Community has become a hallmark of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, be it gatherings, services, or celebrations. “Lift Every Voice: A Singer Showcase,” presented this past weekend by the San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) at the SFJAZZ Center’s Joe Henderson Lab, embodied all of these modes in an uplifting musical setting.
Pianist Dee Spencer, who founded SFJAZZ’s education program and San Francisco State University School of Music’s jazz studies program, created the showcase for her Calling All Singers audition and mentoring program. Each “Lift Every Voice” evening, Jan. 17–19, was offered free of charge and featured a different set of vocalists accompanied by Spencer’s piano trio, which included bassist Jewell McMillon and drummer Jayla Hernandez.
“We hope the concerts will inject audiences and participants with a renewed sense of cultural pride and respect for the contributions of historical individuals who have composed and/or performed Black/African American music throughout the ages,” Spencer explained in a press release.
Each show was anchored by a vocal veteran who served as an emcee and also performed. Clairdee handled those duties on Friday, while Michelle Jacques, who recently spearheaded the Daughters of the Delta project, kept festivities flowing Saturday and Sunday.
Students from SF State’s combo and vocal jazz class opened each concert with the first verse of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Choir members stood in front, and on Sunday, Jacques joined the band.
Given the Joe Henderson Lab’s tight confines, it can be difficult to get musicians in and out of the room smoothly. So Jacques sang “Go Down Moses” with just Spencer and Hernandez playing with her.
Surprise guest and longtime Beach Blanket Babylon cast member Renée Lubin was next with a pairing of Joe Sample’s “Come Along With Me” and the standard “Orange Colored Sky,” made famous by Nat King Cole.
The discovery element of Spencer’s lineup came into play with 12-year-old Bellamy Ackrell. Understandably nervous while introducing her set, she blossomed into an assured singer as she belted Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” and the African American jubilee standard “Wade in the Water,” which Ackrell remembers her mother singing to her “when I was pretty young” — or at least, younger than she is now.
Michael Lee had often sung the Whitney Houston version of “Saving All My Love for You” at open-mic nights in college, and he chose that, along with Houston’s later single “I Look to You,” to present here. The contrast between Lee, who looks like he could play third base in the major leagues yet sings gracefully, and Ackrell, who sounds like an old-soul but in a tween frame, was a highlight.
Miss Loretta took two popular favorites — Erroll Garner and Johnny Burke’s “Misty” and “At Last” (popularized by Etta James) — and made them her own. The up-tempo take on the former was especially refreshing.
Yolanda Cato-Freeman brought both a Sunday service and the next day’s holiday to the audience with Sara Jordan Powell’s gospel song “Touch Somebody’s Life” and a United Methodist arrangement of the spiritual “Walk With Me.” She was flawless in accenting both numbers with inspired vocal runs.
Jacques closed out the showcase with an interpretation of Paul McCartney’s “Blackbird.” A Beatlemaniac, she reminded listeners that McCartney wrote the classic rock (and now jazz) favorite in homage to the Little Rock Nine.
The not-so-secret weapon of the night was the rhythm section: Spencer’s elegant playing and exceptional solos were a known quality going in, but McMillon’s electric bass guitar in an otherwise acoustic setting brought to mind the piano trios of both Hiromi and the late Shirley Horn. Hernandez is currently an undergraduate in the Roots, Jazz, and American Music program at the nearby San Francisco Conservatory of Music, so she was on familiar ground both geographically and musically.
There’s undiscovered talent everywhere, SFIAF Executive Director Andrew Wood noted privately as guests were exiting. “What [Dee] does is so remarkable and so, so unique.”
