April is jazz month internationally, and here in T&T there have been several celebratory events.
At one such event earlier this month, the Sunday Guardian caught up with the ever-smiling and affable jazz vocalist Vaughnette Bigford while following her scintillating performance at the bandstand in the President’s Grounds at a concert courtesy the United States Embassy and the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Academy for the Performing Arts.
Billed as “an evening under the stars…bring your blankets and chairs,” the audience was treated to an array of enjoyable performances, including those by Bigford and ace pannist Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, as the beautiful sounds of jazz resonated throughout the botanical gardens and beyond.
In her late 30s, Bigford’s rich, warm, earthy tones draw you in, as she delivers effortlessly on some of the most timeless standards and ballads. She debuted on the jazz circuit at the Steelpan & Jazz Festival in 2004, gracing the stage later that same year at the San Fernando Jazz Festival, where she also appeared in 2005 and 2006. Many still recall her memorable solo act at the YWCA’s Sisters in Song, a Caribbean Jazz Concert in 2007, featuring local well-known exponents Mavis John and Chantal Esdelle.
Her focus and hard work paid dividends in 2008 when she became one of few Caribbean nationals ever to be awarded a scholarship to attend Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music Summer Performance Programme.
She has participated in and successfully completed Berklee College of Music’s five-week Vocal Summit and Stage Performance Workshops, and more recently, in 2010, became a full-time student of the college and completed the 12-week full credit summer programme.
Her list of appearances keeps growing as she showcases her vocal mettle: Jazz Artistes on the Greens, Trinidad; Lady Got Chops Women’s Jazz Festival, New York, USA; Earthsound CD Release Party, Ryles Jazz Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; Berklee Summer Concert Series, with Ron Reid and Sunsteel, Boston, USA; the Louis Armstrong Birthday Jazz Concert, with Jazz singer Gwyn Jay Allen, New York, USA; and the Beantown Jazz Festival, Boston, USA with Gabrielle Goodman and Nona Hendryx.
She has also successfully produced two full-length concerts called “Shades of Vaughnette” which have received rave reviews and continue to be shown on local television.
Vaughnette Bigford continues to charm her listeners wherever she performs.
Q: When and how did you get into the business of entertaining?
A: I always sang, all through school, always been on stage, from the age of seven consumed by the arts, even performing at the San Fernando Arts Naparima Bowl at the San Fernando arts festival. I think it was just a natural thing after being prodded a bit by my husband. I started off singing professionally with Carlton Alexander and the Coalpot Band and started doing my own stuff after a while.
Is this your full-time “work”?
I do so wish, however, it’s tough trying to survive and make a consistent income as a jazz artiste. I work in the oil and gas industry as a health and safety practitioner.
Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born and still live in La Brea, never moved…I love it!
Who were the people who have influenced you the most in your career and in life in general and how did they?
I was influenced by many; my family, my husband are all very supportive. Musically, I listened to a lot of the songbook singers: Ella, Carmen, Louis, Sarah. I grew up on this music and it was a natural thing for me to progress into jazz. Locally, I’ve been supported and influenced by most of those who are still around—Theron Shaw, Ron Reid, Ming, Zanda, Patti Rogers and a host of others.
At what schools/institutions did you receive your education?
Brighton Anglican School in La Brea and the Point Fortin College, both of which were really instrumental. I studied voice with Chris Balbosa and Jessel Murray in Trinidad, however, when I was ready to take the leap into jazz I left the country to study with a few artists abroad. I eventually ended up at the Berklee College of Music in Boston for one year where I gained most of my knowledge, information and insight into this genre of music and entertainment business in general. I continue to study privately with different musicians from time to time.
If you could pick any singer and/or band to perform just for you (non-West Indian), who would you choose?
Surprisingly, right now, it would not be a jazz group. I am heavy into Steely Dan these days.
What daily motto/credo do you live by and in three words, your recipe for success?
“Say what you need to say,” and my recipe for success will have to be the ingredients of love, humility and consistency.
What are your most prized possessions: one tangible, one intangible?
My iPAD and my smile.
Of all your shows, concerts, performances, which would you like a first-time audience, listener, viewer to experience?
I did a concert many years ago called “Sisters in Song”. This concert featured Chantal Esdelle and Mavis John and was produced by an amazing group of people. To date, I still think it’s my best vocal performance ever.
Tell us about your inspiration to do the type of ‘work’ you do.
I love being on stage, I think it’s such a gift to be able to move people with your interpretation and expression via song. I tell people that I am always more concerned with whether someone was touched after a performance than how “good” I sounded. I think that’s what makes it special, that people are moved.
Of all your accolades, prizes and awards which do you rate as extremely special?
I did a concert in July of 2010 as a tribute to Louis Armstrong at the Louis Armstrong Museum in Corona, Queens. It featured a couple of duets with Gwyn Jay Allen of Sierra Leone, where we sang some “Louis and Ella” duets. After the performance, an elderly lady who happened to be personal friends with Louis Armstrong said to me, “Whoo child, Ella would have been proud!” Man, I felt like ah million dollars!
If you had to perform for an audience who had never heard or seen you before and you had to perform one song, which would you?
Who God Bless by Ras Shorty.
What goals and or ambitions do you still have?
A lot. Completing my first recording, travelling the world playing my music, heading back to school, having a family…and the list goes on.
What is an interesting facet of your personality that most people do not know about you?
I am extremely sensitive, I cry quite easily.
What is the best compliment you have every received?
I’ve been told that my smile lights up a room, gets me every time.
Describe yourself in two words one beginning with V, the other with B, your initials.
Versatile, Beautiful.