Jazz is in Bradford’s blood. Her grandfather, Melvin Moore, sang with Dizzy Gillespie and the Ink Spots. Her parents, Bobby Bradford and Melba Joyce, are both performers and composers. With this lineage, it’s not surprising Bradford had the skills to join the Count Basie Orchestra at age 22. She continues to perform with the famed outfit, which received a 2022 Grammy nomination for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for “Live At Birdland!” However, as the champion of big band music recently discussed, that’s only one of her many projects.
Q: What’s happening today?
A: I just got back from San Francisco. I teach at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. I go out there once a month and stay for two days. I have two vocal students and I sit in on the jazz ensemble courses and offer my opinions. The program in called RJAM, which stands for Roots, Jazz and American Music. I’ve been doing that for four years and it’s a lot of fun.
Q: Is your tour schedule returning to normal?
A: I was on the road 40 weeks a year prior to COVID, and things started getting busy for me again last July. Sometimes I work with a trio and sometimes with a big band. I’m touring to different universities and working with their big bands. I do master classes and private instruction with their vocal jazz students if they have a vocal jazz department. I really enjoy it.
Q: Are you ready for “The Ladies of Swing” with the Dayton Philharmonic?
A: Oooh, I’m so excited but I’m really, really nervous because I haven’t done a show by myself in maybe four years. It’s a different dynamic. Normally, I do shows with Byron Stripling and they’re fantastic. When we’re together, I’m Byron’s comedic singing partner on the stage. Of course, we do duets and everything, but I lean on his humor and wait on that so I can respond with my little humor. It’s another thing when you’re standing out there and you’re the responsible party.
Q: What does “The Ladies of Swing” mean to you?
A: Since those ladies sang so many of the same songs, I represent all of them. The show is a little different here and there but it’s all wonderful. We want people to be comfortable and sing along. To look out at the faces is just magic for me, especially if they know the songs. It allows me to relax a little bit when I see they’re singing along or tapping their feet. I like it when they’ve brought their grandkids and they’re kind of slouching in their seats. It starts off before I come on stage and just when I come on stage but then they perk up a little bit.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Q: How do you engage the kids?
A: I try to make eye contact with the babies. They have the look of, ‘You made me come to this, mom,’ but by the end of the show, I see they love it. They need to be exposed to this music or it will not survive. All of those season ticketholders are up in age now, so we’ve got to bring the kids in there kicking and screaming. It’s important they’re exposed to this music.
Q: What keeps you working with the Count Basie Orchestra after all this time?
A: I’ve always felt such a debt of gratitude toward Mr. Basie. He was very, very kind to me. It’s important to me to keep his legacy alive. Not everybody plays big band music and sometimes people play it but don’t do it well. Since I worked with him, it’s really important to be the example. I’m very dedicated to that so I tour with them whenever I’m able.
Q: This year marks the 30th anniversary of your debut album, “Finally Yours.” What does that bring to mind?
A: It is? Oh, my goodness. I hadn’t even thought about that. Well, thank you for sharing that with me. Wow, that makes me feel old. (laughs) That was a very exciting album, but I really took a beating from quite a few club owners. They felt the material I sang was too eclectic, that I wasn’t singing straight-ahead jazz.
Q: How did that impact you?
A: They didn’t want to hire me. It’s absurd because my arrangements on that album were wonderful. I wasn’t singing some R&B-funk tunes on this project. My first two albums were all standards. I look at those albums as collector’s pieces because they both had the greatest jazz musicians of all time. They were just incredible, and I was so young and fearless then. I just tried to play whatever made me happy, as it always should be. Sometimes you have to tell critics to be quiet and go sit down.
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
Who: Carmen Bradford presents “The Ladies of Swing” with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Where: Schuster Center, Second and Main streets, Dayton
When: Feb. 18 and 19; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Cost: $26 to $85
More info: 937-228-3630 or www.daytonlive.org
Artist info: carmenbradford.com
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