Berkeley-based soprano Tiffany Austin, most recently seen and heard in the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra's concert version of “Porgy and Bess,” will perform for the orchestra “George Gerwin and Others” on May 24 at the Vallejo Naval History Museum. A benefit concert will be held. Downtown Vallejo. (Photo provided by Bill Reitzel)
Who would have guessed that soprano and songwriter Tiffany Austin, who was recently seen and heard in the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra's semi-staged production of Gershwin's “Porgy and Bess” in April, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law I wonder.
Will she enthuse about the tragic witness with a smooth vocal line? Will she object by saying, “It's relevant, for honor's sake”? Or “Foundation?”
Her law degree is just one aspect of the Berkeley-based singer's important biography, but she is certainly an anomaly in the industry of jazz vocalists, where she has garnered increasing attention over the past decade. . After all, she released her debut album Nothing But Soul in 2015, followed by Unbroken in 2018, the latter reflecting the resilience of black American culture. Both received positive reviews and even performed in famous New York. City Jazz Venue and Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Austin will put the law aside for the next few days, hosting the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra's benefit concert “George Garwin and Others” at the Vallejo Naval History Museum on May 24th, and joining the self-proclaimed Great American Songbook. I plan to continue pursuing my passion. Downtown Vallejo.
How on earth she ended up on a concert stage instead of in a California courtroom is the “big question” she often gets, she said in a phone interview Sunday.
Born and raised in South Los Angeles, Austin has loved music since childhood. Her older brother, John Austin IV, is a rapper, and she said she “grew up watching someone pursue music and have a career.” Her brother modeled it on me. ”
Still, she admits that she feels insecure about her life's work of being an artist, noting that her mother and aunt went to law school and were taught that it was easy. Austin said the logic and intellectual practice of law is “embedded” in her family's history, adding: “It was kind of natural for me to go there.”
“When I went to law school, I enjoyed the intellectual rigor,” she said. “Culturally, we weren’t taught that it was a pressure cooker.”
She applied to law school while living and working in Tokyo, where she made a living by singing for nearly six years. She passed and earned a scholarship to Boult Hall University.
After graduating, she came to the conclusion that “there is competition in the legal atmosphere that you don't encounter in the music business.''
Austin taught himself music while attending law school, and said he underwent a “recalibration” after graduation by asking himself, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”
“The answer for me was to live a very soulful life,” she added.
For her, living a soulful life means “connecting to your calling and connecting with others.”
“That's what energizes and energizes me,” says Austin, who is single. “Even though I enjoyed the intellectual stimulation and excitement of law, I realized that it was playing music that I felt most connected to.”
She wasn't sure what Gershwin songs, with Adam Schulman's piano accompaniment, would be featured in the pending concert, but she said she'd like to include “Summertime,” “I Loves You, Porgy,” and the latter's He cited the song “Our Love Is Here to Stay.” From the movie “Gershwin Follies”.
But Austin hinted that his program could include songs like “They Can't Take That Away From Me” and “It's Wonderful,” with lyricist brother Ira Many other Gershwin songs he wrote became famous and helped form Gershwin's core. Classic 20th century jazz vocal repertoire.
A timeless standard that has been performed and sung over and over again for generations, the Great American Songbook includes songs from Gershwin's catalog as well as songs by Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Hoagy Carmichael, and Richard. Includes songs by Rodgers, Jerome Kern, and more. Best known contributors.
But Gershwin, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants and a school dropout, loved wandering uptown and visiting Harlem's jazz clubs, performing concertos, orchestral works, opera, musical theater, 318 songs, piano, He accomplished everything as a composer, including films and chamber music. music. Although he is a prolific songwriter, he is best known for his 1935 opera Porgy and Bess.
Austin may present Gershwin's songs in unexpected ways, she says, adding, “I like rethinking standards. It's just another part of the adventure.”
She grew up in a music-filled home filled with songs by Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder, and her Louisiana Creole grandmother introduced her to jazz, which led Austin to understand what “soul” meant. I did.
Particularly upsetting to her is the tendency by some to “separate black music from black people,” whose foundations are spirituals, field hollers, and ragtime, and which confuses one of the few elements of jazz. It developed into a formative blues, she said. .
Separating the blues from jazz was particularly upsetting to Austin, who said, “Intellectualizing jazz can make it seem as if black people have nothing to do with jazz. It's like saying, “ ”
She added, “In my own upbringing, blues shouts have been incorporated into what we call jazz. There's also a throughline.”
And Gershwin's genius required only a four-minute window for a popular song with a predictable verse and chorus structure.
if you go
- what: “George Gerwin and Others” Vallejo Symphony Orchestra Fundraiser Featuring Soprano Tiffany Austin and Pianist Adam Shulman
- when: May 24th 7pm
- where: Vallejo Naval History Museum, 734 Marin St.
- ticket: $125
- online: www.vallejosymphony.org
- phone: (707) 643-4441