By Peter Lindblad
Boon companions through thick and thin, jazz and Disney go together in all kinds of weather.
Such giants of the genre as Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Louis Armstrong and Dianne Reeves, among many other artists, have contributed their jazzy interpretations of beloved music from Disney films over the years to widespread acclaim.
As evidence of the bond between them, Disney Jazz Volume 1: Everybody Wants to be a Cat collects a treasure trove of reimagined songs from Disney soundtracks that run the gamut from adventurous and experimental, to faithful renditions with just a slight, refreshing twist on the originals.
To celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary, the house band for The National Jazz Museum in Harlem is touring in 2023 and bringing its “When You Wish Upon a Star – A Jazz Tribute to 100 Years of Disney” show (This production is not affiliated with, sponsored, or authorized by The Walt Disney Company) to the Green Bay area.
Led by pianist and musical director Sean Mason, and featuring vocal powerhouses Kim Nalley and Sasha Dobson, the production rolls into Wisconsin later this month. Mason has been called “a musician on the rise” by NPR’s Youngbloods series, having played with the likes of Wynton and Brandon Marsalis and Herlin Riley. His debut album The Southern Suite is out now, boasting the single “Closure.”
With her three-and-a-half octave range, Nalley is a philanthropist and an enthralling singer, who’s performed with the San Francisco Symphony and Rhoda Scott, Michael Tilson Thomas and Houston Person, just to name a few. As for Dobson, she’s part of the trio Puss n’ Boots, along with Norah Jones and Catherine Popper, and a world-renowned vocalist with a mesmerizing style.
Rounding out the band are drummer Ahmad Johnson, bassist Corentin Le Hir, guitarist Alicyn Yaffee and trumpet player Anthony Hervey.
Get your tickets now for the Oct. 22 show at the Door County Auditorium in Fish Creek (https://dcauditorium.org/dca-event/passport-program-when-you-wish-upon-a-star-a-jazz-tribute-to-100-years-of-disney/) and the Oct. 24 date at Wausau’s Grand Theater (https://tickets.grandtheater.org/3578/3612?queueittoken=e_grandgeneral231013~q_a3d5bec9-b745-48ac-8c3b-968e66803e79~ts_1697552677~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_e79da82d20e4f372d17b78f0e35fd83352cbac24db8a1fe047c67fc85394ef3c).
Dobson and Nalley took time out recently to answer some questions about the show. Here’s what they had to say:
What is the history of the band and how was it put together?
Sasha Dobson: I was asked to join forces with Sean early on knowing he would curate his own rhythm section. To be honest, I wasn’t 100% at first about commuting to a tour this long with cats I never met or worked with, but I trusted Sean and I knew he’d put together a great crew – all musicians he’s previously worked with. I am used to running ship and have my peoples I play with. Norah Jones and I have been collaborating and curating bands for years (two decades) and my other two projects (jazz band: Peter Bernstein, Neal Miner and original project: Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen) have been a thing for about as long. The great news is these young musicians are great – amazing and fun! It’s been a real pleasure getting to know all them, making music together every day!
Kim Nalley: The rest of the band is based in New York, and I am in San Francisco, so I got to meet Sean Mason, the musical director, the day before our first show.
How did the idea for the Disney show come to fruition and what was the preparation for it like?
SD: Lots of emails over the summer, but the idea to honor the Disney Centennial came pretty early. It wasn’t easy picking songs from the past 100 years – so many great ones!
KN: Jason Olaine, vice president of programming at Jazz at Lincoln Center, used to be A&R (artists and repertoire) and a producer at Verve and other record labels. He has produced many Disney Jazz albums and jazz stars over the years, including one produced for Disney in 2009 which featured jazz legends such as Dave Brubeck, Dianne Reeves, Esperanza Spalding and Roy Hargrove.
The preparation was grueling because there was very little time to rehearse before doing our first show. However, the band is comprised of supremely talented musicians who can handle anything. Sean and I are fearless about adding or changing a song the day of the show. It helps because we are aural musicians as opposed to those who need charts. We do all know how to read and write music, but I think it’s better that we listen to each other instead of looking at a chart. That way we’re really playing together.
What is it about the Disney song catalog that makes it magical?
SD: What I’ve learned, having done about 10 shows so far, is how amazing it is that Disney brings together all cultures and all ages. We’ve been doing shows that a 90-year-old and a five-year-old can equally enjoy. Because we all have a favorite song, a favorite memory. Like a space shuttle of hope and joy that’s fitted for all ages. It’s truly magical to watch. Our audience, melting happily with each song.
KN: Disney holds a very special place in jazz because they hired some of the best composers available, including the Tin Pan Alley artists who wrote many of the standards that jazz musicians know today – these songs including No. 1 hits for Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. Now they have procured Lin Manuel-Miranda (“The Heights,” “Moana,” “Hamilton” and “Encanto”) and have ushered in a new age of Disney music that includes rap and Afro-Latinx rhythms.
Disney started off with animation that had songs and somewhere along the years they became animated musicals. The importance of the songs is as important as the animation. This is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Disney, and so we find our audiences range from older people to toddlers in sparkly “Frozen” dresses. Disney is magical because it appeals to all people and makes the inner self feel pure and young.
Yesterday we did a concert for a K-13 group. The entire audience of children sang along with Sean Mason’s solo piano that he began to become tearful at the beauty and purity of their voices and the fact that they knew every word.
What goes into choosing songs for the show?
SD: Sean wanted to keep it a song per decade, which wasn’t easy at first. I wanted to do all “Cinderella,” “Show White,” “Pinocchio” and “Little Mermaid” (she laughs).
KN: We started out by looking at all the Disney albums Jason had produced. Since I am the one in the band with kids, he asked me for a list of songs that kids love nowadays. I definitely included “Frozen” and “Encanto,” but there are also live action, made for more TV and film versions that have made young ones fond of songs from before they were born, such as the “Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.” From there, Sean chose the songs for the band, since he is the musical director, and vocalist Sasha Dobson and I picked out the tunes we wanted to sing since we are our own vocal directors. Fortunately, our voices are so different that we never have a situation where we both wanted the same song.
What is a typical day like on tour for this show?
SD: Typical day, wake up and meditate and go for a quick run, coffee, lobby call, fly, baggage claim, van, drive, hotel drop-off, load in for show, sound check, eat, show, rinse and repeat! The routine is my mantra, my Zen. It’s how you manage to keep going is the repetition oddly… and the music rejuvenates.
KN: Wake up early enough, often so early there is no breakfast. We load up the van with our instruments and luggage and then fly or drive for a long time. We check into our hotels; then we might have less than an hour to go to the show. Because LAX was hazy and had suspended landings, we were extremely late for our Long Beach show. We had to skip the hotel part, go straight to the gig, and have 30 minutes to load in, set up, do a sound check, and change into our stage clothes before the doors opened. After the show I am exhausted and usually eat, then go to bed. Sometimes we have travel days that do not have shows booked that night, such as in Boulder, Colorado. I slept the whole time and used oxygen to adjust to the altitude. I had family in Boulder, but there was no time to spend time with each other. Life on the road requires a very regimented schedule.
What makes the show special for you?
SD: I have one song where I sing duo with Sean that is especially meaningful for me. I grew up getting to sing with one of the greatest piano accompanist of our time – my late and dear pops, Smith Dobson. Literally every singer I know who worked with him feels the same way. He had a very special gift. We tragically lost dad very early on (I was 22) in an auto accident, and I never really picked up where I left off with pianists, having spent my entire life singing with my dad. In a jazz piano/vocalist environment… in fact my last jazz recording, Girl Talk, features the equivalent to how my pops approached music and playing with others… only for guitarist, the great NY giant, Peter Bernstein. These past shows have been incredibly uplifting – getting to sing with a pianist again! Sean’s accompaniment is worlds beyond his years. It’s kind of incredible. He’s a true chameleon – (laughs) like me.
It feels like a gift from the heavens.
In fact, all the musicians in the band are wonderfully talented and beyond their years. It’s all been very cathartic. The music serves and saves.
KN: As a jazz musician there are many Disney songs that I sing at my shows. I recorded “So This is Love” from “Cinderella” because my children always wanted it as their lullaby. When I am not blinded by the stage lights, I can see the dreamy look the audience gets, and we can hear the audible sigh of pleasure when it is a tune they love. More than anything, it is special because we are teaching a new generation what jazz is. The songs are not arranged exactly like the recording, and we have instrumental solos and scat. By being familiar with the song they see what we do to the song to make it jazz. It is keeping in the history of jazz. Musicians with gigs near Broadway would do songs that were in theater almost immediately when they came out, but they played as a jazz song not a cover.
Do you have a favorite song or part of the show that you specifically enjoy?
SD: I’ve been really enjoying our arrangement of “Kiss the Girl.” The band gets to open up in a different frequency and I always loved that song as a kid!
I also really dig singing “Remember Me,” which feels like a song I was meant to sing. Thanks to Sean for recommending it. I hadn’t seen “Coco” before this summer and it’s now one of my Disney favorites!
KN: I must admit as some who is Black it is a special thrill to sing “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog.” Even though I was an adult when the film premiered, I was excited as a child about finally having our first Black Disney Princess and one that was hand animated like “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty.” They had moved to CGI by 2009, but they gave Tiana the star treatment.
What’s been the best response you’ve received to the show from an audience member?
SD: Yesterday the promoter of our show bought my album, Girl Talk, which I’m selling vinyl on tour. Anyways, he walked up to me with my album under his arm and told me the duet with Sean was a true highlight. And then he leaned in and said, and you accompanying yourself on “Remember Me” was stunning also.
I melted. I’m very bare bones as a guitarist. It’s my number one chosen writing tool. I play guitar full time when I’m performing shows of my original music, but often, when I’m signing jazz, I put the guitar down… It’s nice to have a tune with the acoustic guitar!
KN: When I am autographing, I sometimes see people in tears because they are so moved, but I have to admit the last show we did for only K-12 students had to be the most amazing audience ever! They screamed while applauding, sang along with us, and participated in call and response (an integral component of jazz) like they were born and bred in Louisiana!
As a musician what’s been the most gratifying part of the experience of this tour?
SD: Connecting with an audience of all ages. Absolutely rare and unique and astoundingly soulful. By the end of the show a five-year-old resides in the same space of a 90-year-old.
Filled with hope and joy! Also getting to know the musicians through repetition of music is a spiritual gift. We must have all know one another in a past life!
KN: Every moment on stage is a gift to me as well as the audience. It is amazing that a group of people who I have never met can make such beautiful magical music instantly.
Can you see this continuing and being an annual event of some sort?
KN: There were talks about bringing it to Europe, and we will also do a Jazz at Lincoln Center show at a later date.
SD: Honestly? Yes.