1. Growing Up

I was born and raised in Harlem, which is one of the great music cities of the world. I lived six blocks from the Apollo Theater on 125th Street, and that was a thrill for me. My mother was a session/jingle singer, and my dad was a flautist/percussionist. We were surrounded by nightclubs and churches, and coming from a musical family, we would often have impromptu jam sessions at the house.

2. Inspirations

Some of my favourite classic artists are Ella, Nina, Sarah, Billie and Carmen. I also listen to a lot of Nat Cole, Billy Eckstine, Johnny Hart and Chet Baker. Growing up, I loved Aretha Franklin, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Labelle, Natalie Cole and Barbra Streisand – still do. Right now some of my favourite artists are Hiatus Kaiyote, Laura Mvula, Somi, Ledisi and Robert Glasper.

3. Your Band

At the moment, because I’ve been doing a lot of travelling, I’ve been using different bands in each city, although my hubby (Chris Parks) plays with me often, and we write and produce most of my music together. Before this I travelled for several years as a backing vocalist to several artists including Cher, Pink and Joe Cocker. It was my husband, though, who actually convinced me to start focusing more on recording my own music.

4. The Music You Make

If you come to a Vivian Sessoms show, you can expect to have a good time. I like to fly by the seat of my pants a bit, I always have a few tunes where we just cut loose and act up, but then I love a beautiful ballad as well, so you never know what to expect. My style, I would say at the moment, is more of a jazz hybrid. My first release was a soul/R&B set and I do think I’d like to do another in that genre, but there is something about jazz that I feel very drawn to. It’s been a thoughtful, reflective process putting this next record together.

5. Music, Right Here, Right Now

I think the music scene has changed the way we all think about music and how it affects us, how we buy it as consumers, how we sell it as artists. In many ways it’s opened so many doors for so many talented people. On the other hand, as an artist, you will definitely have your work cut out for you, so you’ve got to really want it.

Vivian Sessoms performs at Foundry616 on Saturday June 6.

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