Jazz fits very well with my spirit and it speaks to life. It inspires me to put a lot of work and depth into what I do, and there is always so much more to learn. I relate each song to my own life, my story, and my journey
Admin I Thursday, Sept. 05, 2024
LAGOS, Nigeria – Jazz as a musical genre is not easy to comeby, been an aspect reserved for the intellectuals who are knowledgeable about beats and percussion.
Douyé Youduba is no doubt a rare breed. Her current work, entitled “The Golden Sékéré“, is rapidly gathering momentum within the music space across many climes based on her thoroughness and dexterity.
Douyé combines her possession of a distinctive and warm voice along with her enticing jazz phrasing. She uplifts every song that she sings (even the most familiar standards), making them sound brand new and part of her life story.
Her latest offering, “The Golden Sékéré”, is her most rewarding to date. Douyé transforms 14 classic songs, bringing out their inner beauty without losing their essence. The album is filled with many welcome surprises, including a slower-than-usual rendition of “Cherokee”, a waltz version of “Speak Low,” the rollicking Latin big band on “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, a romantic and haunting “I’m Confessin’”, and a version of Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing”, that has both swing and funk bent. As usual, Douyé utilised the best musicians, including pianist Benito Gonzalez, trumpeters Freddie Hendrix and Sean Jones, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Buster Williams, and top percussionists from Africa. The result is a wide-ranging and very enjoyable set of stirring and heart-felt music.
Douyé was born and raised in Nigeria.
Recolleted she: “At a very early age my Dad introduced me to jazz, including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the Beboppers plus the greats of Gospel music.
“I always sang and it seemed very natural to me. As a young child, whenever I heard a tune with a beautiful melody, I would hum along, eventually learning the words. I was encouraged by my God-mother and my parents to join the church choir which gave me my first opportunity to sing in front of people”.
Douyé had a very close relationship with her father who passed away when she was 11.
Recalled Douyé: “My Dad always played jazz around the house and told me that jazz was life. The last time I saw him, he wanted me to promise him that someday when I was a woman I would sing jazz. I always remembered that”.
She gained experience singing in school in Nigeria but her goal was to be in the U.S.
Narrated she: “Music was the reason that I moved to the United States. I attended the Musicians Institute where my beliefs about the importance of being oneself, developing my own sound, and not comparing myself to anyone else were validated”.
While at the school, she met songwriter, Terry Shaddick, who had composed Olivia-Newton John’s big hit, “Physical”.
They soon formed a musical partnership, writing the music together for her first two albums, “Journey and So Much Love”.
Recounted Douyé: “Journey was about coming from Africa and becoming a musician in the Western world. My second album, ‘So Much Love’, was dedicated to the great African Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti”.
Both of the records were inspired by classic R&B (including Anita Baker, Sam Cooke, Sade, and Regina Belle among others) along with Douyé’s African musical heritage, displaying her as a powerful and soulful singer in addition to being a skilled composer.
But after “So Much Love” was completed, Douyé felt that something was missing, and that was the promise she had made to her father.
“Earlier I was hesitant to sing jazz because I felt that I needed to do more work. But after ‘So Much Love’, I decided that it was finally time and to go all the way into jazz”.
Douyé started attending jazz jams at the World Stage in Los Angeles and found that the audience and her fellow musicians were very encouraging. She began working with pianist, Howlett Smith, built up her repertoire, and worked very hard at finding her own place in the jazz world.
Revealed she: “I’ve never looked at another singer and thought that I wanted to be exactly like them. While I admire many singers, I always wanted to sound like myself and develop my own qualities”.
For her first jazz album, “Daddy Said So”, she was joined by such masterful musicians as pianist, Kenny Barron; bassist, Ron Carter (for a duet version of “Nature Boy”), trumpeter, Jeremy Pelt; saxophonist, Bob Sheppard; guitarist Russell Malone, and pianists Otmaro Ruiz, John Beasley and Joel Scott, along with the Kim Richmond big band on two numbers.
Douyé’s warmth, swinging phrasing, and deep understanding of the lyrics that she interpreted and pure joy at performing creative jazz are very much in evidence throughout the memorable Douyé set.
Douyé followed “Daddy Said So” with Quartro – Bossa Nova Deluxe, a set of Brazilian jazz that included many attractive songs including several by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Bossa-Nova versions of “Lover Man”, “Watch What Happens”, “Song For My Father”, and “Nica’s Dream”.
Her supporting cast included pianists, John Di Martino and Otmaro Ruiz; saxophonist, Justo Almario, and guitarists Romero Lubambo and Paul Meyers.
Now with the release of “The Golden Sékéré”, Douyé is consolidating on her place as a major jazz singer.
Noted Douyé: “Jazz fits very well with my spirit and it speaks to life. It inspires me to put a lot of work and depth into what I do, and there is always so much more to learn. I relate each song to my own life, my story, and my journey.
“For the future, I hope to perform as often as possible and bring this music not only to Los Angeles and the United States but to Europe and Africa, reaching out to the international world of jazz.
Observed Scott Yanow, jazz journalist, and historian: “Douyé has a beautiful and sensuous voice, a real feeling for jazz, and the ability to make standards sound fresh and new, as if they were written for her”.
