Christmas music can be so familiar that it鈥檚 easy to ignore. But when an accomplished jazz singer like interprets holiday classics, they can spark thoughts of loved ones and warm memories.
The key for a performer, Times said, is to put the song first but be sure to make a personal connection to the composition.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to hear me put Denise on it, and what I鈥檓 feeling, through the words in that song,鈥� she said.
Thimes featured Christmas songs on her 2007 album, 鈥淢oments, Magic and Memories.鈥� She鈥檒l mix holiday favorites and other standards .
She鈥檒l be backed both nights by bassist John King, drummer Demarius Hicks and guitarist Henry Johnson. Pianist Adaron 鈥淧ops鈥� Jackson will join on Wednesday, and Richard Johnson will fill that seat on Thursday.
漏 2024 外网天堂鈥檚 Jeremy D. Goodwin spoke with Thimes about her different approaches to songs in her repertoire.
Jeremy D. Goodwin: Christmas songs, like any standards, are songs that your audiences already know well. They may have favorite versions and arrangements. How do you take an old song and make it sound new?
Denise Thimes: On one of my CDs I did a version of 鈥淪ilver Bells,鈥� and I did it in a bluesy kind of feel. [In other versions] people don鈥檛 hear the bluesy version that Denise gives. That was one of the songs that I took on my album and made it mine. I try to do that with most of the songs that I sing.
Some songs, like 鈥淭he Christmas Song,鈥� you leave it just the way it is, the way that Mel Torm茅 wrote it. Don't do nothin鈥� to it. Don't put any curlicues as I call it, in it with the vocals. Sing that song just how it is written.
Goodwin: So how do you know when it鈥檚 time to improvise and put those curlicues in there, and when you need to leave it alone?
Thimes: When you have the opportunity to be mentored by someone like Clark Terry and the late Jeanne Trevo, and at this point in my career to walk with Wynton Marsalis when he comes to St. Louis, you know that even in the jazz world there are certain songs you just don鈥檛 mess with. Between just intellectually knowing, intuitively knowing and musically knowing.
鈥淭he Christmas Song鈥� is a song that you say, "I don鈥檛 want to mess with this." Because it鈥檚 just all right, right where it is. But you can kind of do something with 鈥淛ingle Bells,鈥� because it鈥檚 just one of those songs you can do something with. But if you鈥檙e doing 鈥淗ave Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,鈥� I don鈥檛 want to do anything with that but sing it just the way it is.
Goodwin: Something I鈥檝e heard from jazz singers in particular is that the important thing is the storytelling. It鈥檚 not the vocal pyrotechnics and whatnot. You are a gifted singer, and people want to hear those chops, but if it鈥檚 not in service of a real connection to the song, it won鈥檛 hit the listener the same way, right?
Thimes: Absolutely. You鈥檙e right on it. All of this is about telling the story. Most songs, I can鈥檛 sing it unless I鈥檓 telling you the story.
Goodwin: When you鈥檙e up there onstage and you鈥檙e really in it, what are you thinking about?
Thimes: It depends on the lyrics. Sometimes when I do 鈥淲hat a Wonderful World," I think of my children. I did a tour some while back, and my son Jabril was a toddler and my daughter Simone was a newborn, and I had to leave every weekend and leave them for three days. Of course, they were in great hands with their grandmothers and aunties and everything. But whenever I would sing that song on tour, I could barely get through it. I鈥檓 thinking of my babies when I sing that song.
If I鈥檓 singing something like 鈥淚鈥檒l Be Seeing You,鈥� I鈥檓 thinking of my daddy. And sometimes I鈥檓 in the moment of the lyrics and I鈥檓 not thinking about anybody in particular. And so I convey the message that the lyrics are saying.
Goodwin: What鈥檚 the appeal to you of Christmas music?
Thimes: For some reason Christmas music puts everybody in such a wonderful mood. Christmas was just the ultimate time of the year growing up as a child in my home. Besides being the birth of Christ, which is most important, it was also about my grandmother's sweet potato pies and pineapple coconut cake. It was my cousin May Burnette鈥檚 pecan pies and ambrosia salads, it was all of that.
When we hear Christmas music, people remember their childhood. They remember their loved ones in a special way. And that is definitely my aim, to put people back in that spirit, especially with how the world is going right now. That鈥檚 my goal.
