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Vivian Sessoms

“You have to feel something about what you're saying if you want anyone else to buy into it”, explains Vivian Sessoms with absolute certainty. “It's important to me to mean what I say when I'm writing or singing a song. It can't simply be just a collection of words.” For Vivian, a life surrounded by music has ingrained the passion and the power of music in her. Born and raised in Harlem, Vivian, whose mother was a session/jingle-singer, and father who was a flautist/percussionist (for James Brown among others), learned the wonder and the craft of music at a young age.

In a neighborhood filled with nightclubs, churches and impromptu gatherings-turned-jam-sessions at the family homestead, she was already singing by the time she could talk. "Growing up in Harlem, there always seemed to be music playing in our house or at a neighbors house. I was so immersed in it, that I guess I viewed music as a kind of backdrop to my life", she recalls. By the time she was nine, Vivian had begun doing television and radio voice overs. With the help of casting agent Mikki Powell (The Wiz), she made the rounds of auditions for various Broadway shows, all while receiving classical training in voice and piano. Somewhere around the age of 14, Vivian began composing her own music, following in the footsteps of her musician parents.

A few years later, while on one of her first major tours, performing with pianist/composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (whose film credits include Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, Little Buddha, High Heels), Vivian had her eyes and ears opened to an entirely new world of sound and became galvanized. Sakamoto taught Vivian much about song-craft, performance and musicianship. She absorbed as much as she could from the brilliance of his artistry. In Sakamoto's band, she found herself surrounded by accomplished, seasoned musicians such as drummer Manu Katche (Peter Gabriel, Sting), Victor Bailey (Weather Report, Madonna) and Darryl Jones (Miles Davis, Rolling Stones). Sakamoto expected her to behave on par with those musicians, placing her in the spotlight as the featured vocalist, and teaching her to sing in Japanese. She in turn pushed herself tirelessly towards perfection as both a singer and performer.

Several years of resume building followed, with Vivian performing, either live or in the studio, with an amazing array of artists including: P. Diddy, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Sinead O Connor, and Stevie Wonder to name a small few. She did a stint with Virgin Music Publishing and then signed on as an artist and staff writer with K.G. of Naughty By Nature for his Divine Mill imprint, though an album was never released. She even went on to write and perform as a guest artist on a number of Sakamotos' later releases, but unlike with Sakamoto, none of these situations would influence her the way future partner Chris Parks would.

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Album Review

Vivian Sessoms: Life II

Read "Life II" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Sliding doors. È consistente il numero di cantanti afroamericane che spaziano con disinvoltura tra i vari ambiti e stili della black music, giungendo fino al pop. I risultati sono anche elevati, come dimostra questo disco, ma resta il sospetto di un impegno programmato per adeguarsi alla volatilità del mercato. In molto pubblico attuale, infatti, l'ascolto è “liquido" (se non gassoso): si salta da un genere all'altro e da un periodo storico all'altro, spizzicando qua e là in ...

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Catching Up With

Vivian Sessoms: To Be Black In America

Read "Vivian Sessoms: To Be Black In America" reviewed by Kevin Press


Vivian Sessoms has built a career in collaboration with a range of world-famous artists. P. Diddy, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Sinéad O'Connor, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Stevie Wonder all have a place on her resume. With a new Ropeadope contract in hand, Sessoms has produced a two-part album release called Life. They make an extraordinary pair, from both a personal and political perspective. All About Jazz: There is a lot here thematically. Walk us through it. Vivian ...

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Event

Emmanuel Baptist Church Jazz Vespers Celebrates Women’s History Month March 1st

Emmanuel Baptist Church Jazz Vespers Celebrates Women’s History Month March 1st

Source: Emmanuel Baptist Church Jazz Vespers

On March 1st, Emmanuel Baptist Church Jazz Vespers will kick off Women’s History Month with a special performance by vocal powerhouse Vivian Sessoms. It will take place at its namesake, the historic Emmanuel Baptist Church, located at 279 Lafayette Avenue, in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Vivian will perform a medley of pieces, including selections that will honor female jazz performers who have been iconic in the genre, in celebration of Women’s History Month. Emmanuel Baptist Church Jazz Vespers is proud to ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Peter Brotzmann Trio, Peter Martin and Vivian Sessoms, Kurt Elling, New Mastersounds, Jamie Cullum, and More

Jazz This Week: Peter Brotzmann Trio, Peter Martin and Vivian Sessoms, Kurt Elling, New Mastersounds, Jamie Cullum, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

It's the first week of a new month, and a very busy one for jazz and creative music in St. Louis, with several noteworthy headliners in town. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, the all-star free jazz trio of saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, drummer Hamid Drake and bassist William Parker (pictured) performs at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center. If you have any interest at all in free jazz, this concert is an absolute must-see, as all three of the players are adventurous, ...

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Performance / Tour

Peter Martin, Vivian Sessoms to Perform Saturday, March 10 at the Sheldon

Peter Martin, Vivian Sessoms to Perform Saturday, March 10 at the Sheldon

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Pianist Peter Martin will resume his eponymous series at the Sheldon Concert Hall with a performance featuring guest vocalist Vivian Sessoms (pictured) at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, March 10. Bassist Bob Hurst and drummer Ulysses Owens will join Martin and Sessoms for the show. Sessoms is a native New Yorker who's been performing professionally since she was a child, but got her first widespread exposure as a grown-up through working with film composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. Since then, she's developed a solo ...

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