by Lola Rossi-Meza
Jazz vocalist, songwriter, and critically acclaimed recording artist, Linda Tate, will be celebrating the release of her new CD, “Geography” on Tuesday, January 29, at 7 p.m. at Vicky’s of Santa Fe, 45-100 Club Drive in Indian Wells. (760) 345-9770. “My new album was recorded in the Chicago area with Chicago musicians,” said Tate. “Bill Saitta assembled a quartet of local jazz musicians for the CD Release Party. Band members include Saitta on bass, pianist David Ring, drummer and percussionist Andy Fraga and Paul Carman on tenor saxophone and flute.”
An only child, born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Linda Tate was exposed to music at an early age. “My father liked to sing and both my parents loved music. They were married during the days of the big bands and would see bands like Duke Ellington and Count Basie perform at the local jazz clubs.” She started studying piano when she was six years old from a local piano teacher, and recalls singing along with the music her parents would play on the record player when she was even younger than that. “My parents would take me to see movies like “South Pacific” and “Around the World In 80 Days.” I have memories of sitting in the bathtub and singing at the top of my lungs. I don’t know how well I was singing at that point, but I loved to sing,” she said with a giggle.
“I picked up the guitar when I was about eleven years old and basically taught myself how to play, with instructional books.” As a result, she became interested in folk music recorded by artists like Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins and Bob Dylan, to name a few. After high school, Tate attended Roosevelt University and majored in composition. “I decided I was going to be a songwriter, a composer of experimental music. However, I married a jazz musician and he was instrumental in bringing me back to my roots.” Over the years, she had sung various types of music, pop, Rock and Roll, folk and classical, but decided to obtain her Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies and Vocal Performance at DePaul University.
She has a son named Rael Willis who loves to play the piano, however, he is not a professional musician, he earns a living in the field of math and economics. Tate released her first CD entitled, “We Belong Together” in 1995 on Southport Records, an independent Chicago jazz label. Her second CD “Time, Seasons and the Moon” released in 2000 was followed by her third CD “We Speak Duke” in 2003, all three on the same label.
Tate’s latest CD “Geography” was her independent project and involved the talents of many Chicago musicians. Included are: Bobby Schiff on piano; Curtis Robinson on acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar, electric guitar and vocals; Ernie Adams on drums and percussion; Steve Eisen on tenor saxophone, flute and congas; Marlene Rosenberg on double bass; Larry Gray on double bass and cello; Charles Rick Heath IV on drums and percussion; and Preyas Roy on vibraphone. In addition to composing all of the songs on the CD, she sings, plays the shaker, the bell tree and the rain stick.
Her recording engineer, Scott Steinman, of Studiomedia Recording Studios in Evanston, Illinois, helped her decide the order of the songs on the CD. “It was a challenge trying to decide what song should come first and what song should end the CD. So, Scott and I decided to write our own lists. It was interesting to compare them, but we finally agreed on the order.” Neil Tesser, a critic writer from Chicago, wrote the liner notes for this new CD project as well as the liner notes on her third CD.
This diverse album was written with inspiration from traveling the world with her husband, Michael, over the past ten years. “When I started writing the songs for this CD, the songs I was coming up with were not location specific. I realized that wherever you go, there are so many things in common with the different cultures, as well as having their own unique characteristics. I began to expand my concept of “Geography” to include other things like languages, the emotional terrain of relationships, the human body and ordinary objects. Just about everything has its own distinct geography.”
The first song on the CD was inspired while riding her bike and includes a string of various phrases from fifteen different languages, all with the same simple message, “Give Me A Kiss.” You can hear these songs on her web-site: www.lindatate.com. You can also see her first music video funded by a grant from the City of Chicago promoting peace. There is a link from her web-site. The CD is truly an interesting mix of musical flavor, emotions and texture. I enjoyed listening to her music and believe you will, too. See you at Vicky’s!
