Suzanne Pittson's "EMERGE DANCING"

Suzanne has been a mainstay on the New York City jazz scene for many years, but her career was almost derailed by vocal problems that were serious enough to require surgery. Trained as a classical pianist and known on the jazz scene as a master of vocal improvisation, her steely determination and hard work, buoyed by her Buddhist practice and consistent vocal coaching, has enabled her to forge a new paradigm for her music. Suzanne says, “I knew my vocal quality was changing and I would have to dig even deeper to find the heart and soul of the music, while discovering new, more healthy ways to produce sound. I refused to let vocal issues stand in the way of my creativity.”

Luckily, Suzanne had a lot of tools at her disposal to stage her comeback. She began studying classical piano at age eight and went on to earn a Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts in Music (as a classical pianist) from San Francisco State University. After suffering a hand injury that made her piano studies troublesome, she turned her attention to jazz vocals.

Suzanne embarked on an intensive study of the jazz instrumental language, transcribing and assimilating solos by great jazz artists and working to hone her style. Besides releasing three critically acclaimed albums, she went on to tour around the United States, Japan, and Europe at major venues such as Yoshi’s, Birdland, Catalina Jazz Club, The Town Hall (NYC), Symphony Space, Aaron Davis Hall, and many more. She has performed and/or recorded with John Patitucci, Buster Williams, Dave Liebman, Steve Wilson, Mike Clark, Jack Walrath, Jeremy Pelt, and other top names in jazz.

Over many years, she has collaborated and performed with her husband, Jeff, who also has his own stellar career. A virtuoso on piano and Moog synthesizer, he has performed with the likes of Joe Henderson, Ruth Brown, Eddie Henderson, John Handy, Buster Williams, Mike Clark, Maynard Ferguson, Larry Coryell, Kenny Garrett, and many more. The Pittsons have been married for 40 years and have forged an intimate musical partnership. She says, “When Jeff and I play together, it’s like we’re in each other’s head. We don’t want the music to be predictable, but that takes a lot of trust and respect, as well as a lot of close listening to one another.”

It's not surprising that two talented people would also have a talented son. Although Evan has been playing violin and viola since he was a child, his main creative outlet is visual art. Suzanne relates, “Evan had been studying classical music, but we started hearing him in his room transcribing artists like Michael Brecker and Steve Grossman on the viola. One day, we thought it would be fun to have him join us on one of our shows. The audience loved him, and we soon began performing as the Pittson Family Band.” Evan plays viola on three tracks, wrote the string arrangements, and is a producer on EMERGE DANCING.

The defining characteristic of Suzanne’s singing is her improvisatory chops and the ability to navigate chord changes like a horn. She says, “There’s not a lot of difference when I’m singing lyrics or scatting. I react in the moment to what’s going on around me, spontaneously merging the story and the harmonic context.” Indeed, the hallmark of the album is the creative interplay between voice and piano.

EMERGE DANCING comprises a mix of jazz and pop tunes re-imagined by Suzanne and Jeff. The album opens with Lennon and McCartney’s “Blackbird.” The spare voice and piano treatment adds poignancy to the already touching lyric that McCartney wrote about the discrimination of Black people in the American South. “Everything I Love,” a Cole Porter standard, is a tricky song with shifting key centers, featuring a scat conversation between voice and piano. Suzanne loves the message of caring for the planet in Stevie Wonder’s “The Secret Life of Plants.” Bernard Ighner’s “It All Goes ‘Round and ‘Round” features Jeff’s haunting chromatic harmonica playing. “Blues and the Abstract Truth,” by the great Oliver Nelson, was originally recorded on Suzanne’s first album of the same name, with lyrics written by Jeff that were approved in 1992. The tune is radically re-imagined, featuring a viola solo by Evan. Suzanne wanted the album to be about friendship and love, so it was natural for her to include Carole King’s pop standard “You’ve Got a Friend.” A tune deserving of wider recognition is “I Get Sentimental Over Nothing,” written by Suzanne’s aunt, Minette Allton and recorded by Nat King Cole in 1949. “Never Never Land” from Peter Pan, with its message of finding eternal hope in your own heart, is, of course, a classic. Suzanne and Jeff’s version features a soli that Suzanne sings while playing the line on piano.

When she was young, Suzanne was blown away when she first heard Freddie Hubbard’s version of “Without a Song,” and wanted to include it. “Love’s the Thing” is instrumentally known as “Frame for the Blues” by Slide Hampton, for which Suzanne’s friend and colleague, Mike Holober, wrote lyrics for a vocal version. Suzanne and Jeff’s longtime friend, Buster Williams, shared the chart many years ago for his composition “Something More,” for which he also wrote the lyrics. Evan adds his colors to the track on viola. The album closes with “What Can I Do?,” written by the Pittson’s friends, Wayne Green and Brian Potter, and features a 3-part viola arrangement written and performed by Evan. The song’s message, that each of us continually asks what we can do to make the world a better place, is more relevant now than ever.

Despite vocal challenges, Suzanne has not lost even an iota of her inventiveness and musicality. She is a storyteller with her own, highly personal approach to interpreting melodies and lyrics. The synergy of her performance with Jeff at the piano is only possible with two people who know and trust each other deeply.

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EMERGE DANCING will be available at Bandcamp (physical CDs/digital) and all platforms on August 2, 2024.

ONLINE:

Suzannepittson.com

Facebook.com/suzannepittsonjazz

@Suzannepittsonjazz

Suzannepittson.bandcamp.com/album/emerge-dancing