Maryel Epps

Maryel Epps is an internationally acclaimed jazz singer and songwriter whose expressive vocal styling and dynamic stage presence have captivated audiences. Maryel has performed with Bob Dylan, Chaka Khan, David Bowie, and Dizzy Gillespie, as well as appearing in Spike Lee and Oliver Stone films as an actress.

An interview with Maryel:

Beginnings?

A song called "I Love You Truly" and people used to use it for weddings. It was the first song I sang, in a Tom Thumb wedding when I was five. They wanted me to be the bride but I wanted to be the singer. That's how I remember it. Other artists I liked at a young age were Aretha Franklin and Mahalia Jackson.

I learned songs at home, school and then church. My uncle could sing, and my grandfather, mother and father. My grandfather had a quartet of spiritual music, historic Negro spirituals, he was in a group.

First musician you performed with?

Dr. Billy Taylor, one of the great classical jazz pianists. At Virginia State University--he's an alumni. I saw him in concert there and went to one of his workshops. At the workshop, I was selected to sing with him and later performed with him.

When did you see yourself as a jazz singer?

I was studying classical music, and then I auditioned for my college jazz band. When I made the band as the lead female vocalist, that's when I saw myself being able to be a jazz singer. I was about 17.

Singers that influence you?

Singers that influence me most are Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Ross, Phyllis Hyman, and Chaka Khan. Billie Holiday because she was so soulful, she had a female swagger. I like that about Billie Holiday. Ella Fitzgerald--I love the way she scats, she was smooth scatting. Diana I love for her stage persona and clothes. Phyllis was beautiful and statuesque and could sing. People used to say I sang like her, they still do, that we sound similar. Chaka--she could just sing, she sang all my favorite songs as a teenager.

My current favorites are Alicia Keys and Monica. Alicia, she's from New York City and she plays piano and sings--I wish I had stuck to piano. All young women singers do learn an accompanying instrument, got to learn an instrument, piano or guitar. Monica--she's very soulful.

I like Chrisette Michele, she has one of the prettiest voices and she has jazz overtones although she's R&B, she has major jazz influence. And of course Janet Jackson and Beyonce, for their great stage shows. Jill Scott is a favorite for her spoken word and improv. I'm very similar, I am her, she is me, she is the famous me.

I got my gospel people, Yolanda Adams, Vickie Winans. Having studied classical music I also love Jessye Norman for her rich, operatic styling. I love the country and western sounds of Patsy Cline, Loretta and Dolly Parton because she's a great writer. I love me some Reba.

How has your music changed over time?

I thought I was going to be a classical operatic diva and then I made the audition with my college jazz band. Jazz is easier, it's more fun, I was the only woman with all men in the band. It was tons of fun being with all those male musicians, being the only girl with a bunch of cool guy musicians. Then I graduated from college, did local shows all around the Chesapeake Bay area, and then New York doing some R&B gigs.

New York is where I got into my gospel. On one of my jazzy R&B gigs, I was asked to sing "Amazing Grace" and the owner of the venue heard me, and it was there that we created the gospel brunch at Lola Restaurant in Manhattan. After that my brunches became very famous with special guests like Lee Iacocca, Dustin Hoffman, Freddie Jackson, Sting, Barry Manilow, Melissa Morgan, and Jennifer Holliday.

How would you describe your music?

Soulful, sexy and inspired. Soulfully sexy and inspiringly soulfully sexy. Fun-loving. Soulfully jazzy, inspirationally sexy. Sexy, soulful yet inspiring.

Current projects and performances?

I recently did a movie, a short; in the Diana Williams film Tracks.  I was received very well as an actress. I would like to do more of that, and even be in television shows. I perform frequently at the Van Dyke, jazz and inspirational, first Wednesdays of each month. And I'm a singer with the Unity Churches, the Unity Center of Miami and Unity on the Bay.