All that jazz

Story and Photos by
Laura McFarland

Gently swaying to the music, jazz singer Selma Pinkard closes her eyes and begins to sing. Each soft, sultry note, bares her soul to the mesmerized audience.

For Pinkard, singing the songs of her favorite jazz singers was part of a life-long dream. The dream came true for Pinkard Thursday in a Stage West program.

“I’ve always wanted to sing jazz, even in high school,” Pinkard said. “I had to put that on the back burner because of my (children). Now they’re all grown and gone, and it’s my time.”

Literary associate Natalie Gaupp said the first Thursday of a performance at Stage West includes a performance called “Behind the Scenes,” which involves bringing in a guest singer to talk about some issue related to the play.

Gaupp said inviting a jazz singer was appropriate for “A Streetcar Named Desire,” a play about that genre.

“I think that the heart and soul of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is the music,” Gaupp said. “Jazz is the pulse of it.When Tennessee Williams wrote it, he was living in New Orleans, so he was surrounded by this music.”

In her presentation, Pinkard gave a brief biography of each of her three favorite singers: Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and Nancy Wilson.

“They have always been idols to me,” Pinkard said. “I like their style, the way they sing, and I just kind of wanted to do my style of singing after them.”

After each of her lectures, Pinkard said she chooses one song from each of her idols and performs it for the audience. Pinkard said she chose each of these songs because they relate to experiences she has had in her own life.

“It gives me the freedom to do what I want vocally — express my inner feelings,” Pinkard said.

For listener Sue Hendrick, the lecture was pleasing.

“I think her singing is just really fantastic,” Hendrick said. “I’m not very musical, but I know what I like.”

Hendrick said she and her friends usually attend the “Behind the Scenes” performances before they see the featured play.

“I was impressed because when she was singing an orchestra was not playing in the background,” Hendrick said. “It was just a rhythm. She was carrying the entire song.”

In addition to her return to singing during the last five years, Pinkard said she also enjoyed acting in small theater parts. For now, she said she is just enjoying the time she gets to spend with her music.

Laura McFarland
l.m.mcfarland@student.tcu.edu