Arts & Entertainment
Local Jazz Vocalist Discusses a Lifetime of Musicality
From singing in church at 6 years-old, to releasing her first CD in 2009, Mary Talbot Fee's world is one filled with music.
It started with a mother’s influence. In the case of Mary Talbot Fee - a local vocalist and advocate for jazz music - mom was an opera singer, choral soloist and musical comedy performer. In Fee’s words, “I’ve been immersed in music since birth – or before birth, probably.” And it didn’t take long after for the performer within to emerge.
Starting with choral singing in her church at 6 years old, Fee went on to do a variety of musically inclined activities from singing and playing the piano, to dance and figure skating. It was during the early 1980’s that she began seeing shows at various jazz music venues and, occasionally, sitting in with bands in the San Diego area.
Later, with the internationally known Kevyn Lettau as a vocal coach and a lifetime of inspiration working to her advantage, Fee pulled together a compilation of music and released her first CD, A Midwinter Night’s Dream, in 2009. Citing jazz, classical and choral music as genres with the heaviest influence, Fee also points out that growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s left her with an undoubted imprint from rock and blues - a fact that explains her covering artists like the Beatles and Stevie Wonder.
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On a personal level, arranging and recording the CD was meaningful for Fee in a number of ways, but perhaps the most significant was the role of her mother. “My mother had Alzheimer’s and I would play her each song as it was finished. The last song I recorded was called Angela, which is her name. It’s a song in Portuguese by Antonio Carlos Jobim and the words translated mean that you’re still this beautiful person but you’re seeing the earth as if from an airplane looking down. It was just chilling because at the time my mom was drawing further away from us. She heard the song for the first time and died a week later. Pretty poignant,” said Fee.
In addition to recording her CD, Fee also spearheaded the creation of a music meet-up and concert series called Jazz I.N., which is short for Jazz In Your Neighborhood. “We take jazz concerts to unusual places,” explains Fee, with examples including her own back yard and the in La Jolla. Performers have included artists like Kevyn Lettau, flutist Lori Bell and Fee herself.
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The next Jazz I.N. concert is scheduled to take place at Point Loma Assembly on Dec. 19 at 8 p.m. where Fee will perform winter themed music with Allons-Y. Tickets are $15; call 619-857-5487 for reservations. The Point Loma Assembly is located at 3035 Talbot Street, San Diego.
For more on Ms. Fee’s musicality, read on to the Q&A:
Full Name: Mary Talbot Fee
Occupation: Jazz Vocalist, Owner and President of , Creator and Head of the Jazz I.N. Musical Series, Private Vocals Teacher
In a word, sum up your taste in music: “I have a phrase: jazz with a strong blues and R&B influence.”
What is your castaway disc (the one CD or album you would take with you to a deserted island)? “Well, being stuck on a desert island sounds kind of sad to me, because you’d be all alone – so I would bring Mozart’s Requiem with me to make me feel like there was still magic in the world.”
Favorite live music performance – artist, venue, year: “This year I went to the Jazz Camp West for the first time, where 300 jazz musicians live in the woods for a week at a YMCA camp. You live in cabins and go to classes, and every night they have a faculty concert. These concerts are just so intimate, but yet so professional. It was wonderful.”
If you were an instrument, what would it be and why? “A bass. For some reason I draw to the bass, and when I listen to music I hear the chord changes and movement of music through the bass.”
Your guilty music pleasure: “X-Factor. I just learn so much and enjoy watching the performers evolve.”
What would your theme song be? Bridges, by Milton Nascimento. “It’s about finding your way in life. It has a beautiful melody and poetic lyrics.”
Name the three artists getting the most airtime on your iPod right now:
1. Eliane Elias, a Brazilian vocalist and pianist
2. Kevyn Lettau, her new CD Drawn to You
3. My CD, because I’m getting ready for my concert on Dec. 19.
