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SINGAPORE : Life cannot get more unpredictable for singer-songwriter Stacey Kent who became a musician by chance. While studying in Europe, the comparative literature major met her husband who would later become a big part of her switch to a musical career.
Regarded today as one of the world’s foremost jazz singers, Kent told Primetime Morning that growing up, she was constantly asked to sing or perform music for people despite not having any formal training. She attributes what she does now to her childhood when she practiced music constantly.
“I think that my connection to music was always there but I didn’t realise it and I don’t think anybody realised just how much I was training at the time.”
Describing how she would listen to music at the dinner table and not talk or attempt to play music she heard from movies, this is clearly one woman who is passionate about her craft.
Kent’s work combines two of her loves, story-telling and music together. For her, the foundation is in the story telling and to “look for music within the repertoire that has a story-like quality.”
On working with acclaimed British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro who’s writing stories for her that are like his own novels, Kent said, “It’s such a great opportunity for me because I want to live within that world, that universe and draw people in with me.”
Describing her working relationship with Ishiguro as “gratifying” and “the best thing that every happened to me in my career”, it was through a radio show that Ishiguro and Kent discovered they were fans of each other’s work which eventually led to them collaborating.
The other man in her life and who plays a big part in her musical career is her husband Jim Tomlinson. Besides playing the saxophone in her band, he also composes for her.
With her team in place, she admits that although her process of making music is “unusual”, it works for them.
“It’s not quite like the traditional pop song I suppose, but it is challenging and much more fun for us,” explained Kent.
“Kazuo would write the lyrics, he would send them over to us, I would read them aloud to Jim. Jim will hear the music out of that and write the music from that. He waits for me to read them to him.”
Watching Kent performing with her husband on stage is like witnessing an intimate dialogue between two people. She attributes their rapport and working relationship to communication.
“I think we have that good chemistry as couples have off stage but on stage, there is real dialogue. And I continue to feel so inspired by him musically. I feel very lucky and I’m not here to say, this is the way you should have a marriage, this is the way you should have a relationship. It’s just a dynamic that happens to work for us.”
- CNA/nc
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