Article From Focus Magazine

Maureen Washington ~ Photo by Dean Kalyan

Focus Magazine

November 20 & December 11 2014

JAZZ ALIVE!

MAUREEN WASHINGTON & DANIEL COOK

First Metropolitan Church

AS A TEENAGER SINGING with her high school choir like the kids on Glee, Maureen Washington knew that one day she would be a professional singer. She explains, “Music came alive in choir for me. It was like I ate,

dreamed, breathed, everything music.” And, while the dream didn't come to fruition for many years after high school, she admits that

“music was always a part of my soul.”

Ms Washington is now an award-winning jazz and blues artist, though she kind of fell into those genres. She had begun her professional career as a “folky” Tracey Chapman singer/songwriter type. But an opportunity arose to sing jazz, and Washington accepted, albeit with a bit of trepidation: “It was like, ‘ok...?’” She does admit, however, “I fell in love with the genre because it’s so unique, so

melodic. There’s cheekiness. There’s sorrow. There’s all sorts of things that you can tell in the story of the song. There’s so much expression that you can add into the music…I always tell people, ‘I’m not really a singer, I’m a story teller.’”

To tell that story, Washington adopts the persona of the jazz diva, decked out in the

uniform of old Hollywood glamour: a Breakfast at Tiffany’s bouffant, false eyelashes and dramatic makeup, stunning gowns and cocktail dresses, evening gloves, and lots of bling. She confesses, “I love old Hollywood. You look back at pictures, and just the classiness and the elegance and all of that kind of thing.

I absolutely love it!”

And, she has the musical chops to back it all up: abundant stage flair and a luxuriant, powerful, emotive voice that grabs listeners and rules their passions with ease. Washington’s exceptional expressive range actually inspired Minister Allan Saunders of the First Metropolitan Church to develop the Jazz Alive! Concert series. Each themed Wednesday event features a different local musician performing, with readings by Saunders tied in. Themes include: gratitude, journeys, life’s obstacles, and joy. Washington sees it as a chance for people “to stop life and take a moment to reflect.” She also revels in the ambiance. Of her October performance, she says, “There was a really neat atmosphere in the room. You could just feel this real great gentle energy.”

Washington performs with Daniel Cook who co-wrote her album Here We Go Again. Cook is known for his fresh brand of original West Coast roots music, and as a guitarist who blends melody and minimalism into a sweet mix of jazz and country guitar traditions.

Some other upcoming performers during the series include: Karel Roessingh with Aaron Scoones (Nov 6), Kelby MacNayr (Nov 13 & Dec 4 ), and Aidan Miller (Nov 27).

Each evening ends with coffee and fellowship.Wednesday evenings until December 11,

7-8 pm. Admission by donation. 932 Balmoral Rd, 250-388-5188, www.firstmetvictoria.com.

—Lisa Szeker-Madden Focus Magazine 

NEWS PAPER ARTICLE FROM MONDAY MAGAZINE!

MUSIC Big Personality: Maureen Washington
by Natalie North - Monday Magazine posted Dec 19, 2013 at 11:00 AM

Photo by Tina Cyr

In a Victoria operating room, a nurse makes pre-surgery small talk. “You’re a singer?” she says prior to beginning a routine procedure. “You should sing something for us.”
Her patient then launches into La Vie en Rose, the smooth French lyrics rise up and fill the OR. The nurse breaks down in tears.
“She said: ‘That just made my day. That just made my day,’” recounts jazz singer Maureen Washington. “And then she cut me up.”
Washington calls herself a storyteller. Her tales, in song, are woven from pieces of her own experiences, of which this single mother of five has plenty. Washington somehow played 99 shows in 2013. Still, she seemed just a little disappointed when that nurse didn’t request an encore performance at a follow up appointment. The vocalist, songwriter and self-described procrastinator had a holiday song ready and though she can grow a little tired of giving her goods away for free – cut to last January when she was held hostage taking requests at a karaoke night on vacation in Mexico – she revels in her calling as a songstress.
“I love the magic of being captivated in a song. Sometimes I just sing, but I love the magic that takes you away. It sometimes takes me away in a different way than the listeners, but I love that you can say so much in a song and be taken away to someplace else for that little moment.”
That love was strong enough to take Washington away quite literally – from her home town of Prince George, despite plenty of notoriety and work as a vocal coach and lounge singer. The shift can be attributed to a friendship with a man known-well around the Victoria music scene, singer-songwriter Daniel Cook. Washington met Cook while he was living up north and after a successful run in a dance band together, Cook began encouraging Washington to move to Victoria.
For someone entrenched in a life with five kids and a mortgage, her answer was plainly: no.
“He’d still phone and say: ‘When are you coming?’”
In August 2006, a 39-year-old Washington arrived in Victoria with four of her five kids (the fifth has since moved to the island to join her). That night, asleep in Cook’s basement, where the family stayed for their first month in the city, Washington awoke startled.
“I actually sat up and said ‘Oh my gosh, what did I just do?’ I just sold my house and moved my family here and I didn’t even know Victoria.”
With no job and no plan, coming off a hectic work/life schedule back in Prince George, Washington took advantage of her first months here to recharge. By Christmas, she began performing. Fast forward a few years and her gig schedule is once again non-stop.
“Some things you can look at logically and say: ‘That’s not going to work.’ I say: ‘What if it does work?’ Then I jump. Sometimes I don’t even have that conversation with myself. I just go and mid-jump I realize I didn’t look at the risks. But then it’s OK. I have a lot of confidence in who I am.”
This mom calls herself a diva for the glitz and glamour, not the attitude. But like others with the title, she’s bold. She’s a powerhouse vocalist in false eyelashes who doesn’t mind wiping a bandmate’s face if need be. And when she sees that diva strength come out in her daughters, she doesn’t mind at all.
“Some of the things that I’ve done in my life that my kids have watched, or seen me struggle through have brought in that confidence. Even the quiet ones have strong personalities.”
The next two leaps on the horizon for Washington: recording more music and heading out on tour. She considers both money-losers, but integral to telling her stories to new audiences.
“I always hope that people feel inspired. That they felt loved. That they felt sorrow. That they actually felt emotions. That they stopped their lives and actually just got to breathe. That they actually stopped their lives, whatever was going on and just had those moments to feel embraced, loved, angered. That they got to feel something other than stressed and busyness.”
Even if those moments happen in a hospital room.