Interview with Opera Star Joy Tamayo, Inside Story at Jeeni

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Interview with Opera Star Joy Tamayo, Inside Story at Jeeni

Kate Stewart’s Inside Story interview with the great opera soprano Joy Tamayo, star of Spring Street, global premiere on Jeeni.com

Spring Street is an opera that was created by one of Jeeni’s biggest supporters Pete Wyer. How did he approach you to take part?

With Pete we worked together back in 2019 for the Twilight Chorus, we performed this at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. But we weren’t actually introduced then. In 2020 January I wrote him an email, inviting him to an opera that I wrote which we turned into a film. He wrote me back and said “WOW! You guys are making something”, and so we started talking about projects and he sent me a song and he said, “a soprano is doing this, what do you think of it?” And that just started the ball rolling so to speak for this project.

What did you think of the project once Pete described it to you?

His music really excited me; the Twilight Chorus resonated with me well. And with this project when I first looked at the music, I thought it was beautiful that he found a way to commemorate his friends. This is something I love doing as well with my group, it’s storytelling and its wonderful music. So I immediately said yes, before he started giving me the music. And without even knowing the rest of the performers.

You have been performing since around the age of three, what made you choose opera over other genres of music?

I don’t think I chose opera, at three I was mostly singing with my dad, my parents really inculcated this love for music at such a young age. And I remember my dad would play the guitar and I would sing with him. So, this love for singing in particular I think brought me to the realisation that I love to do music. I got into the Philippines high school for the arts when I was 12 and it was just a normal progression from a love for music and focusing on opera. Because that was the type of music that the school was also teaching.

In retrospect, I love other types of singing as well. And the pandemic has allowed me to explore other types of music. Also realising that you can just sing in your living room and have a setup, your microphone, your preamp and file-sharing as we did with Pete’s work, it was all online. So back to the question, I didn’t choose opera, I just thought music was wonderful. And I had an easy time expressing myself through music and opera. And now I’m exploring with singing and not really minding the boundaries and structures. I really love the discipline and rigour that comes with opera singing. So I still bring that with me even with other types of music that I’m exploring right now.

You haven’t actually been able to meet many of the other cast members in person yet. So has it been strange working on a brand-new opera in a global pandemic?

Yes, to say the least, New York being silent, for fourteen months or so, it’s been odd. I met Heday one of the performers this year, we did a video. But I was just going around with them, I didn’t have a big part in the video. But I was able to say Hi to Maren and Heday. It’s been strange but you make the best of the situation and it’s been really exciting and fun.

So, Spring Street is based in Manhattan and you’re based in Brooklyn but as you said you are originally from the Philippines. So how did that relocation come about?

I got a scholarship at Crane School of Music, in upstate New York and so followed the American dream and moved here. It’s been a wild ride! For us in the Philippines your always thinking of the next step and for me being offered a scholarship, exploring another country, and also making sure that I do my best at the particular genre that I was exploring at that time, which was opera, it felt like the best move for me at that point. So, I moved to upstate New York and then I ended up here in Brooklyn and it's where I’ve been since 2014.

So, Joy as well as being an amazing singer your also an actress and I’ve seen clips of the opera and your facial expressions in Spring Street are well, full of Joy I guess. It looks like you had a lot of fun with it, did you enjoy taking part?

Yes, that was super fun! I remember it was around probably the end of winter when we shot some of the videos, and as you can imagine we were stuck at home for the longest time. So to be able to go outside and shoot some videos, was really fun. And to leave the living room, you know most of the videos were shot in the living room. And I remember I would send some videos to Pete, and he would say “you know what we could use this for this part” just like a collaboration back and forth.

Your performance in spring street is going to be streamed worldwide on Jeeni.com in a couple of months too, a far bigger audience that could fit in an opera house. How do you feel about that?

It’s hard to wrap my head around that, I haven't really contemplated the meaning of that big of a project. Now everything is online, a cat video can have millions of views, more than for example the Mets latest opera. But it’s certainly exciting. With this pandemic it seems like all of us are doing things; making art, making music, building communities in the living room, so it’s about file sharing, “oh watch this” or “have you seen my latest video”. There’s so much stuff online so I’m very excited about doing a similar thing.

To finish today, Joy you’re a soprano which means that you have the highest vocal range of all of the vocal types. So I don’t suppose you could give us a little tiny demonstration?

Although it is early morning in New York, so she hasn’t had the chance to warm up Joy complies happily. “No pressure” she laughs and proceeds to demonstrate her amazing vocal skills.

You can watch the Inside Story Interview with Joy Tamayo by clicking here: Joy Tamayo Inside Story

Spring Street Opera

Joy Tamayo will be performing in the exclusive world première of Spring Street and the full performance can be watched Saturday 24th July 2021 on https://jeeni.com/springstreet/

Inspired by life on Spring Street, Manhattan – setting the poetry of Steve Dalachinsky and Yuko Otomo to music by Pete Wyer – wildly eclectic like the street itself.

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17
Dec

Weekly Round-Up # 6

The latest news on all things Jeeni, music and entertainment. BRITs Rising Star Award, 2022 Announced: Last time on Weekly Round-Up, we spoke about the three female stars nominated for the ‘2022 Rising Star’. Lola Young, Bree Runway and Holly Humberstone were all up for the chance to earn the prestigious honour. Last Thursday, much to her disbelief, 2019 ‘BRIT Rising Star’ winner, Sam Fender personally handed Holly Humberstone her well-deserved trophy during a recording session together. Humberstone couldn’t quite believe her achievement at first and had to be reassured several times by Fender, “That is yours, that is definitely yours, you’ve won it!” he clarified. Holly was still looking around to the surrounding BRITs crew, caught off-guard, “There’s loads of cameras on me, how am I supposed to react?” she laughed. “It just doesn’t feel real. This year has been a wild ride and a year of firsts, and I am so grateful and thankful for everyone who has helped make this happen!” Holly is also the first confirmed performer for the 2022 BRITs awards, taking place at the O2 Arena on Tuesday, the 8th of February. Rising Cases of the Omicron Cases not Currently Risking Future Plans for Live Music: An overshadowing feeling has been hovering over the heads of live music fans lately, which feels all too alike to the same sensation from mid 2020 when our light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel plans were slowly but surely getting postponed one-by-one. Everyone however, not just music fans are keeping their ears to the ground for any information about the newest variant of concern, Omicron. One or two gigs have been cancelled recently so if you're an artist, make sure you check that your gig can still go ahead and for music fans, keep your ears open for news around gigs you're going to. Some good news; The UK’s, Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid said that “A record 548,039 booster vaccines were administered yesterday as we ramp up our vaccination programme and bolster our defences against the virus.” (Referring to Tuesday, the 14th). However, in the US, experts predict a ‘perfect storm’ this Winter as Omicron, Delta and seasonal flu will create a pandemic trifecta that will overwhelm hospitals. Details are currently unconfirmed about the transmissibility, and severity of symptoms from the Omicron virus and so many are still holding their breath for their future plans such as gigs, festivals and holidays. So far, they are largely untouched, it’s just difficult to say for how long. Top Albums of the Year Lists Released: Each year, every major music publication curates their own summary of the past year of music with a carefully positioned list of the ‘best albums’ the year had to offer. December tends to be a good time to release such lists as this is when releases tend to dry up, slow down and recharge for the new year. In the world of hip-hop, Grisleda’s Mach-Hommy appeared on lists like CRACK, Esquire, Pitchfork, Paste and Fader for his gritty, truth-telling record, ‘Pray For Haiti’. Tyler, The Creator featured on much of the same lists for his 'IGOR' follow-up ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’ as well as hitting number 4 on Rolling Stone’s list. Madlib’s Four Tet-arranged record, ‘Sound Ancestors’ also made a splash on the lists considering its nature as a hip-hop instrumental album. Perhaps unfairly but not surprisingly, Kanye’s ‘Donda’ was certainly a rare occurrence on the lists. ‘Promises’, the mesmerising collaboration with Floating Points and John Coltrane partner, Pharoah Sanders justifyably made a lasting impression with the majority of publications for its ground-breaking achievements in structuring, genre-blurring and pure emotion provoking. Reaching number 1 on Paste and 4 on Pitchfork, the time-altering project certainly got the respect it deserved. Jazmine Sullivan’s ‘Heaux Tales’ made a massive impression on publications, finding its way on the top ten list of Rolling Stone and Fader and becoming the champion top spot of Pitchfork and Vulture’s lists. The album was an RnB empowerment for women, everywhere and resonated with many a music critic this year. These lists often conjoin to form very similar and topical elections for the best of what the year had to offer, however, the lists are such a great tool to pan for gold and find those precious, hidden gems that make their way on the lists. This year, amongst the gems hid albums like ‘Daddy’s Home’ by St. Vincent, Squid’s ‘Bright Green Field’ and ‘Cavalcade’ by black midi, however many more obscure features on these lists are still waiting to be explored fully. Jeeni News: New Artists Join Jeeni’s Mission: This week, we introduced three new, exciting artists; Lennox Campbell (aka Biggz Manifest), Giack Bazz and Khole Baldeo. We can’t wait to see what they do next and what we can do for their blossoming careers! New blogs on Jeeni’s newest artists: Earlier this week, we featured four new Jeeni artists as a part of our Artist Focus blog series; the South-coast soulstress, Amba Tremain, pop-funk trio, Barbudo, indie experimentalist, Giack Bazz and Portsmouth rapper, Baby Panna. We also released reviews of Amba Tremain’s ‘Baby You’re Gold’ single, Giack Bazz’s ‘Childhood Dream’ album and DarkStarGraver’s ‘Gohan’ single. Check out the showcases of these excellent artists: DarkStarGraver: https://jeeni.com/showcase/darkstargraver Giack Bazz: https://jeeni.com/showcase/giack-bazz Lennox Campbell: https://jeeni.com/?s=lennox+campbell Amba Tremain: https://jeeni.com/showcase/amba-tremain Barbudo: https://jeeni.com/showcase/barbudo Baby Panna: https://jeeni.com/showcase/baby-panna Khole Baldeo: https://jeeni.com/?s=khole+baldeo

05
Apr

Barrington Levy performing with 16 global acts. JAM Festival 10 April 2021.

One of the great success stories of the 80’s, arrived on the dancehall scene and swiftly remodelled it in his own image. Although numerous DJ’s and vocalist would rise and fall during this decade, Levy was one of the few with staying power, and he continued releasing massive hits well into the 90’s. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, as a youngster, Barrington Levy formed the Mighty Multitude with his cousin Everton Dacres. They started off playing the sound systems and cut their first single, “My Black Girl,” in 1977. All of 14, Levy broke out his own the next year and recorded his debut solo single, A Long Time Since We Don’t Have No Love.” It didn’t have much of an impact, however, the teen’s appearances in the dancehalls were eagerly awaited events. It was at one of these that Levy met former singer turned producer Junjo Lawes and New York-based producer Hyman “Jah Life” Wright. The pair took the youth into King Tubby’s studio, accompanied by the Roots Radics, and recorded a clutch of cuts. The first fruits of this union were “Ah Yah We Deh,” quickly followed by “Looking My Love”, and “ Wedding Ring Aside.” Success was immediate, but it was the mighty “Collie Weed” that really cemented the teen’s hold of dancehall.“Shine Eye Girl”, was a smash follow up, and the young Levy was now in great demand. A stream of singles followed “Jumpy Girl”, a lovely version of Horace Andy’s “Skylarking”, “Reggae Music”, Levy joined forces with producer Alvin Ranglin for another sting of hits—“Never Tear My Love Apart,” “Jah”, “You Made Me So Happy,” and “When You’re Young and in Love.”Levy’s rich vocals were made for duets, both with other vocalists and DJ’s, and it wasn’t long before the young star was also recording collaborative singles. Toyan was a great foil on “Call You on the Phone”, he paired with Jah Thomas on “Moonlight Lover” and “Sister Debby”, and joined forces with Trinity for “Lose Respect” and a follow-up, “I Need a Girl” in 1980. That same year, Levy made a sensational appearance at Reggae Sunsplash, then returned in 1981. During these early years, the singer seemingly spent all of his time between the recording studios and the dancehalls. Amidst the deluge of singles, four albums arrived as well between 1979 and 1980. First up was Bounty Hunter, which boasted three smash singles—“Reggae Music”, “Shine Eye Girl”, and “Looking My Love” –and a clutch of other tracks that were just about as good. In Britain, the Burning Sounds label released Shine Eye Gal, also a hits heavy package which included the title track-track, “Collie Weed”, and “Ah Yah We Deh.” It was swiftly followed by the mighty Englishman, an absolutely fabulous record which was overseen by the unbeatable studio grouping of Junjo Lawes and two of King Tubby’s protégés—Scientist and Prince Jammy. A veteran of the clubs, he brought the spontaneity of the DJ to his records while returning vocals back to the sound system scene which had been purely the realm of the Djs.Utilizing old roots rhythms revitalized by the Radics, and giving the songs a hard, but danceable edge, Lawes and Levy together helped establish a whole new dancehall sound.1980’s Robin Hood merely affirmed that everyone in Jamaica already knew: That Levy was now the biggest star on the island, with a talent that was unbeatable. Or more accurately, he was king of the singers, because ruling beside him was DJ Yellowman, another Lawes’ discovery, that was brought to him by Barrington Levy. Robin Hood was as big as its predecessor and was beginning to have an impact in Britain as well, where both it and Englishman had been released by the Greensleeves label. Not surprisingly, both albums heavy rhythms would provide the building blocks for the Scientist V Prince Jammy dub clash album. Unfortunately, Levy’s very popularity was now beginning to have some serious drawbacks. Even before stardom arrived, the singer had noticed with delight fans taping his sets at the dancehalls, and these tapes were coming back to haunt him. Suddenly, the shelves were buckling under the weight of the bootlegged albums, featuring not just older pirated live material, but also unreleased outtakes and recycled older singles. In response, Levy didn’t release a new album for two years, but in the meantime, new singles more than made up for it. From 1980 came such hits as the haunting Lawes-produced “Mary Long Tongue” producer Linval Thompson’s “Too Poor,” and a string if hits cut with Karl Pitterson, including “ I Have a Problem” and “Even Tide Fire a Disaster”. And as the decade progressed, the flood hits continued. “I’m Not in Love”, “You Have It”, “Tomorrow Is Another Day”, “Robberman”, “BlackRose” “My Women”, and “Money Move” were just a small number of the hits released between 1981 and 1983, with the latter song the biggest smash of the batch. Levy even tried his hand at self-production, recording such excellent songs as “In the Dark” and “Love of Jah.” Amongst there were fabulous singles recorded for Joe Gibbs, “My Women” included.1983 finally saw the release of Levy album “Money Move”. The latter was excellently overseen by George Phang and boasted a stupendous group of rhythms that Sly & Robbie had specifically made for the producer. In the U.K, the burning sounds label also released Hunter Man, a greatest-hits collection. But the hits were still coming on strong; in 1984 none were bigger than Levy and Jah Screw produced “Under Mi Sensi.” The pair would also record a new album that year, Here I Come, whose title track would the top 50 in the U.K The album itself took Britain by storm and ensured that Levy walked away with the Best Vocalist Award at Britain’s Reggae Awards. It was also these songs that secured his spot in the Guinness Book of World Records, as the first reggae artist to hold both 1st and 2nd place slots in the charts. The same year, the singer also joined forces with another young singer who was tearing up the dance floors, Frankie Paul, for the intriguing sound clash set Barrington Levy meets Frankie Paul. 1985 brought Prison Oval Rock (the Volcano Jamaican label release, and not to be confused with the RAS label’s U.S. compilation of the same title), which found the singer joining forces with Lawes again, for another roots-fired set equal to its predecessors. It had been six years since Levy burst onto the scene with all the force of a nuclear weapon. Now in his early twenties, the singer’s output significantly began to slow. He did return to Reggae Sunsplash in 1987 and would remain a top attraction at the festival until 1985. He also released “Love the Life you Live” in 1988, a rather patchy effort compared to previous releases. It was to be his last new album until 1991. But Levy wasn’t a spent force yet. Before the ’80s were over, he scored two more hits with “My Time” and “Too Experience”, both under the aegis of producer Jah Screw, and both covers of songs written by Bob Andy (ex-Paragons and also of Bob & Marcia fame).Signing with MCA in the U.S., Levy attempted to cross over into the North American market with 1983’s Barrington. Produced by Lee Jaffe, the album featured a re-recorded “Under Mi Sensi”, and boasted strong songs as “Murderer” and “Vice Versa Love” and “Be Strong”, a major hit in the Caribbean and South America. However, the relationship with MCA was not a happy one and Levy quickly departed. Meanwhile, back in Britain, the singer was chalking up another hit with “Work”. In 1994, Levy was joined by Beenie man on the singles “Two Sounds” and “Murderer”. Both soon reappeared as fiery jungles remixes. Barrington will also be performing in the JAM Festival, which is a collaboration between Jeeni, AmplifyX and MultiView Media and will be held at 12 noon Los Angeles time, 8 pm London time on Saturday, April 10th 2021. To find out more about the JAM Festival check out our events on Facebook. https://fb.me/e/1etPauFMV

12
Mar

Crunch Time for Festivals

January 2021 is going to be crunch time for festivals. In this still, uncertain time, the organisers of the UK's biggest events remain on a knife edge about festivals being able to go-ahead. Michael Eavis has pinned his hopes on mass vaccination of the country, so Glastonbury can still happen this year. He received his jab, just before new year. Whilst Emily Eavis has been countering claims their festival has already been cancelled and confirming tickets will be rolled over to 2022. Micheal Eavis at Glastonbury - Photo: Getty UK Music have shared a new report, Let the Music Play: Save Our Summer 2021, outlining their recommendations for how to restart the UK’s live music industry. As MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee open their inquiry into ‘The future of UK music festivals’ today (January 5), UK Music – whose CEO Jamie Njoku-Goodwin is among those set to give evidence to the inquiry stating the document “outlines a clear strategy to protect and support the multi-billion pound live music industry so it is ready to restart when safe to do so later this year”. Read the report below: https://www.ukmusic.org/assets/general/Let_The_Music_Play_Save_Our_Summer_2021.pdf “The music industry has worked hard to make event spaces as safe as they can possibly be,” UK Music said in a statement accompanying the new report. “This includes launching testing pilots to be able to hold mass events safely, working with government to develop guidance for how to hold events safely, and looking at new ventilation and air purification systems that would dramatically reduce the risk of transmission. “But there is no certainty about when the industry will be allowed to hold mass events once again.” The report warns that the lack of coronavirus cancellation insurance is “the biggest barrier to major events happening in 2021”, and calls on the UK Government to implement an insurance scheme as it has done for the film and TV sector. Key action points in the report are, “an indicative date for a full capacity restart” for venues and festivals, a government-backed indemnity scheme and targeted financial support for the live music industry. UK Music are also calling for an extension to the VAT rate reduction on tickets, a rollover of the paid 2020 Local Authority licence fees for festivals to 2021 and an extension to business rates relief. Up to 50% of the festival workforce faces possible redundancy if the 2021 season is cancelled and a report by the Musicians' Union stated 71% of musicians were considering leaving the sector or were unsure if they would continue. According to Steve Heap, the general secretary of the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), major music festivals would have to make a decision about their 2021 editions this month. Smaller festivals, however, could put off cancelling until April. Though the pandemic is still wreaking havoc across the UK the crunch time is definitely, now. The industry and the fans need to know!

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