#mondaymemories Интервью со Стефани Джиннот (вокал/США)

#MondayMemories

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Moments of joy on the stage shared at the Ufa Jazz Club in Ufa, Russia. 

What a beautiful night of music before a great audience with an amazing band doing some jazz, classic rock and a few originals. 

It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life to visit and see different parts of Russia, thank to Edelman Entertainment and their willingness to take a chance on my music and talent. 

It felt good singing on the stage in Ufa and God willing, 

one day I will have the opportunity to do it again. 

For more pictures, videos and links to Stephanie Jeannot's music, performances and upcoming events, please check out her website at JNotemusic.com

U is for Unbelievable How Time Flies

Six months ago today, Ufa, Russia was deposited into my love bank and left me feeling richer because of the experience of traveling and seeing a world beyond my own backyard and also, sharing my gifts on their music platforms. 

At Ufa Jazz Club in Ufa, Russia

It was an opportunity to embrace who I am in a different and unfamiliar setting and it had lingering effects that still empower me in so many ways.

What I learned 

By the White River in Ufa, Russia

You never know how strong you are until you let your wings get you off the ground to soar through the skies. You will never have a change of mindset if you do not clear the clutter of doubt to let possibility in.

We push hard every day. We owe it to ourselves to take chances on our pursuit to greatness. We ought to inhabit each moment while working hard and experiment with it. We deserve to expand our dreams and to marry our passions to life.  

To have been well received on the stage as I sang with the musicians, stays stored in my mind’s inventory. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget. It was just the melodic change that my song and dance deserved as experiencing the soft winds of Ufa, was the vamp to end the incredible experience that being in Russia was.

https://youtu.be/JLXptTgUBDA

  

 Looking back at these moments still feels pretty darn good.

Throwback Thursday: Ever Cold, Ever Jazz, Bye Bye 2016

As changeable as the image of the moon upon the water is the weather that comes with each new season.  And here we are at winter. Are you ready for the chill that is about to embrace us?

If you have yet to experience bone-chilling temperatures yet, then lucky you. For me, I do not remember experiencing a colder December than the one 2016 has brought us. I am hoping that this is not an indication of what is to come in the next couple of months that make up winter.

I have been feeling these temperatures since October. When I was in Russia, it was colder than it is now in December in New York City. I remember traveling through each town with a hat, scarf, gloves and boots, trying my best to keep warm because I was not used to those cold temperatures though I persisted through it all.

Even when I started to get sick because My coat was not warm enough, I entertained the idea of staying in bed to heal up, but never accepted the fact that I was too under the weather to do the tasks at hand. Because I always had an aching desire to perform in a place that is beyond my knowing, I pursued each stage with eager interest and with all that I could exert.  I had to orient my mind around being positive and staying in control of how I reacted to each, new experience.

It sure did bring sunshine into my life to hear the old-fashioned trio set the stage up for me to come and join them on the stage in Yekaterinburg at the Ever Jazz club. For one, I loved

the scenery looking at the great photos of Dexter Gordon, Billy Holiday and Dizzy Gillespie just to name a few. To have had a big portrait among those greats was like finding money in a coat a year later when you are down to nothing.

The ambiance of the jazz club was amazing and warm inside despite the ice that had formulated outside on the walk path to the venue. The audience welcomed me with great fondness and I felt so at home, it was almost like being in a room with family.

Thank God when you can come together with people from anywhere in the world for the planets highest good and the impressions resonates with you forming a revolutionary improvement over your mind than the ideologies that had been previously set. Left me with a strange, wild happiness.

And now, as I tread the cold sunless days that winter has brought us, I now have a clearer

picture of the world. Traveling gives you a timeless lesson that you cannot simply gain from a book or google search. It is only when you dive deep into the unfamiliar and scan the expanse of areas of places you have never seen that you break away from the chill of what has been misunderstood and experience the warmth of true wisdom. To explore is to actively learn and to discover new ways of thinking. And to discover new and fresh ideas, plays a huge role in the life that you live. In the upcoming year, I plan to do more traveling and to visit places I have yet to see. 2017 is the year to do more remarkable things and I know the best is certainly yet to come.

But even if all you’ve got in the world is the culture of the current wave, you can still share a deep and growing love for each other by trying to gain an understanding through asking question and clarifying what is real and what is myth. Life can be seen in two ways; you can chill on presumptions of the world or you can familiarize yourself with the world by seeking different vantage points.

 And the moments that I experienced will forever be in my heart. As is the performance I did with the Old-Fashioned Trio. What resonated with me about this performance the most was meeting a teacher from Chelyabinsk named Elena who knew of my music and videos and traveled 250KM to see me perform at Ever Jazz Club, because she had heard my music and liked it. What an honor to hear something like that!

Please check out the opening number that cleared the path for more great music to come in the hour we spent together on stage. The night started with a cover of the song “Bye Bye Blackbird” which is so appropriate for this time of year as we start to reminisce about 2016 and say goodbye to it while welcoming in 2017.

https://youtu.be/h8p0XhyBoF0

If you like the photos posted here from Ever Jazz Club in Yekaterinburg, Russia, please free to check out some of the others they posted here: https://www.facebook.com/JNoteMusic/posts/1275592319163528

Thank you for checking out my blogpost! 

Poem: The Destined Manifest

“Music I discovered that night, was a sanctuary,

a safe place to hide, a place where scars didn't matter,

they didn't exist.”

- Len Vlahos

I sat there clapping in rhythm,

listening to the elastic sound that had struck a chord with me.

I approached the atmosphere that had been taken over by music.

I was taking in tones and feeling all rhythmic.

As limber as a rubber band became my mind;

Peacefulness and love in me began to climb.

My body forgot all about the knowledge

that I’d been burning the candle at both ends.

It had been a grueling week but them sounds

like an energy booster somewhat ironed out the kinks.

I started to leave my troubles behind

as I approached the stage with my glowing light.

The groove was in full swing and I was readying myself

for the destined manifest.

The mystic I’d been longing for was finally in my hands.

Sorry, I don’t mean to be so candid,

but I was tired as shit and experiencing a cold.

I was hoping that the nasal drip thing wouldn’t on stage unfold.

Seeing the faces of the crowd however was spiritually transformative.

Nothing like the sound of music to give me more strength.

I hit the stage, holding my head up high and with the mic in my hand.

The backdrop like the midnight sun; a beautiful illusion.

Thank God for a highly responsive crowd

that made me make more of an effort.

Thank God that I didn’t fall with my stiletto heels

I was wearing under my long flowing skirt.

Thank God I remembered every word

and that my voice didn’t crack.

And thank God that when I tried to hit my high notes,

I didn’t have a cough attack.

Yeah I laid out my individual expression

as the orchestra added their unique contribution.

Yeah I was diving deep into the music

and was drenched in the oscillating fusion.

And yeah, it had been a block of days that I’d once only dreamed of

that hit my heart like a funky guitar riff in a song that I just love.

The mere thought was now my, in the moment, reality.

Yet it wasn’t the arena that made it a safe zone.

I think wherever the music is,

will always for me, be a sanctuary.