By Patte Purcell
You know I love my jazz, but I also love blues. There’s a national blues or ‘bluesion’ sensation that lives right here in the desert and her name is Deanna Bogart. I first saw Deanna at the Melvyn’s Jazz Jam where she brought her sax and set the room on fire. When she leaned over Michael Healy on the piano and started to boogie woogie on the piano I said “Who the heck is this?”
I’ve seen her videos and love her music and style and now I’m happy to say she will be performing with Joe Baldino and his band at Summer Jazzfest.
I really enjoyed my interview with Deanna. She is exactly the way she appears to be, an exuberant celebrator of life. We conducted the interview while she was on a train headed to New York and it ended as she walked through Penn Station and was heading out to get a street hot dog. She jokingly dubbed her life “trains, planes, and automobiles” and shared that she believes she was bred to be a road musician.
As a child her parents constantly moved so she was always ‘the new kid in school’ wherever she went. She found solace in a guitar and her thoughts, and that’s where she taught herself to play and sing. At the age of 20 she moved from LA to Baltimore where she became a harmony singer for a band and that is where she bought her first sax. At age 21 she learned piano and also learned to read and write music so she could communicate her compositions to others.
Deanna has been on the road with her career since that time and travels all over the world. She’s on tour right now doing the east coast and just returned from Paris. She’ll be back to the desert just in time for Summer Jazzfest and then heads back out to do a west coast tour with her band and she is also playing with others.
Deanna has 11 CDs to her name and her last one, Just a Wish Away, was written in her home here in the desert and recorded in New Orleans.
A year ago she changed her life around and moved from Baltimore to the desert to be closer to her dad who had just lost his wife. She moved to the Palm Desert area and feels for the first time in her life that she’s found ‘home’. She says when she lands in the airport here it’s always a feeling of ‘Ahhh’. She said she feels a ‘stupid grin’ coming on her face when she gets close and she ‘loves where she lives’. She wants to stay here and the desert works for her inside and out. She’s always wanted to live somewhere she loves and this is it for her. Now her 21 year old daughter has joined her and they are enjoying being close to her dad and can visit her mom in Arizona too.
She’s carved out a little niche here with her ‘Experimental Wednesdays’ at Woody’s. She occasionally plays with Barry Baughn Blues band at Shanghai Reds too. She’s playing with Joe Baldino for Summer Jazzfest so who knows where that could lead.
When I asked her what her future goals are she replied, “I want to write a concerto!”
She loves her fans and her message to them was ‘how lovely people can be when you treat them helpfully’.
I truly enjoyed my conversation with Deanna on life and philosophy. She says she believes in complete honesty with everyone (as I do) so she doesn’t have to remember anything else. Sometimes when honesty is tough to say, say it gently she advised. Many relationships are severed and instead can be redefined according to Deanna.
She’s a runner and has the healthy look; natural and full of energy. Her shows are pull-out-all-the-stops and I can’t wait to see her do her thing!
She loves people including the homeless and finds them to be lovely people when you take the time to speak with them. She relished her trip through Penn Station with its mass of humanity and although she’s gluten, dairy and genre free she was going to go have one of those great hot dogs and a piece of New York pizza. As we ended our interview she stepped onto 7th Avenue in New York City and said she felt like ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
You can find out more about Deanna Bogart by visiting her website at www.deannabogart.com
You can see Deanna Bogart at Summer Jazzfest Monday July 27th 5-10 at Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club in Palm Springs. It’s sponsored by CV Weekly and a host of others. $20 General admission $20, VIP reserved seats $50 which includes access to the VIP Lounge for artists and celebrities.
Contact Patte Purcell for tickets 702-219-6777.
