Celebrate Band at JAMS Festival

What an exciting afternoon it was on Saturday, August 2, 2014!

I had the opportunity to perform live with the Celebrate Band at the Jamaica Arts & Music Summer Festival and it was awesome. The JAMS festival spanned along Jamaica Avenue and ran from 160th to 170th Street in Jamaica, NY. The stretch, The stage, the sound, the people, the music; awesome, Jamaica, Queens was alive and popping. 

The Celebrate Band consists of Hakim Hanton on drums, Rodney B on keys, Alphonso McGruder on keys, Tony Thompson on bass, Alan Thomas on guitar, JazzEMatt on vocals and Stephanie Jeannot on vocals. 

So glad to have been able to not only perform covers of some of my favorite classic tunes but I had the opportunity to share one of my original songs on that stage and to the people of the community who received it really well. "All Night Long" is a tune originally written by Stephanie Jeannot and produced by Derrick Smith. From a studio recording to a live setting, the energy was definitely there and I really enjoyed it. 

You can check out the live performance by visiting the following Youtube link: 

​http://youtu.be/-rwy52etBsg 

Thank you for reading my blogpost. Have an incredible week.

Performance at Kennedy Park in Hempstead, NY August 1, 2014, 6pm

Hey friends. 

Tonight, right after work starting at 6pm, I'll be performing live with Deverne Williams and Vintage Soul as part of Old Timers Day music festival in Kennedy Park located at 335 Greenwich Avenue in Hempstead, NY (exit 19N on Southern State). 

Event will be outdoors and in the park and we will be performing til about 8pm. Come and join us for a fire packed start to your weekend. Music will be a mixture of R&B, classic soul, funk and pop from yesterday's and today's music, as well as some original material. Hope  to see you there! 

Singing at Cafe Oasis tonight July 25, 2014 10pm

Happy Friday! 

It's flashback Friday and I remember the first time ever going to an open mic. Of course it was all in fun and I was excited to take my singing before the four walls of my basement to a live setting. 

My friend Juanita was nice enough to introduce events of this sort to me. The host called my name and I walked up to the stage and started singing, forgot the words to my song and got so embarrassed, I walked right off the stage. Lol! But thank God I had the courage to do it again and again and again. 

Tonight is no different. I'll be singing live and I want to invite you all to this live musical event. 

Come out to Cafe Oasis located at 779 Brooklyn Avenue in Baldwin, NY. I'll be singing there alongside with Deverne Williams & Vintage Soul from 10pm to 2am. (Southern State Pkwy to Exit 20 S. Straight down Grand Avenue to Brooklyn Avenue. LIRR to Baldwin. Cafe Oasis is directly across the street from LIRR station). Admission is free. 

Cafe Oasis has a nice dance floor, seats around and a bar staff that makes some wonderful drinks. Bring your dancing shoes, and your ear. 

Also, if you sing, come out and rock the mic. Would love to have you. Hope to see you there tonight. 

The Many Hats We Wear to Breakthrough

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." - Philippans 4:7

I'm guilty of letting my doubts take over my body and killing my spirit and motivation, almost like a disease. But sometimes, it is the human way, when we forget to acknowledge all the goodness God has already done in our lives. 

We as a people wear so many hats. 

We are our gender, our children's parents, our parent's children, our sibling's sibling, our friend's friends, our spouse's spouse, our 9 to 5, our responsibilities, and our passions. With so many things, we often have little time to remember how strong we have been built and often tend to break under pressure. 

I'm inviting you today to understanding. Here are some things  to consider. 

- Broken crayons still color. 

- The fish could not handle Jonah's praying and spit him out

- Even a bud must face the sun to take root

- God is not through with me yet

- Faith is the most powerful weapon you can carry and utilize

- No matter what you are going through, God can fix it for you

With that in mind, I wrote this song entitled "Breakthrough" which is an inspirational tune about the wonderful grace of God. Here are a few links to the audio version and/or live footage. If you are interested, please feel free to check them out and enjoy. 

Soundcloud Studio Recording

https://soundcloud.com/stephanay-jnote/breakthrough

YouTube live footage with Ladeez in the House Band 

http://youtu.be/dmNCdoHp-Lc

Thank you for checking out my blogpost everyone. 

Stephanie Jeannot

Jeannot at Essence tonight, July 10, 2014

Good morning everybody. Hope your summer is going great. I want to invite you out tonight, July 10, 2014.

I'm singing at Essence Bar & Restaurant located at 1662 Atlantic Avenue (corner of Troy) in Brooklyn from 9pm to 1am. 

There'll be a live band and music will be a mixture of old school R&B, soul, funk, pop, reggae and some of today's music. There will also be an open mic segment and I'm hoping you will come out tonight. 

Until then, have a fantastic day! 

The Story Behind "Crocheted"

Ideas for songs come to me frequently and so most of the time, you might catch me with a pen and a pad in my hand. I get inspired by songs I hear on my iPod, things I see on the train or bus and real life experiences. Such was the case with my song "Crocheted." First let me give you a background about me and crocheting. 

Back in 2002, I saw a friend of mine crocheting at her desk during a work break and was really impressed with the art of it. Mostly because, I always saw my beautiful mother crocheting in the house and so I wanted to learn. And so I did and turned it into a business called Hand-Made Originalz.

I made mostly hats and scarves and would sell my items at street fairs. That same year at a street fair in Brooklyn, NY, a man saw my table of hats and requested some for his store. He told me he wanted 50. I told him I could have them ready for him in two weeks and he said, "no, I need them by Friday." It was Sunday when he said that. 

The next five days consisted of working my 9-5, crocheting on my train and bus rides to and from and running home to make enough hats for his store. I was able to meet my deadline and was asked for another 50 for the next week. I was glad to know at that moment that my crocheting was a success. I had even built a website with some of my crocheted items. You can access it by visiting:

                  http://melodiaz.0catch.com/hand-made.html

Not shortly after that, a wonderful friend of mine asked me to be his valentine and I decided to crochet him a nice hat as his valentine's day gift. I used three different threads of yarn and combined them together to create a cool style for this hat. Plus I wanted it to be warm because we had a really, cold winter that year. I put it in his gift bag and gave it to him when I saw him. 

We spoke on the phone the next day and he said, "I think you left your funky colored hat in my bag." That statement stood out so much to me, that I based the whole entire song around it. The lyrics were written that same day and that is how my song "Crocheted" came to be.  All lyrics and vocals by Stephanie Jeannot. Music by Derrick Smith for BeatlifeLI Productions, Babylon, NY. 

Please check out the video here: http://youtu.be/kjkGWjqJDvM

Or the song on Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/stephanayjnote/song/21266155-crocheted 

Thank you for reading my loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong story.

Peace and love to you all.

Stephanie Jeannot

Freedom to Express: Happy 4th of July

There's nothing more free to do than to do exactly what it is that you love. For me, that's singing! 

I guess you can say, I never loved anything more. I often find myself letting out a tone or two where I shouldn't be and in places where it is unexpected; on the train, while walking, during my workouts. But the freedom to do it makes it all the more worth it. 

Without expression what would I be? And without something to love what joy would life bring? Thank God for allowing me to be who I am! 

It was Aaron Copeland who said, "a musician must make music,an artist must paint,a poet must write, if he is to ultimately be at peace with himself." These words speak life. And when I say life, I think of my uncle who just recently passed. We have one life to live with an option to choose. 

We can exist and by that I mean, go to work and then come back home, sleep and do it all again like a routine and do a great job but that's it. Or we could live; go to our 9 to 5 while going to school, making friends, enjoying family, trying new things and embracing our passions even though we barely get any sleep at all, but it's joy and the completeness of satisfaction. 

Let's make Independence Day truly mean something for us today. Don't let the rains of Arthur stop us from really enjoying what independence truly means. Call someone you love and enjoy a beautiful conversation or turn the radio up and dance like you are under the spotlight at the Shadow night club or unravel your running thoughts onto paper and arrange it into a poem or put on your favorite record and just sing it like you never sang before. And if the storm rains on your barbecue, put a burger in your George Foreman and enjoy your Independence Day food indoors. Do what you love and enjoy the blessings of this day. 

It's independent day y'all. Happy 4th of July! ;)

Stephanie Jeannot

P.S.

I have pics like this and more on my Instagram and some of my other social media accounts. If you are interested, you can follow me at 

Http://www.instagram.com/musiqal1

Http://www.twitter.com/musiqal1

Http://www.facebook.com/jnotemusic

https://soundcloud.com/stephanay-jnote

http://www.reverbnation.com/stephanayjnote

Http://www.stephanayjnote.com