This vocalist is a first-time participant in the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop this year, going by the name K.B. (To respect her confidentiality, only initials will be used for this post).
K.B. is a performer, and her choice of instrument is her voice. K.B. says, “Singing is just an instrument.”
The reason why she participated in this workshop was her brother, as he had also done this workshop in the past. She explained how he played many instruments but did not sing, so he suggested this workshop to her.
Often when a vocalist is on stage, they are assumed to be in the spotlight. However, K.B. sees it this way: “Singing is usually the main focus. But the way I think of it, singing is one puzzle piece of the art of jazz, and it adds as much as a trumpet would in a piece.”
When asked what she hoped to gain from the workshop, she wanted to go out of her comfort zone and try new methods of singing because she usually sings to pop music. She tries to practice her runs to help with scatting as well.
In jazz, scatting is a style of improvisation on vocals used to accompany the instruments in jazz, and she wanted to try it. K.B. expressed that she tends to use a nasally voice to add to the music.
Her inspirations for singing are Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone. K.B. likes their kinds of singing and feels like she sounds close to them in terms of style.
From California to North Carolina, she always enjoyed singing as a child. After finding recordings of a young K.B. singing in her phone, her mother put her in vocal lessons.
K.B. expressed that while she does intend on singing as a profession, she’d be willing to keep her singing as an enjoyable hobby.
K.B. said that she is enjoying her time at the workshop. She likes how she is able to challenge her creative freedoms through jazz.
“I really like it. I enjoy the combo that I’m in. I like the people,” K.B. said. “Everyone is really good and talented, which I love listening to.”