But if The Doors Are Open, "I'll Be There."

As a singer, it is my job to find tunes that fit my tessitura. 

If I have the opportunity to serenade a roomful of folks, I want to try to champion my efforts by doing a song that properly fits my voice. This means that I should know every lyric and every nuance of the songs chosen and must also  be open to speculation if I forget even one lyric or utter the song a little different than what the listening audience knows. 

But even while doing cover songs, we as singers still work hard to try to create our own distinctive sound. Lately, I have had this willingness to just  experiment from the confines of the bandstand in front of whoever is there and so, I decided to start sharing my original compositions more and more because I am not just a cover artist; I am a songwriter. 

Such was the case the other night when percussionist, Rick Santa, asked me to co-host their open mic night at Hat City Kitchen in Orange, NJ. 

In spite of all the talks of the coronavirus, I feel that there is a sort of healingness in music and so, I showed up ready to sing. 

If God put me on this planet with a purpose, my duty is to share my gift and talent and so I did. The Corner Pocket Band was subtle and flexible which made it easy to be able to flex with them as I scanned the crowd and tried to send out some encouragement to the people and the establishment which saw less of a crowd because of growing concerns of their customers about the pandemic, as I sang the words to my song "I'll Be There." Please check out a snippet of my performance 

here: https://youtu.be/QRWA0FvntKs

It always feels good to be able to do my own material and to see folks who are open-minded and willing to participate in my effort of getting people to have some type of response to what I am doing. 

I guess I will be home working on my music and craft until everything passes over. This is a time where we can focus on improving who we are and getting things done that we need to do until the light at the end of the tunnel appears. 

I won't say that I am not scared of becoming ill with this ailment but in growing times of uncertainty and unrest, I think this is the perfect time to even if you stay home from everything else, to make it to church on Sunday morning. Why wait until you actually get the disease to access God?  

Use your smarts. Be safe out there. Wash your hands. I see people who come out the bathroom stall and leave the lavatory without even sprinkling a bit of water onto their hands. 

Do you know if the person who touched the doorknob you just touched before you did, just picked their nose or sneezed without washing their hands? You just never know. 

Let's stay safe. If you feel sick, stay home. If you feel under the pressure and not sure of how to handle all the news reports, have an intimate conversation with God and see what happens. 

We should be actively praying for a healing over the world. I'll play it safe and be at home doing everything I can to keep my mind engaged and not get weary and lazy but on Sunday morning if the church doors are open, "I'll Be There."   

Please check out the original version of my song "I'll Be There" on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/track/11V3lJph5uzycZa2Qa8azp?si=wZKX5QifQMC_mYkMXAyFiw

Thank you for checking out my blogpost.

God bless you all! 

Sometimes a Song Lyric, Filters Through Me Like "Wherever You Are"

Sometimes a song lyric, filters through me and it comes striking my thoughts, so full of color that I can’t ignore the vibration; I am forced to write. And so, I write.

“Wherever You Are” is one of those songs. My emotions were just right there and somehow I transferred what I was feeling at that very moment, musically. My Korg Triton was turned on and not that far after was I laying down piano chords onto my Cakewalk Sonar recording software.  

Getting into an environment where positivity is just flowing through the air makes me feel more than desirous to share what I conceived and gave birth to. Such was the case at Rustik Tavern.

There was live music and the night was being hosted by my friend Eric Frazier and the fact that the location of it was right there not too far from me in The Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, NY, made me get over my weariness real quick so I could be right there amongst the music lovers, musicians and locals enjoying the atmosphere.

The musicians were inspiring each other and blaring out a potpourri of wonderful sounds, appeasing to the heart. It was an open mic jam forum and so, I was excited to be able to join in the experience. My original song, 

“Wherever You Are” was in my heart 

and so, I pulled out my fake sheet for 

the tune, handed it to the musicians to accompany me and sang my lyrics.

Please check out a clip of the live performance here: https://youtu.be/uqJrXs9tVmk

The song lingered on and it just became a call-and-response thing and felt good to just let out my sigh for the day and to have a conversation with the warm hearts that let me in with their connecting.

Salute to all the songwriters unafraid to let you own words tumble out over your tongue and into the atmosphere. We conceive songs like babies being created fearfully and wonderfully. We put melodies together and then our children are born; our songs created with the spirit God crafted within us. Thank you for every watch and every like and every comment and every furtherance of action and any support that you have lent to me in my mission to be who I be more. To be able to share my gift with you means everything. Hope it inspires you in some way. And, if it does, please check me out on Spotify and follow, listen or like the song. Keyword: Stephanie Jeannot. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/0UZOWgejheSU2clMnqQR6c

Thank you for listening/watching.

Jazz Keeps Unfolding in the Walls of My Heart

My hearts unfolds like a flower when I get the opportunity to experience the culture of jazz.

 I was squealing with delight at the idea of celebrating nature’s abundance of simple joys.  What was being celebrated?

Black history.

Jazz history.

The history of jazz dance.

The event was hosted by the Harlem Swing Dance Society and was held at the Pelham Fritz Recreational Center in Harlem, NY and featured me and my band, Stephanie Jeannot’s Savoy Four Band.

Please check out the mini clip of the event that was held here:

https://youtu.be/NmgnLuWKMBI

The ambiance was great there in that Harlem venue located at Mount Morris Park. The art on the walls gave an appeal that just melted my heart. 

I walked in and saw dancers dancing with an instructor teaching them a bit of jazz dance from its history at the Savoy Ballroom where the lindy hop was first introduced. I always enjoy these events because of the air of knowledge and jazz that I am able to breathe in while history is being shared until the band is ready to play the music to set the dancers up on a rhythmic fleet.

An eclectic array of standards was hoisted into the air met by the swinging dancers on the floor who met our sounds with energetic body movements. We played finger snapping rhythms, evocative classics, and modernized versions of antiquated songs. The instrumentalists did not shy away from improvising solos or showcasing their unique flavor which made it easy for me to be drawn in by their sounds to sing before the host of people rhythmically propelled to dance to the music. They danced to throbbing beats played by Napoleon Revels-Bey who approached the counter rhythms with brushes of purposeful soulfulness. They bopped to the thumping of the technical virtuosity of Hill Greene. They hammered their heels to the floor to the variety of tinkling sound played by pianist Danny Dalelio and I sang to the twists and turns of their music as the music gave a cultural salute to the sounds they played.

I was suddenly flooded with memories of earlier times when purveyors of the music would gather dressed to the nines to share their artistic expression. I thought of artists like Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Max Roach. Music was definitely their vehicle for improvisation whether it was playing, singing or dancing to it because music is all about self-expression and sharing.  They were always draped in the finest of threads and communicating to the audience with their hearts full of music. It was a fertile harmonic ground for joy to be sprung. It was the world’s most glamorous atmosphere and jazz history at its best. How could one not absorb the cultural influences and be inspired by those troubadours of yesteryear who made great triumphs with their music?

With each deep-throated growl, the onlookers danced and danced and danced. 

That day still remains imprisoned in the walls of my heart. I have a growing admiration for the culture of jazz which makes my heart skip a beat more and more each time I dabble into it. Music infuses me enthusiasm and makes me feel alive. And so, I have grown this insatiable hunger to listen and to learn and to sing and to dance and to just take in music as much as I can; because it is my first love and because I have a growing appetite for it. 

The more I sing, the more it calms my rage. Thankful for every musical opportunity and for the beautiful gift of song that God planted in me when he fearfully and wonderfully created me.