning. They were surrounded by cops and media. It was interesting seeing them and then seeing who actually won. There were so many runners who came after them! It seemed like a neverending number of runners. It was amazing seeing so many people run the 26.2 miles! I could never run that many miles at one time!

It was a great experience being at the marathon and being able to say that I performed for so many hardworking people. Running the marathon is a real feat, but performing there was even better for me!

Rehearsal for My First Show on November 10

2009-11-09T21:01:00.000-08:00

David Berry and I have been working really hard to prepare for my show on November 10th! We've been rehearsing since October and have met for hours at a time preparing. David Berry is a talented pianist who will be accompanying me during the show. He is actually getting his Ph.D. in Classical Piano at Julliard. He has a great musical ear and he is very patient. He is also the musical director at All Angels Church in Manhattan. He has been a real blessing for me in this whole process. I actually found him through Craigslist (big-up to Craigslist! :) Although there are a lot of spam and crazies on Craigslists, sometimes you will find a real gem. David is exactly that.

I decided to do a show because I really wanted to have a chance to perform solo at a club. I have been performing all of my life and throughout NYC, but I have never performed my own set at a night club. I have mostly performed for other venues who were putting on their own productions and shows. I originally wanted to pull a whole band together to perform shows in the city, but it was too cumbersome to have a full band. Summer of 2007, I had tried to pull together a small band with a guitar player, bass player, and drummer, but even that fell through eventually. The bass player moved back to Israel and it was hard to replace him. I was trying to find band members who would play for me for free and split show money. However, when musicians are not getting paid, they are not as dedicated to the group and they have their own agenda and ideas for the group. It just got really messy and eventually I scrapped the idea.

The coordinator of LIFEbeat, Erika Banks, told me that she did a solo show with a pianist over the Summer. I wasn't even aware that there were many shows in NYC with solely piano and voice....I had just assumed that most shows consisted of a full band. Once I heard how successful her show was with just her singing and a pianist playing, I was convinced that I could do the same. So far, it has been a wonderful process. David is such a great player and in the spots where I am not singing, he makes up for it with the music. I picked songs that I could sing well without background vocals. I must say, that is the most difficult part of the process, singing songs with no background support. It really helps to take some of the work off the lead singer and have the background vocals pick up some of the slack. However, it is great practice to entertain a crowd with just my voice.

The picture above is the chord chart of my song, "I'll let you go" that we are going to perform on Tuesday. So that you can get a taste of what my show is going to sound like, I have uploaded the song "Greatest Love of All" from our rehearsal last week. I recorded the song on my mini recorder, so the quality is not the best, but you should be able to get a good idea of the song. I'm also going to post pictures and videos of the show after the show next week. If you're in NYC, I hope you can make it. If not, definitely look for pictures and videos next week!

The Battle is the Lords Solo

2009-11-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, October 25, I sang "The Battle is the Lords", made famous by Yolanda Adams. I was actually singing the song in the place of another lead singer of our church. The other lead singer called out sick that morning with vocal issues and no one else in the choir knew how to sing the song. The speaker of the service had their whole sermon based on "The Battle is the Lords". So, I volunteered to sing the song and cover for the other singer. It turned out to be a really great selection! I didn't have a chance to practice the song, so I was hoping that I would be able to successfully deliver it. A lot of the church members came up to me after and said they enjoyed the song. I am glad that I was able to make a difference after such a short notice. My church makes CDs of the service, so I have an mp3 of the song.