Photo by John Abbott
At age, 62, jazz singer and Virginia native René Marie is well into her third act. It’s a natural role for the bank employee who decided to become a jazz singer in her early 40s. She’s now a caretaker to her aging mother, who lives in Richmond. “She’s 92, and it’s that time in my life,” she says from her home in Fredericksburg, “and in her life.”
When one of the featured singers of the touring “Songs of Freedom” show became unavailable for their Richmond date, Marie conveniently stepped in, providing some context and clarity to the young group, which revisits protest and empowerment music from days past. Marie talks about national anthem controversies, her next recording and Diana Ross.
Richmond magazine: Tell me about the "Songs of Freedom" concert.
René Marie: It’s a tribute to the music of Joni Mitchell, Abby Lincoln and Nina Simone. I was thrilled to do it. I love this music. Everybody else in the band is younger than me [laughs]; they don’t really know, you know what I mean? Y’all are excited about this, but you should’ve actually been there when this shit was goin’ down and this was the background music to what we were doing.
RM: What do you make of the fact that those songs appear relevant again?
Marie: Oh, I don’t think they’ve ever lost their relevance. You know, no more so than the national anthem has lost its relevance. People who believe in the national anthem … they think that music will never lose its relevance. And I feel the same way about protest music. I think there might have been half a second, after Obama was elected, that people were talking about “post-racial” [society], but they were quickly brought back to their senses by stuff that was happening. It never lost its relevance, as far as I’m concerned.
RM: You mentioned the national anthem. When players in the National Football League started protesting during the national anthem, did it remind you of the response you got when you replaced the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner" with those from “Lift Every Voice and Sing?”
Marie: I’m so proud of them boys. I’m proud of the boys. … There’s no words, it's just taking a knee, and everybody knows what it’s talking about. So I’m proud of these guys, I’m proud of the Black Lives Matter movement, and I just try to step back, Craig, and see the thing as one great big picture. What my grandparents went through. What my father and mother went through. My generation and on back, back. And around the world, it’s all part of one big, tightly knit piece of cloth. So yeah, yeah, I think about it sometimes. Although I have to say I’m more focused on what’s happening now, and very seldom think back to what I did. And mine wasn’t really born of what was happening in the news, mine was more of a personal effort to try to come to terms with how I felt about this country. That was what it was.
RM: I was reading another interview of yours, and you listed your musical influences. And I was surprised to see the name of Diana Ross.
Marie: What? You were surprised? [laughs]
RM: Well, when I think of her, I think of gowns, jewelry. She seems to have a limited vocal range.
Marie: Yeah, yeah, all of that. What you said, it’s all true, Craig. I dare to find one black female my age who did not look at Diana Ross in those gowns and see those Supremes in their movements and their hand gestures as they sang. We were all watching and imitating that. The stage presence, the way she carries herself, regally. And it wasn’t jazz. It was just soul music. Pop music. And Diana had a way about her. If you really want to know, it was Diana Ross who introduced me to jazz. Because what happened was … I don’t know if you remember “Lady Sings the Blues”?
RM: With Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor?
Marie: And Diana Ross. It was advertised as a movie about Billie Holliday. But I didn’t know who Billie Holiday was, hadn’t heard of her. I wanted to see Diana Ross. When I went to the movie and heard this music, I was like ‘Oh, what is this music?’ [laughs] What is this? I had never heard this kind of music before. And I went straight from the theater to the record store in Roanoke, up on the plaza on Melrose Avenue and bought the music book, that had all the sheet music, and that was how I got introduced to jazz.
RM: Do you plan to do another album anytime soon?
Marie: I certainly have the material. But I find myself in this position of when I’m not on the road, I’m frequently at my mom’s house, doing things for her and looking after her. In years before, when I was not on the road, I would be at home listening to music. So I’m finding that I’m having to turn my focus more and more to things pertaining to my mom. At first I was anxious: 'What am I going to do with these songs? I’m writing these songs and I don’t have time to rehearse it,' blah blah blah. And I realized, just, 'René, cool your jets, be with your mom, she’s not going to be here forever, and neither are you. So just enjoy this time you have with her.' Just enjoy it. This is the bigger, more important thing. Don’t be with Mom and think about what I could be doin’ at home if I weren’t with her. Just relax into i, and it’ll happen. That’s how I got singing in the first place, you know? Instead of getting closer to releasing a CD of new music, it feels like I’m getting farther away. But I don’t know what the future holds, and I'm happy to be open to whatever door invites me in.
René Marie will perform in "Songs of Freedom," directed by Ulysses Owens Jr., along with vocalists Alicia Olatuja and Theo Bleckmann at the Modlin Center for the Arts on Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m., following a pre-performance discussion with the performers led by WCVE Music jazz host Peter Solomon at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 for adults.
