1.  Growing up what was your initial introduction to music?

 

Growing up my mother and father were both musical.  My father's dad sang in the German Singing Society and before the war they were broadcasting on the Chicago radio stations.  My paternal grandmother and grandfather and their siblings were from Germany and performed in light opera.  My Grandpa had a beautiful baritone/tenor voice and my brother Glenn inherited that voice as did my nephew John.

 

My folk were great dancers and followed all the big bands around Chicago.  Dad knew every band leader and would play his records on Sunday afternoons while he danced with the kids.  We learned to love those sounds at an early age.  Mom played the piano and until she died could still sit down and play “Stairway to the Stars”.  Our Irish relatives were all great singers as well and my cousin Kay would always be the designated singer at family parties. Music was just a major influence in my life and always there.  I also played piano. I wanted to play so that I could be in the Mrs. Lambright's recital, she was someone that put on a major show with singers and piano students.  My mother said yes to piano lessons and no to singing lessons.   What did we know?  I also sang in church and school choirs up until college.

 

 

 

2.  Was there a certain experience or person who influenced you to start singing rather than playing an instrument? 

 

I always liked to sing.  My girlfriend and I would sing songs on the front porch and at the park on the swings.  In college my brother Gary started to play guitar and I would always hang around so that I could sing with him much to his chagrin.  He was and is a good musician and loves the blues and folk genres of music.  We had a lot of fun at family picnics with the guitars, friends, and my dad would

play brushes on the wash bucket.  Fun times........No one ever said “Gayle you should sing” or “you are really good”, I guess my folks wanted me to pursue other things.  They would say “Be a secretary, a teacher or a nurse” well I tried the first two but finally I walked into a piano bar in California with a girlfriend who sang folk music and they handed me the mic and I sang “My Funny Valentine”.  That was it! The musician I sat in with was Mel Norfleet who played piano, B3 organ and sang.  I never heard anyone play jazz on the organ and loved his style and performance.  He invited me to come back the next week and sing more tunes and before I knew it I was meeting musicians, singing jazz, and finding out a whole other side of myself I didn't know existed.  I do believe in fate.

 

 

 

3.  Did you go to school for music or were there other experiences that helped you start your career?

 

From there I started going around to jazz clubs and listening to some of the greats such as Lorez Alexandria, Nancy Wilson, Ray Brown and others.  It was so exciting.  I worked two jobs, secretary by day and singer by night.   When the alarm went off I was so tired I didn't know which gig was which.  Finally I gave up the day job and went into singing full time. I ended up moving to a beachside apartment in Playa Del Rey and bought an orange Chevy Vega.  Life was good and it lasted quite some time. Mel Norfleet continued to be an influence in my musical career.  He and I didn't work together but I could always rely on him for musical advice and he always seemed to steer me in the right direction.

 

I started working steadily with a show group at the Hyatt Hotel.  We were there six nights a week for a couple of years and it was fun however rock and roll was never my thing. I would always try to include some jazz tunes when I would be featured.  It worked because I balanced out the band.  We had good musicians in the group but in order to work it was hard to do the jazz thing and I was afraid of not paying the rent.  I also had the opportunity to sing at the Bel Air Hotel, what a place. It was always filled with movie stars and legends. I remember working with June Christy's pianist but I can’t remember his name.

 

 

4.  Tell us about your time in LA, is that where you decided you could make performance a career and if so why?

 

Los Angeles was a tough place to start in the music business because it seemed like everyone who was somebody was already there.  I did see many different artists perform and I had the chance to work with various musicians which helped me to learn the ins and outs of the music business quickly.  I learned a lot in a short amount of time by being in LA during that time. Vocalist Lorez Alexandria was one of my favorite people to see perform when I was in LA.  When she sang not only was her voice incredible but her phrasing and emotions were all right there.   She was a great influence on me.