Since the beginning of my recording career in 1975, I have had a little difficulty because the pop stations think I'm a jazzer who doesn't have a feeling for pop, so it's hard to get my records played. Similarly, black urban radio doesn't understand that with my R&B roots, I am more than a jazz singer. So I get pigeonholed.
I was really learning my craft as a jazz singer and working with some great players and all, really growing and feeling my wings.
I am not a jazz singer. I wouldn't place myself on that footing. I wouldn't even enter that arena.
I'm not a jazz singer.
I'm not a pop singer; I'm not a jazz singer. And I know I sing like not a whole lot of people do; I also know that a lot of other people act like I do. And better than I do. But what informs the singing is the acting. They're not separate from each other.
I've often cringed when I heard myself described as a jazz singer. I've always thought of myself as a jazz vocalist.
I'd like to be a jazz singer, but I couldn't possibly do it; nobody would want me, anyway.
I never called myself a jazz singer. I just call myself a vocalist because I love to sing all kinds of things.
I've often felt I've been born out of my time, and when I started Fairground Attraction in the 1980s, I wanted to be a 1940s jazz singer.
I consider myself a jazz singer. I think I stick to the roots of improvisation, singing in front of the beat, behind the beat, playing with notes and harmonies.
