MARILYN MAYE

© 1996 Mike Metheny


JAM talks with the noted jazz singer about Midwestern roots, the changing music biz... and working with Ella.

Marilyn Maye

JAM: Let's start with a little about your musical beginnings. When was that defining moment you knew you wanted to be a singer?

MM: Actually my mother knew it! She decided! (laughs) She was a pianist and singer herself, and I had a cousin who was a starlet at Universal Pictures; so, when I was born, I'm sure my mother wanted (a career in show business) for me, too. She also loved the singer and musical comedy star, Marilyn Miller -- after whom I was named -- so my fate was decided long before I had anything to do with it! I was singing when I was two and three years old. Later, when I was seven, eight and nine, we entered amateur contests in Kansas; we usually won those. But there was this boy who played trumpet... I was always worried when he was on the bill... he was tough competition! (laughs)

JAM: You were born in Kansas City, right?

MM: No, I was born in Wichita... I'm a Kansas girl! Later we moved to Topeka. In Topeka one of the prizes for those (amateur) contests was a radio show of your own on WIVW. I had one of those for about six months at the age of nine. Then my mother and I moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where I spent my junior and senior high school days.

JAM: If we recall, your early years as a singer were spent here in Kansas City...

MM: Yes. I met a man from Kansas City when I was appearing at the (original) Drum Room; he was a dancer and also my opening act. I married him and we started a dance studio called Jimmy DeFore Studios. All during that time I was working in Kansas City.

JAM: Who were some of the local musicians you admired most back then?

MM: Warren Durrett, of course -- a very dedicated man, and very dedicated to his music. Not only did I work in Warren's big band, but I did a lot of commercials with him. He was a writer and producer of singing commercials -- in those days the radio jingle was very popular -- and we pushed everything from bug killer to banks (laughs). Then there was Sherman Gibson, who we just lost. I loved Sherman; he was just the best lead trumpet man in the whole world. He worked with me in Warren's band, and when I started doing my own concerts years later, he was always my first trumpet man. And then there was Sammy Tucker, whom I married -- one of the genius pianists of our time. It was too bad he didn't know that though... He didn't realize how incredible he was.

JAM: What makes "the Kansas City sound" so special?

MM: "Kansas City jazz" has always been a distinctive kind of music. And the more I travel, and the more I hear other musicians, the more I realize how unique it is.

JAM: In what way?

MM: There is a light, "easy" swing to it... a "swing-happy" jazz feeling. It isn't so "important," so "intense." Everybody has fun with it!

JAM: How has the music business itself changed in the span of your career?

MM: No clubs anymore. And what I mean by that are those clubs throughout the country where you'd travel and work for two weeks. I used to work a lot of hotels that had show rooms and club/dining rooms... places like the Fairmount chain. It was wonderful then because you could go there for two or three weeks, meet a lot of people who were in the audience, and have a different kind of communication with people. These days you do one-night concerts; you're in, you're out.

JAM: At one time you held the record for the most appearances by a female singer on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." How did that association begin and evolve like it did? Johnny must have been a real fan...

MM: He was. Actually it was (bandleader) Skitch Henderson who heard me and took me to the show. That was when the Tonight Show was still in New York and I was appearing at The Living Room -- an example of a room, by the way, where you'd work a four-week engagement, seven nights a week, three shows a night. ...Hello?! (laughs) Everybody asks, "Where did you get your stamina?" and I say "From doing things like that!" Now I do two hours for one night and it's no problem, thanks to all those early days of stamina training!

JAM: Do you still get the chance to work with big bands like the one on Carson's Tonight Show?

MM: Now, more often than not, it's with symphonies. I just did my second concert with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, a real honor for me because only one other singer has been invited back twice, and that was Mel Torme'. The first time (I did it) the orchestra was so hip; they put their instruments down and applauded. They (the musicians) are very into pops; they aren't snobs in any way, shape or form. They love the arrangements by Don Costa and Peter Matz, and it's a real thrill for me to work with them. We also just did our second concert with the Tulsa Symphony, which was great. And I've done a couple of concerts with the Phoenix Pops and Doc Severinsen. So, I'm not just a "trio singer," which is how many people think of me...

JAM: The great songwriters of the past continue to provide material for today's singers. Who are some present-day songwriters whose work you respect?

MM: Cole Porter. George Gershwin (laughs)... They'll always be present day!

JAM: How about present-day singers? Any up and coming talent out there we should know more about?

MM: There are so many who have discovered this "new kind of music" called "jazz" (laughs); which is great. I think our musical world is in better shape now than it's been in a long time.

JAM: Why is that?

MM: I think the lyric has become very important again-- especially because of the fast way in which people are living today. It gives people something to cling to. A good lyric should say something, and, fortunately, the better music today does just that.

JAM: A hunger for some kind of stability in such a chaotic world...

MM: That's right.

JAM: You said an interesting thing a while ago about how young people are "discovering" jazz...

MM: More and more, I have young people in the audience; and they want to talk about (the music). They come backstage to discuss an arrangement... they'll say "You know, I noticed you modulated in such-and-such but you modulated down and everybody else goes up" ...that sort of dissecting that I think kids are really getting into. I also think the overkill of television is enabling everyone, especially young people, to better appreciate live performance.

JAM: What's old is new again...

MM: Yeah! Thank you Peter Allen!

JAM: Scatting has never been a big part of what you do...

MM: Not really; I do it on a few songs.

JAM: Any particular reason for that?

MM: No, I just never really got into it that much. Mel Torme' does it so well; Ella did it beautifully. I've always been much more into the lyric... the sounds, the tonality, the beauty of the note. Still, I'm a jazz singer because I don't ever sing the melody exactly as it is; there's always improvisation in that regard. But, you know, I also think of myself as an entertainer. I'm into my music, and I also want to communicate with the audience, no doubt about it. I've spent many, many years (laughs) being into my music, and I want the audience to be into it too. I don't sing for them, I sing to them. And so if I don't do scat jazz, it's probably because I'm busy trying to convey the lyric and the music to the audience. Improvisation is great fun, but I'm more interested in just singing the song.

JAM: You mentioned Ella Fitzgerald -- arguably the greatest female jazz singer ever -- who just passed away. How did that loss affect you personally?

MM: Ella was a very dear friend and a great supporter of mine. I appreciated her kind words, the things she said many, many times. She once called me "the best white singer around..." (laughs). Someone (once) said (to her), "Who do you listen to?" and she said, "I listen to Carmen (McRae), I listen to Sassy (Sarah Vaughn), and I listen to Marilyn Maye!" We later became really good friends; we worked together on a national singing commercial I used to do for Lincoln-Mercury. I did that for several years, and by the third year they said, OK, now we're gonna have you "host" some guest artists. One of the first was Ella. We stood on opposite sides of the mike and sang... it was so much fun.


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