Spring Lessons: Take It Easy
Spring is here… and my heart is dancing!
I’ve never liked Spring. It always means the end of Winter, and I’ve been a lover of winter all my life. But Spring in the Hudson Valley is slower, easier, less affrontive than Spring in Sonoma County, CA. It’s more mysterious. It unfolds gracefully.
As I write this, there is warm, blustery wind blowing through my window. The bare tree outside is starting to show tiny green
curls of baby leaves. There are pink and scarlet blossoms on the trees down the street, and I am about two hours behind in my daily schedule because this gorgeous Spring day has entranced me with its beauty and warmth.
Easy beauty. Effortless expression. Moving slowly, with awareness. These are the lessons of Spring.
This was part of the lesson I learned when I went to hear my friend Rebecca Martin sing at a new Kingston restaurant, Mint. She performed with her husband, bassist Larry Grenadier. While I’ve heard Rebecca on her recordings, and her reputation as a jazz singer and songwriter is legend here in New York, I hadn’t seen her sing live. Her short set consisted mostly of Rebecca’s original tunes, but she slipped in some standards, like “Willow Weep for Me” (WITH the verse! I love that verse) and “No Moon at All,” which I recorded and have for you below.
What I learned by watching Rebecca sing was Ease. She sings with such ease. Her body, her voice, her presence… they all serve this sense of ease, comfort and grace. She knows who she is as a singer and songwriter. She knows her voice, which has a unique, identifible timbre and tone, and she seems to simply become present and let the voice come sweetly, softly, effortlessly. Listening to her, I learned this: take it easy. Let the voice come easy; don’t muscle it so much.
I tend to do everything hard. I type, hard. I wash dishes, hard. Really. I find myself holding the dish hard, tight, as if it’s going to disappear or slip into the sink if I don’t grasp it with all I’ve got.
So, watching Rebecca was liberating. Ah, maybe I don’t have to sing so hard! Maybe, I can let it be easy.
Here’s a clip. Please excuse my hushed mutterings at the beginning.
1Chris Alexander
wrote on 15 April 2010 at 2:14
Hi Nancy, I meant to respond to this earlier. I shared the video on FB. Larry Grenadier & I were at Stanford about the same time, and I remember hearing him with the Stanford Jazz Band, when he was already a phenomenal bass player.
Don’t knock yourself for not singing “with ease”. You are, after all, a classically trained singer, which means you *actually expend effort* when singing. Singing “with ease”, in classical vocal production, means “unsupported”. It’s easy to sing “with ease” if you’re miked, but I’m always more impressed by unamplified singing.
Honestly, I’ve always felt that anyone can mumble into a microphone. It takes real vocal talent, skill and technique to deliver a song to the back of the room while standing onstage with nothing in front of you. I don’t mind a singer who sings “sweetly, softly, effortlessly”, but in short order, it starts to sound lazy and not overly interesting to me.
By all means, sing “with ease” if you’d like. But I for one like your voice because you sing with *energy* and *vitality*. I like your voice because you’ve got “pipes”!
(Maybe that relates to why I enjoy the “affrontive” Spring in Sonoma County…)
Dana & I hope to see you when you’re back in the Bay Area. Where & when will you be back out here to sing? In the meantime, we send you our best wishes!
Chris (& Dana)
2Chris Alexander
wrote on 15 April 2010 at 2:25
Hi Nancy, I’ve found various websites mentioning your June 14 appearance with Linda Kosut at the Rrazz Room, but I can’t find anything on the Rrazz Room site itself! How can we get tickets to come see you?
3Nancy
wrote on 17 April 2010 at 10:49
CHRIS!
Thank you. You always put a positive slant on everything. While I understand what you’re saying and appreciate it, I still love singers who have found a way to sing with ease AND presence yet still have good tone and support. Believe me, I love me those high-powered, ball-busting singers, but I so appreciate the mellow, sweeter sounds some singers have as well.
Ultimately, I believe I envy singers who have a distinctive style, timbre and tone… which Rebecca does. You don’t mistake her for anyone else. AND she KNOWS who she is as a performer and songwriter.
And sometimes, I feel like I’m still trying to figure out who I am as an artist.
The Rrazz Room doesn’t have us up on their site yet. I’ll get you the information as fast as I can! I will be so thrilled to see you and Dana!!