Artist Interview by: H. Allen Williams
February 2005 - Carol Duboc’s first two independent releases, “With All That I Am” (2001) and Duboc (2003) established her as a major presence on the contemporary jazz scene, receiving constant airplay at smoothjazz.com and Satellite Radio XM, along with high praise from top critics like the Los Angeles Times’ Don Heckman, who hailed her unmistakably seductive vocal style as having “the strength and originality to quickly move her to the top level of jazz vocalist.” Duboc is now expanding her career to the Big Screen as the cast member “Pumpkin” in MGM’s “Be Cool” starring, John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Danny Devito.
Carol talks with JazzReview about her life, music and her new CD.
JazzReview: Tell us about your upbringing in Kansas City and the kinds of feelings, sounds, and sights you experienced at home.
Carol Duboc: Well, I was the youngest of five kids and everybody was very musical. My brothers sang and we all played piano. We had three pianos in the house, and my dad was a pianist and a drummer. My mom loved classical music because her father was an opera singer. So there was a lot of music in my house. And I being five and twelve years younger was exposed to every thing from Chopin, Al Green, to Stevie Wonder and I was just taking all that music in. My Dad loved jazz, like Lionel Hampton records. So there was just so much music in my house and of course Kansas City, where I grew up, is just a jazz town. There was just music everywhere!
JazzReview: Did you participate in the music scene?
Carol Duboc: Well fist of all I did a lot of musicals, played piano, and I also played saxophone for a while. But as I developed I end up playing keyboards in a band and doubling, believe or not, on bass, just for a brief moment, I didn’t become an aficionado on it or anything, but I could hit the bottom notes.
JazzReview: Discuss your experience and development at U.S.C’s school of music?
Carol Duboc: Well I brought half my band out here with me. I studied music and I guess grew beyond that a little bit and ended up working with some people that use to work for Motown and Michael Jackson. I developed an R&B thing, since Stevie Wonder has always been one of my favorites. So I was going to USC studying classical music, opera and composition and at the same time working with Motown producers and artists like Gerald Albright.
JazzReview: That’s a good combination.
Carol Duboc: I like it and I guess that’s how I ended up doing jazz, because you can combine them all. Well, contemporary jazz or what ever. I like sophistication, but I also like funky soulful music. So I’m always trying to combine the two somehow.
JazzReview: How did you become involved in writing, producing, singing, and engineering?
Carol Duboc: As I was working with this producer I started coming home and practicing the songs I was doing and ended up putting a studio in my house. And I started engineering my own stuff and so I just kind of developed into this engineer, writer and singer. I would write because I wanted a record deal and I couldn’t find songs I liked.
JazzReview: How did you become involved in writing and arranging for artist such as Patti LaBelle, Tom Jones, Jade and other various well known artists?
Carol Duboc: People liked my writing and because it was soulful music and I, being blonde haired and blue eyed, they weren’t quite sure what to do with me so I ended up working with Teddy Riley who was really hot in the mid nineties. Which lead to writing for Patti LaBelle, Tom Jones, Chante Moore, Jade and a bunch of R&B acts.
JazzReview: How did you start developing your own projects?
Carol Duboc: Well I had enough of programming the drum machines and all that stuff and I wanted to experience recording with live musicians. So, I went to the Al Jarreau taping of “Tenderness” and really enjoyed the creativity and the fact that he was an instrument. I’ve always liked writing for instruments, but I’m also a singer, so I liked the combination of being an instrument and creating melodies. I ended up meeting Joe Sample there and started writing with him. Marcus Miller was producing the album. While working with them I decided that’s what I wanted to do. So I put a trio together and started doing clubs.
JazzReview: Tell us about your first two releases?
Carol Duboc: I write melodies quickly, which is what I did for Teddy, so I just decided on my first album to improvise and whatever came out is what the song was. The second album I did a little bit safer and did some songs I had written from back when I was on Elektra.
JazzReview: Carol, I hear you have a new release called “All of You” due to hit the shelves on February 22, 2005. Can you tell us about it?
Carol Duboc: On this third album I went back to my original idea, which is approaching R&B as a jazz singer. And taking a trio of jazz musicians and doing melodic soulful songs.
JazzReview: Your first two albums where primarily your original compositions, but with “All of You”, I noticed your doing a combination of originals and highly recognizable covers.
Carol Duboc: I know people like to hear material they are familiar with, so I decided to try and do some cover tunes and see what would happen. I ended up cutting sixteen of them. The Beatles, The Police and things like that. I even did a Prince tune, but it didn’t end up on the album. In some ways covers are harder than writing your own material, because you have to make it your own, enjoy it and some how make it as good as the original, but yet still your own thing. It was a good experience and I’m glad I did it.
JazzReview: Tell us a little about your band and why you choose to tour and record with them.
Carol Duboc: Because each of the players are unique and I believe made to play their instruments. They are artists in their own right. Darrell Crooks is on guitar; this is what this man was meant to do. Tim Carmon is just a genius on the keyboard. Land Richards, as Patrick Moten (who did all the Anita Baker stuff and was one of my mentors) said “Land was born with sticks in his hands.” Tony Dumas (Upright bass), which I only used on one track, but I’ve always loved his playing. John Lefwich is also on Upright bass.
JazzReview: How much touring do you do as a band?
Carol Duboc: I would like to do more, people really like us live!
JazzReview: What are some of the feelings and events that inspired you to write the originals on “All of You”?
Carol Duboc: Lyrically I do tend to draw from my life experiences and on the tracks “I Underestimated You”, “Empty” and “Drowning”, I had fallen in love with somebody who I just thought was going to be it for me, but it ended up not working out. So I just got on the microphone and improvised and just let the tape roll. Every thing just came to me, the lyrics and melody. The song All of You was inspired by someone new in my life and our very spiritual meeting. I’ve never written anything that I didn’t believe in, even when writing for other people.
JazzReview: What is your favorite track on “All of You”?
Carol Duboc: “I Underestimated You” and “All of You” it’s between the two of those.
JazzReview: What are the qualities that make a song great?
Carol Duboc: For me it’s the melody, emotion, musicality and believability.
JazzReview: How would you describe your voice to someone that has never heard you before?
Carol Duboc: I am a soprano but on this album it’s smokier, lower, sensuous and hopefully emotional.
JazzReview: Can you briefly describe how you want your music to influence people?
Carol Duboc: On this album I hope that people can just put it on and enjoy it, hopefully in a romantic setting. I am always trying to take the music I grew up with and improvise on it as a jazz musician. By combing these various styles (R&B and Jazz), I hope to reach a wide group of people with my brand of soulful music.
JazzReview: Do you believe there is a connection between music and spirituality?
Carol Duboc: Oh yes, I believe everything I do comes from God. Any gift I have any talent is from God. I am a devout Christian.
JazzReview: You have recently expanded your talents to the big screen. Can you tell us about your film debut in “Be Cool”, which is to be released on March 4th of this year?
Carol Duboc: It was really fun. I play a character called Pumpkin, I’ve never auditioned for a movie before, but I got the call to learn the song “Lady Marmalade” and in two hours I was auditioning. They had been looking to fill the part for quite a while, but could not find what they wanted. I guess I fit the part and I got it. In the movie, I’m in a group called Chicks International and John Travolta goes into the music business. Uma Thurmons’ husband owned a record company and he died, so she takes over the company. John Travolta works with the group; it was a lot of fun. “The Rock” is our gay bodyguard. I’m the one in the group who has “been there done that”. I can sing and dance. We dance and sing in these hot little outfits and just have fun. I have never done a choreographed number so that was fun. The Rock is singing “You Ain’t Woman enough to take My Man” and we sing it with him. I do jazz and R&B licks but the song is country. The director thought that was hysterical! “It should be on the sound track”. I was just in heaven. The first time I did a scene with Travolta I felt like I was watching a movie. I enjoyed it so much I would like to do it again.
JazzReview: What is next for Carol Duboc?
Carol Duboc: I want to tour this album, then set up my studio and record an album where I do everything. I actually started off that way, but I haven’t done that approach in a long time. I want to see what I will come up with. I also would like to start composing for films.
Carol is surely one to watch on the smooth jazz scene. Be sure to visit her web site at carolduboc.com and check her out on the big screen in the feature film “Be Cool”.
For more information: http://www.carolduboc.com/
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