“We’ve just spent the last three days in Tokyo and today we are in Kobe and the weather is beautiful. It’s a beautiful town and there is a great view from my hotel room window. It’s very picturesque.”
Born in Detroit, but raised in Denver in the mid ‘60s, it was inevitable that Reeve would follow in the footsteps of her musical family that included jazz luminaries including bassist Charles Burrell and keyboardist George Duke. “There were a lot of musicians in my family and music was a big part of growing up. It was always played in the house.
“My father was a big jazz fan and he had a lot of 78’s and my mother was really into classical music. Motown was really kicking off at that point too and we’d listen to Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin a lot. At that time I think music was without boundaries, you didn’t think of music in terms of genres. You just thought of it as good, and if you liked it. Everyone had their own sound to their playing and that was really inspiring to me growing up.”
From an early age Reeves was inspired by family gatherings at which she would be encouraged by her aunt to sing. “My aunt in particular was a big influence on me and she used to sing blues music and she would teach me to sing. I was a part of the entertainment when we would gather as a family and it is one of my first musical memories.”
Over the years, Reeves has collaborated with some incredible people. On her 2014 Grammy award winning release Beautiful Life, Reeves covered I Want You by Marvin Gaye, Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, as well as Ani DeFranco’s 32 Flavors. As Reeves relates, it was a natural fit to piece together this album as jazz musicians have been covering popular tunes for years beforehand.
“The cool thing about working on I Want You is that jazz musicians originally played on it with Marvin. Everybody that I was fortunate enough to work with, loved the music I grew up with. I think it was a good natural grounding for what we recorded.”
Most known for her work on the 2005 film Good Night and Good Luck, which tells the story of the early days of TV broadcast journalism, the film features Reeves singing with a jazz ensemble in a small club. Directed by George Clooney, the film gave Reeves exposure to a whole new audience.
“George Clooney heard about me and loved me from the minute he heard me sing and thought that I would be a perfect fit for the film. We only got to meet once throughout the production of the film, but we had a great time together and he is a beautiful person. He understood that jazz is best experienced live and so all my performances were filmed live. It was a great experience to be involved with.”
On her last tour of Australia back in 2013, Reeves was fortunate enough to take part in the Sydney festival with the Sing The Truth: A Musical Celebration of Nina Simone concert, which to this day is one of the highlights of her illustrious career. “I think that we will always talk about the legend and legacy that she has left with us. She has inspired so many people and what I really loved about that project was that no one chose the same song to sing. Her repertoire is so broad and it was extraordinary to see which period everyone wanted to sing from.”
Over the course of four decades, Reeve has had the opportunity to tour and work alongside some of the greats such as Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Harry Belafonte and Sergio Mendez which, in addition to her solo work, has earned extensive praise from the press and peers alike. Drawing comparisons from critics to legends such as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn and after achieving so much throughout the years, what’s next for Dianne Reeves?
“I’m really excited about these shows coming up in Australia, I’ve got a great band of musicians and I can’t wait to be back performing for you. After these shows, we head home for a few days and then we go to Canada, the US and then Europe and in the fall I’m releasing a live album. I feel that I’m a very open person and I’m down with whatever the future may hold for me.”
