Brianna Thomas Extends Legacy of Female Blues Pioneers

By Shannon J. Effinger I Aug. 30, 2016

Brianna Thomas
(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)

Talk about the impact that Jazz at Lincoln Center has had on your career, as both a performer and educator.

They embraced me in a way that has helped me to grow, giving me a platform to grow on. Other places here in New York City—I worked at Smoke Jazz Club—also did the same for me. Jazz at Lincoln Center took me under their wing—the Dizzy’s [Club Coca-Cola] family and the staff. When I first started working there, [artistic director] Todd Barkan booked me for my first weeklong stretch. He was very instrumental in giving me a platform, a place to be heard and a place to kind of knit myself together.

They [also] called on me to teach, which is something I didn’t know I would be any good at. But people really seem to love the way that I teach. Sometimes you need to be around people who see parts of yourself you don’t see yet; so you stay around long enough and you start to see it, too. And JALC has done that for me.

When and how did you become involved with the “Lady Sings The Blues” project?

It’s been running since 2013. I got the phone call from JALC and we had a year to prepare material. I hadn’t listened to that set of music; I had no idea about all of these singers: Sippie Wallace, Ida Cox, Victoria Spivey and Bertha “Chippie” Hill. Some of this music is racy and it comes out of a time when these people were singing about what was going on in their lives … the racism, the sassiness, the loneliness. That’s what’s incredible about [this] music. When it’s a real truth, it’s really timeless because you can go back and sing something about people who are dead and gone. They were dealing with things the same as we are.

This show is truly a joy. We’re always in the dressing room, putting our makeup on and cracking up. There’s never a moment where it’s not fun. Catherine, Charen&eacutee, myself—our voices are all different. We equally enjoy each other’s material and what the other person does with it. There’s such a great sense of camaraderie and joy. And with great success, [manager] Paul Kahn has been taking it and booking it in various places. People love the show.

How do these singers empower you as a female artist?

Everything sexy is supposed to be because it engages all of your senses. You’re laughing, you’re crying, you’re thinking because you’re leaning forward to see what’s going to happen next. It’s a tease. And [these singers] got sexy right.

I think that the biggest sexual organ in a human being is the brain. It’s how we make people feel and perceive us, the ritual in the way of how we do things. This music embodies that. It was a time of brashness, it was taboo and it was the basement music of the time. You can hear some of these women laughing at what they’re saying on these records! They had something [important] to say and they were going to be heard.

(Note: Brianna Thomas will appear at Carnegie Hall on Sept. 24–25, and at The Park Avenue Armory with pianist Jason Moran in November..)