Jazzin Interview Laura Theodore
The Jazzy Vegetarian
Jazzin Magazine: Tell me about your beginnings in Music.
Laura Theodore: I always knew I wanted to sing. I started singing when I was about 3 years old and when I was in the 4th or 5th grade, I began to prepare and sing an acappella song every week for my class! At age 11, I began to perform regularly in musicals in a semi-professional, local theater group, and by age 17 I had acted and sung in about 40 musicals. At 17, I went on the road with my first band, singing popular tunes of the day. I formed many bands for the next 20 years and they ranged from eclectic jazz, to popular standards, to R & B to hard rock!
Jazzin: Did you study Music?
LT: I studied at a very young age with the musical directors from the theater I worked at, learning the basics of intonation and phrasing in show tunes and popular music. At age 20, I studied musical composition and jazz vocalization privately (for about a year) through two teachers from South Shore Conservatory in Boston, MA. Once in New York City, I studied vocal technique for about 3 years with Don MacKay, a leading teacher at that time
Jazzin: Who were your first influencies?
LT: Early on, I was influenced by both Broadway show tunes (like West Side Story, Oliver and Peter Pan) and contemporary artists of that time like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Eric Burden, Guns and Roses and Janis Joplin (I created the role of, and played Janis in a show called Beehive, for 2 years off-Broadway in New York City.
Jazzin: How and when you discovered jazz?
LT: I first heard jazz at age 19 or 20 and my first influences there were Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Chick Corea, Duke Ellington and the Groups: Yes (not jazz, but very progressive!) and Return to Forever. I became obsessed with listening to Ella and Sarah and learned their scat phrases and studied their phrasing and tone. Then I decided that I wanted to create my own sound, based on the saxophone and trumpet, and started studying Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and modern players of the day like Tom Scott and David Sanborn.
Jazzin: Your professional works and recordings.
LT: My professional works have been diverse!