Nestled in a quiet corner of Arden, Del., Judith Kay sits in her private studio surrounded by stacks of books, papers and copies of her latest CD, Sounds Like Brazil. The centerpiece of this tiny space—just large enough for two people to sit comfortably—is a personal computer into which Kay dictates her compositions note by note. Ever since being stricken with Repetitive Strain Injury in 1992, Kay has relied primarily on a voice-activated headset to compose the sheet music for her various pieces. These include traditional jazz, big band and bossa nova tunes.
Described as a "consummate professional," Kay has not allowed her debilitating injury to darken her spirit or keep her from doing what she loves most: writing and performing music for appreciative audiences around the world. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Judith was born into a musical family. Her mother played piano and both parents had a keen interest in the big band era. "There was always a lot of good music in my house growing up," recalls Kay fondly. "Classical, jazz, big band…I was very fortunate."
She took up guitar at age 11, and by fourteen she knew that she wanted to pursue music full time. In high school Kay began studying piano in addition to guitar, and she began writing her first songs.
After graduating from Concord High School she continued her musical training at Hartford's Hartt College of Music and later Temple University in Philadelphia. After a short while she left school to study guitar under respected Philadelphia musicians Pat Martino and Bob DiNardo, then-staff guitarist for The Mike Douglas Show. She also developed an interest in composing and arranging big band pieces
Starting in the mid-1970s, Kay began singing and playing before small area audiences, performing classics by Gershwin, Ellington and Berlin in addition to her own material. Then in 1979, Judith became the first recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Study Grant for composition and arranging, which she used to study with well-known New York-based arranger, Manny Albam. She also received a grant for composition and arranging from the Delaware State Arts Council
Meanwhile, Kay continued to perform whenever and wherever she could. To help make ends meet, she turned to teaching guitar and music theory to a handful of private students, something she still finds very gratifying 25 years later. Her main focus, however, has always been on singing and performing, and in recent years she has performed in Europe, South America and Canada as well as the U.S.. In 1986 she was invited by the Portuguese government to be the first American jazz musician to perform on the island of Madeira as part of the international film and music festival, Festival de Outono.
"I've been lucky in that I've never had to take a day job," says Kay half-jokingly. But Kay is no stranger to hard work. After unsuccessful efforts to sign on with a major record label, Kay was forced to take matters into her own hands to get her music out. She wound up forming her own company, Tasty Records, in 1986 as a vehicle for her own recordings.
The downside, however, is that Kay now finds herself caught in a "vicious circle" of making music, then conducting the follow up business that allows her to continue making more music. "I spend too much time on the business of music," Kay laments, "making phone calls, taking care of distribution,…We currently have over 700 people on our mailing list. At least I have a part-time assistant to help with some of that now."
Even more important, according to Kay, is the support she gets from her long-time producer/manager, David McClintock. A semi-retired free-lance photographer, McLintock is also Kay's husband of nine years. "We've been together for over 20 years," says Kay, "and without him I'm not sure that I would make it in the music business."
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Our conversation turns to Kay's fascination with Brazil and its music as the opening rhythms of "Sounds Like Brazil," the title track of her latest release, fill the room. "I first heard the gorgeous songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim—the Cole Porter of Brazil—back in the sixties and became entranced by the country and its music," recalls Kay. "Later, in the early eighties, musician colleagues traveled to Brazil and brought back stacks of albums by people like Gal Costa, Djavan, Elis Regina, João Gilberto and Manfredo Fest."
Fascinated by what she heard, Kay began performing Brazilian songs live, singing phonetically in Portuguese. "I was able to fake it well enough to fool native Brazilians in the audience into thinking that I was from Brazil," laughs Kay. As for the non-Brazilians, Kay was pleasantly surprised to find that they reacted well to songs in a foreign language. "The percussive sound seems to be sufficient to keep American audiences engaged and entertained," she says.
Before long, Kay began to study Portuguese formally. She took private lessons from University of Delaware professor Paulo da Silva in 1986. That same year she traveled to Brazil for the first time, spending two weeks in Rio de Janeiro. After returning to Delaware she continued studying the language on her own for the next five years in order to become fluent. In fact, Kay's own Portuguese-language composition, the pretty ballad "Preciso de Você na Minha Vida" (I Need You In My Life), is one of the highlights of her latest release.
"It is a beautiful language," Kay insists. "It continues to give me great pleasure to sing in Portuguese."
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In 1986, Judith Kay made the first of two music-oriented trips to Rio de Janeiro. "I went to hear music and meet as many musicians as possible," says Kay. While in Rio she spent time at famous jazz clubs such as People Jazz Bar and Ipanema's Jazzmania, meeting and playing for the likes of samba composer Billy Blanco, former Jobim drummer Paulinho Braga, guitarist Tavio Bonfá, and the legendary Caetano Veloso.
It was at People that Judith first met Chaplin (pronounced Sha-PLEEN), who was playing percussion for João Donato at the time. Chaplin, like other Brazilian musicians, was "open and easy to talk to."
"They [Brazilian musicians] love American musicians because of the respect that American musicians have for their Brazilian counterparts," notes Kay.
On a whim, just days before her scheduled departure, Judith and David decided that she should record while in Rio. "I had been thinking of doing an album someday, but not in Brazil," she recounts. "The decision to go into the studio in Rio was a very spontaneous, overnight decision."
At the last minute Kay was able to schedule a session at Sono Viso, a studio recommended by Azymuth bassist Alex Malheiros. In only five hours Kay and Chaplin, who agreed to accompany her on percussion, laid down 15 tracks, 12 of which eventually appeared on her first Tasty release, Everybody's Talkin'.
Judith returned to Rio for four weeks in 1992. During her stay she met up with well-known bassist Adriano Giffoni, who is currently performing with Maria Bethânia. Giffoni is also a Brazilian music historian with a deep interest in preserving the varied Brazilian musical styles. "He was a great source of information about Brazil's musical history," says Kay.
Unfortunately for Kay, Rio's darker side reared its ugly head on this second visit. "I was mugged on the second day we were there," she recalls sadly. She doesn't go down more often because of the danger. "Rio is not a very relaxing or `carefree' place for Americans," cautions Kay. "There is constant tension when you stick out as foreign, and with my blond hair, blue eyes and fair complexion I wasn't able to blend in very well. In fact, we needed a vacation after that vacation."
In spite of the negatives, however, Kay found her associations with the Brazilian people wonderful and inspiring. "Life is very difficult for many musicians in Brazil," she says. "They tend to be quite poor and not able to travel easily. It makes me appreciate my life as a full-time musician here in the U.S. that much more."
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In 1990, Kay began recording her own Brazilian compositions, something that she had wanted to do for many years. Before this work was completed, Judith released Judith Kay Live—Her Voice, Her Guitar. Recorded at J.J.'s Grotto in Philadelphia in 1991, Live was done during her transition from a solo to ensemble performer. She put together a trio that included Tony Miceli on vibraphone and Kevin McConnell on bass.
Meanwhile, Kay continued working on the material that would ultimately end up on Sounds. These songs would be the last recordings of Kay playing the guitar, for in August of 1992 she was struck down with Repetitive Strain Injury, or RSI.
Excruciatingly painful and disabling, RSI is a severe form of tendonitis that musicians have been getting for years. A rampant affliction in the U.S., RSI has affected the likes of pianist Leon Fleischer, who is now back to performing, and Gary Grafman, head of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.
"I was out of commission for three to five years," says Kay, who now undergoes physical therapy and daily exercise in an effort to regain use of her right hand and arm. "I had to learn to write with my left hand," she says, "and my career on the guitar is uncertain. I'm hopeful that someday I'll play again, but I can't rely on it."
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Kay's disability also held up the release of Sounds Like Brazil, which didn't finally hit stores until April of this year. But despite all of the obstacles, the final result has been well worth the wait. Jazz critic Deni Kasrel called the recording "a sumptuous blend of Brazilian sensibility merged with Judith's unique musical concepts."
A collection of complex material, some of which dates back to the 1970s, the songs on this disc are uniquely her own. The intricate chord structures and complex harmonies combine with twisting and turning melody and counter-melody lines to produce music that is both delightful and warm. This result was clearly intended by careful design.
Kay is responsible for all of the music, lyrics and arrangements on Sounds; she was totally absorbed in the careful construction of each piece from beginning to end. By her own admission, the music is difficult and leaves little room for spontaneity and improvisation. "I'm sure most musicians would admit that it's tough to play," she asserts. For this reason, Kay sought out the best possible musicians to join her in making this record.
The all important rhythm section is composed of Ron Thomas (piano), Domenick Fiore (bass), and Manhattan-based Vanderlei Pereira (drums/percussion). A native of Rio de Janeiro, Pereira adds a crucial authentic Brazilian element.
Kay spotted Pereira in a Greenwich Village club and knew immediately that she wanted him handling the drum duties for this project, feeling that it was important to have a Brazilian involved in the making of Sounds. "Even though it's not truly Brazilian music," says Kay, "it's American music influenced by the Brazilian sound and I wanted his viewpoint. Brazilian drummers have a very special concept that's only theirs. It's a particular sensitivity and cleanness of sound." Vanderlei's creative input also "gave things a special kick," according to Kay.
Rounding out the ChamberJazz ensemble is Ron Kerber (flutes and saxophones), George Rabbai (trumpet and flügelhorn), Francis Orval (French horn) and Chuck Holdeman (bassoon).
Since its release Sounds Like Brazil has received steady airplay on radio stations in New York and Washington, DC, in addition to Temple Jazz (WRTI) in Philadelphia. While not known for frequent performances, Kay has done a number of shows throughout the region in support of Sounds. In addition to Thomas and Miceli, Tom Cohen (drums), Tim Lekan (bass) and Tony Salicandro (sax) make up her core group of musicians. Kay had difficulty finding a replacement guitarist who truly understood the Brazilian music; instead she has turned to playing the vibraphone, which she finds an interesting substitute for the guitar.
While classics from the '30s and '40s still make up about 50 percent of her live shows, Kay confesses that she has become "happily hooked" on Brazilian music. Songs by Jobim, Donato, Jorge Ben Jor, Gilberto Gil, Edu Lobo and Dorival Caymmi, in addition to her own Brazilian-inspired work, frequently find their way onto her set list.
Kay frequently runs into native Brazilians at her concerts. "After just about every show someone in the audience from Brazil comes up to speak in Portuguese," says Kay, who finds local Brazilians very receptive to her renditions of Brazilian works. "There are many Brazilians in the Delaware Valley," she says, "although they aren't as visible as perhaps other nationalities. I hope to be able to meet more of them."
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In her free time Kay continues to write music and record. "I have two recordings `in the can'," she says. "One is a duo with the international pianist Sir Roland Hannah, the other is a ChamberJazz collaboration on a collection of obscure Christmas carols." According to Kay, the latter project could be released as early as this fall.
Meanwhile, a new area of development for Kay is composing for school ensembles. "My goal is to become a resident artist at a university or established music school within the next few years," says Kay. "I want to be able to pursue music and share the process with others."
Kay has some experience in this area already, and her love of Brazilian music also led to her teaching a course on the subject, entitled "The Brazilian Sound," at the University of Delaware in 1995 and 1996.
"Arts education is extremely important and something that is lacking in many schools today," insists Kay, who finds that many of her younger music students have no knowledge whatsoever of Duke Ellington, George Gershwin or Cole Porter. In a letter to the Wilmington News Journal in January, Kay wrote that "without the arts, education is incomplete and students are deprived."
This lack of education, Kay believes, is one reason for the decline of jazz's popularity in recent years. Citing a trend that began with the advent of The Beatles, Kay claims that there is no longer a strong base of support for jazz in the U.S.. Even the success of Wilmington's annual Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, which has been drawing jazz enthusiasts by the thousands for the past seven years, is seen as the exception rather than the rule. "Local jazz venues are drying up and the Judith Kay audience is dwindling," complains Kay. "It's a huge problem."
"In addition, the U.S. Congress has been sending a strong, sad message that the arts are simply not important," Kay continues, citing ongoing budget battles concerning the National Endowment for the Arts. "And unfortunately many corporations have received that message loud and clear, cutting back on their support for various art programs."
"It's an uphill battle," says Kay with a confident smile, "but we will survive." Considering what Judith Kay has been through in her ongoing effort to preserve America's "national treasure," it is difficult not to believe her.
Paul Ford, Jr. is a social worker and free-lance writer. He is a graduate from Wilmington College working towards a masters in elementary education. Anyone wishing to reach him can call (302) 658-8280, or e-mail lfords@aol.com
Judith Kay's Sounds Like Brazil is only available via Tasty Records, c/o Arden Enterprises, 1601 Harvey Road, Ardentown, DE 19810 — Tel.: (302) 475-8275