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New Music
Listen: Lauren Henderson explores how jazz bridges cultures on 'Sonidos'
This is an exclusive song premiere, part of WBUR's effort to highlight New England musicians.
When jazz singer and composer Lauren Henderson was growing up in Marblehead, she would spend hours going through her father’s collection of records by Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan. Her mother, meanwhile, encouraged her to learn Latin dancing, listen to Celia Cruz and early Marc Anthony recordings, and to discover her Panamanian heritage. Such cultural enrichment helped her navigate a world of North Shore schools that she says were “not particularly diverse.”
Today, Henderson is a prolific and highly accomplished international touring and recording artist who blends these experiences into a sound that is both uniquely personal and, thanks to her rich and soulful vocals, universally appealing.
“Sonidos,” the title track of her upcoming bilingual album out this Friday, Aug. 1, translates to “sounds.” This sonic exploration finds Hendeson singing in Spanish lyrics that speak of a desire to “break the chain … Let the sound/ Inspire the passion.”
“This whole record carries a common theme that I’m trying to weave through my music. A lot of it is about self-reflection and self-discovery, and our own personal evolution,” said Henderson from her current home in the New York area. “For me, a lot of that is delving deeper into the blend of cultures that influenced me.”
The first sounds heard on “Sonidos” are the percussion of drummer Joe Dyson, who is soon joined by fellow all-stars vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Sullivan Fortner and bassist Dezron Douglas. Midway through the track, each musician is briefly featured with concise soloing that lets them speak their own musical voice without derailing the flow of the song.
“Joe Dyson really set the tone and pace for the musical journey,” Henderson said. “I would talk to him about what each piece is about and the cultural influence of each track. He pulled together rhythmically a lot of the cultural blends that you hear in the music.”
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The New Orleans-bred Fortner also brought his own influences into the mix. “New Orleans culture is so diverse, a blend of so many beautiful cultures. He’s bringing that in, particularly gospel music,” she added. “It all helps to paint the story of the African diaspora and its different connections. We like to say that ‘We all got off on different bus stops along the way.’”
Henderson’s translated lyrics caution that “The pain of others will not stop/ Any progress toward freedom.” But if the words have a revolutionary tinge to them, the music itself is calm and reflective.
The singer said she asks herself whether “Even in adversity, is it helpful if I scream and freak out, or if I can just calm down and say things clearly and with love and with kindness?”
Part of that approach, Henderson noted, is “coming from a place of honesty and transparency and love. But it’s also protecting my own energy, because I've definitely had time periods where I am emoting in a different way, and I want to find a way to hold on to what little bit of peace I can, while I'm still addressing topics and situations that are important to me and hopefully important to others.”
As she starts to incorporate the song into her live set, Henderson said she’ll be singing both the English and Spanish lyrics onstage. Her next area show is at Jimmy’s in Portsmouth on Dec. 3. And if Henderson gets to stop by her parents on her way there, she’s going to dive right back into that record collection. “Whenever I’m there, I see if there’s something I want to revisit.”
