all that jazz
Award-winning jazz vocalist, composer and lyricist on achieving artistic success and giving back
Words by Richard Rosenthal
Jones’ album Players reached No. 7 on the national jazz chart. (Photo: Oriana von Specht)
Many successful musicians speak of how they knew at an early age they want ed to create music. Kitsap-based international recording and performing artist Eugenie Jones took a different path. Growing up in West Virginia, her mother was lead soprano in the local church choir, so music was always around. Despite that, Jones had no interest in pursuing music herself. She went to college, earned an MBA, moved to Seattle and established a career in marketing. When her mother died in 2008, it triggered a rush of emotion that led her to reexamine the possibility of singing herself.
After extensive practice to hone her craft, Jones released her debut album Black Lace Blue Tears in 2013. That was followed by Come Out Swingin’ in 2015. Both albums received positive reviews from the jazz community, setting the stage for her most ambitious project yet.
This year saw the release of Players, a two-CD album that was four years and four cities in the making. Jones enlisted some of the top players in the jazz world for the project, hence the title. “I didn’t go into it with the intent of [it] being four years,” she explains. “It was just a long process, basically like doing four albums,” including recording sessions with different sets of musicians in Dallas, New York, Chica go and Seattle. “All the steps that you go through in the recording process had to be duplicated four times: the musicians, the charts, the studios, the rehearsals, the recordings, the mixing, all that stuff.”
The release of Players in March 2022 coincided with the return of live music, something musicians and fans had beenlonging for. Jones recalls the exhilaration of returning to the stage after a two-year hiatus at Seattle’s Earshot Jazz Festival. “When I walked out and saw everybody, the first thing out of my mouth was ‘people!’ It was like ‘wow, here we are,’ after so long of not being able to complete that circle of creation, sharing and reflection. Here we are, finally back again.” After receiving numerous positive reviews, Players peaked last May at number 7 on the national Jazz Week Top 50 chart. In June, Jones was accepted as a voting member of the Recording Academy’s Class of 2022—a high honor from the or ganization that runs the Grammy Awards.
Closer to home, Jones is president of the Music Discovery Center in Bremerton, which describes itself as “an emerging Kitsap County resource designed to create space to experience, explore and contribute to the world of music.” Having grown up in a family with limited financial resources, Jones says her mother wanted to give her and her siblings piano lessons, but the cost was too great. “What path had my life taken had I been able to take piano lessons when I was nine years old?” Jones ponders. “I don’t want any child to not have an opportunity to pursue music due to the cost.”
The organization recently did an in strument drive, which Jones says is a first step to connect with children who want to learn to play. She also says it’s not just children who will benefit from MDC’s activi ties, but also the community. “There aren’t a lot of ways for artists to connect with one another in our area. Where would you go if you want to jam with another musician, or collaborate on a project? MDC is de signed as a hub for artists, an opportunity for us to present music to the community.”
Jones is pragmatic about her own career. Vocal jazz has always been a small niche within a niche in the music business. “How do you make a million dollars in jazz? You start with $1.5 million and work down,” she laughs. So money obviously isn’t her main motivation. “I think music has a way of centering us and changing our perspectives. Sometimes I go to gigs and I’m not in a good place... and then I get on stage and it’s very cathartic and releasing. Those have been some of the better performances of my life, when I use my music to be a pathway for something better.”
Catch Jones in concert on Oct. 15, 7 p.m. at the Within/Earshot Jazz Festival at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
Photos: Oriana von Specht