Sweet Baby J'ai

Sweet Baby J'ai (April 18, 1959) is an American contemporary jazz singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, playwright, and actress. She lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Background

J'ai Janett Michel was first called Sweet Baby by her mother, who claimed she was the sweetest child ever born. The nickname stuck. Born to Helen and John T., J'ai grew up in Kansas City. At only five years old, she was already writing songs Fact|date=August 2008 and by the age of eight, sneaking in the backdoors of clubs on 18th & Vine to watch her father play with top jazz musicians Fact|date=August 2008. Her uncle, Vernon Gower was a bassist with Billie Holiday and Lionel Hampton and her cousin Michael Howell, was the guitarist with Dizzie Gillespie Fact|date=August 2008.

By age ten she had started classical piano studies and by twelve she had switched to violin. She played bass in high school and some guitar in college until she got her hands on a 12 string and couldn't figure it out. When she spent some time in Louisiana with relatives she came across an old back porch band playing washboard, spoons, tubs, and combs. According to J'ai, "All sorts of wonderful sounds were coming out of them. They were playing jug or Zydeco music, but I heard the transition to jazz! Fact|date=August 2008” As one critic pointed out, “This ain't no backyard hoe down…she will have you swooning before the concert is over. Fact|date=August 2008”

Career

Sweet Baby J'ai got her start under the guidance of her mentor, the legendary Phil Moore Fact|date=August 2008. Shortly thereafter she could be found performing in jazz clubs in Paris. Back home in the U.S., she benefited early on in her career from the support and direction of working with the legendary, saxophonist Teddy Edwards. For many years she worked with the gifted musicians, pianist, Nate Morgan, late greats, guitarist Ronald Muldrow and drummer Sherman Ferguson.

She has been heard on radio and television both nationally and internationally. She has performed extensively in the U.S., Europe and Asia and has been featured at numerous concert halls, festivals, clubs and benefits, from the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Ford Ampitheater, Playboy Jazz Festival to Tokyo Concert Hall, Casablanca's Super Dome and more. Sweet Baby J'ai has won awards and been recognized as “Best Entertainer”, “Pick of the Week” and “Pick of the Month”, many times (LA Times, NY Times, LA Weekly, Music Connection Magazine) Fact|date=August 2008.

Past projects include her debut 1998 release, “The Art of Blue”, followed in 2003 by “Evolution” both featuring pianist Nate Morgan and saxophonist, Teddy Edwards. In 2005 came, “Jazz Baby” where Sweet Baby J’ai worked with Janis Siegel, Freddie Cole, Rosemary Clooney and others for a children’s compilation jazz album. “Prove It On Me” released in January 2008 is a soundtrack from Dee Jae Cox’s play of the same name in which Sweet Baby J’ai starred.

Her theatrical background includes the award-winning Fact|date=August 2008 roles of Mary, in “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, Josephine Baker in “C’est Bon”, and Blues Speak Woman in George C. Wolfe’s,“Spunk”. She has received critical acclaim for her role as Billie Holiday in the musicals Fact|date=August 2008, Sang Sista’ Sang and Voices, and Beneatha, in A Raisin in the Sun. Her play, 3 Women: A Dramatic Tribute to the Divas of Jazz and Blues, which she co-wrote and starred in, has toured theaters both nationally and internationally. Bessie, Billie & Ruth, the film she wrote, was chosen as the official selection at the Pan African Film Festival, and has been viewed on PBS stations across the nation.

Sweet Baby J’ai’s latest album, “Introducing J’ai Michel”, released August 2008, produced by renowned producer, arranger, pianist Jane Getz and Grammy Award winner, Bob Tucker have a mix of R&B, pop, jazz, rock, blues, and spoken word. It features percussionist, Perico Hernandez.

Discography

2008: Introducing J'ai Michel

2007: Prove It On Me

2005: Jazz Baby

2003: Evolution

1998: The Art of Blue

DVDS / Films

2008: World Stage Stories (Haikeem Productions)

2003: Bessie, Billie Ruth (Traipsing Thru Films)

2002: Divas Breaking Taboos (Traipsing Thru Films)

2001: Yo Alien (Daughters to Feed Productions)

External Links

1. Sweet Baby J'ai Official Website http://www.sweetbabyjai.com 2. Jazz Review.com http://www.jazzreview.com

References

1. All Music Guide http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll

2. LA Women's Festivals http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/la_womens_fest/personality.jhtml?personalityId=8486 [edit]

3. IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1171632/

4. Prove It On Me http://proveitonme.com

5. Jazz Times http://www.jazztimes.com/reviews/cd_reviews

6. Los Angeles Times http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jan/24/news/wk-heckman24

7. All Music Guide