Carolyn Perteete
Performing at New Hazlett Theater
September 19, 2009 8 p.m.
Tickets $10
Starting something new can be terrifying, especially for a young singer in an older genre of music.
“I’m probably the youngest singer in town,” 29-year-old jazz performer Carolyn Perteete said in an interview with The Pitt News. “I grew up with different music, I’m coming from a different place. I’m different by being younger than people on the scene in Pittsburgh.”
How did this young woman become a musician?
It kind of found her, she said. Cliché and yet poetic, it’s the truth. Perteete was never too sure about where she was going in life.
“I always liked singing, but I hadn’t really found anything I thought I was really good at,” she said.
Then, Perteete’s mother gave her an Ella Fitzgerald CD, and there was no question left in her mind.
“The first moment I heard it, the heavens opened. Everything just clicked,” she said.
Perteete began lessons with a local jazz singer and completed her music degree at Duquesne University. After that, she joined and performed with the Sean Jones sextet.
“When I was on tour with Sean Jones, I got to see a lot of the world and a lot of the country,” she said. “I got to sing in really great venues. That’s the highlight of my career so far.”
Even though Perteete’s tour ended, she is certainly not slowing down. “These days I’m feeling more than just jazz,” she said. “I’ve been writing my own music for the past year.”
According to Pereete, her music is all planned out but not quite pop.
“I approach it vocally the same way I approach jazz. I think the texture of my voice fits jazz but also fits this genre that I can’t put a name on.”
“I like being able to do both,” she added. “There aren’t many singers who can do both.”
And she is determined to differ from other singers in as many ways possible.
“The most important thing for me is people doing something different,” Perteete said. “I appreciate musicians writing their own music and trying to find their own voice, because that was original jazz — trying to find their own thing.”
Musicians are not doing their jobs if they’re not trying to be creative, according to Perteete. “If you’re trying to do stuff to please others and not yourself, that’s not the point.
“The only person I have to satisfy is myself,” she said.
But if she can please others, it’s certainly a pleasant bonus.
“Locally, when the greats like Roger Humphrey see me, they say they’re proud of me,” she said. “That means a lot. They don’t say that to just anybody.”
But Perteete isn’t too cocky just yet.
“I definitely know I have a lot to learn,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be quite satisfied."
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