Dee Bell was once one of the best-known jazz vocalists in the Bay Area. Her first two albums for the Concord Jazz label, Let There Be Love, which featured guest artist Stan Getz, and its follow up, One By One, earned her rave reviews and led to her touring nationally and internationally. As time went on, however, performing began to have a detrimental effect on her family and work.
“I came to California to sing in a country rock band,” Bell continued. “It didn’t pan out. I was working at the Trident in Sausalito, when they started having live jazz shows. [Jazz guitarist] Eddie Duran and his trio had a residency there. Eddie heard me singing ‘Happy Birthday’ for a friend and asked if I was a singer. I told him I’d moved to California to work on becoming a professional. He invited me to sit in with his trio, after I finished my shift. That’s when I began learning jazz songs.”
The Trident gigs with Duran led to a contract with Concord Records. “One evening, I met Stan Getz backstage, after a concert. I told him I was making a record with Eddie. He asked me to send him a tape. After he listened, he said he wanted to be on the album and played for scale,” Bell recalled.
Although she cut back on live dates, Bell continued making albums, including Sagacious Grace, which leaned towards swing. She also recorded Silva – Bell – Elation and Lins, Lennox & Life, records that showcased her fondness for Brazilian music. “Eddie always used some Brazilian rhythms in the songs we performed, to keep the music interesting. A few years ago, Marcos Silva became my musical director. When we first met, I told him about my idea of merging my swing style with his Brazilian rhythms. We began talking about how we could go about that and we’ve been working together ever since,” explained Bell.
The duo’s latest offering is Love for Sailin’ Over Seas – Then & Now. The album merges two new recordings with eight tunes from Bell’s back catalogue. “Covid imposed some budget constraints,” Bell pointed out. “We intended to cut two songs and release them digitally. Our radio promoter let me know that jazz radio doesn’t play singles, so I decided to add some older recordings to the release. The song selection was informed by how well the tunes would work together. ‘You Can’t Go Home Again,’ a song from Sagacious Grace, is still being played by jazz radio stations on a regular basis, so that went in. Others were selected to have an interesting flow of energy, from uptempo, to a ballad and back.”
The two new songs, Abby Lincoln’s ‘I Got Thunder (and It Rings)’ and ‘I’ll String Along With You,’ a 1934 ballad from the film Twenty Million Sweethearts, were cut in a small studio in Berkeley. “They were recorded last year, during a lull in the pandemic. Since we were all double vaxxed, we were able to play live together. We plugged directly into the board, so there would be no feedback. I also sang a couple of extra vocals for insurance, just in case we needed to fix anything. Romero Lubambo, the guitarist on the tracks, played in an isolation booth, so he could add overdubbed harmonic parts in counterpoint. He’s a masterful player. He has performed with Billie Eilish, Astrud Gilberto, Tony Bennett and almost everyone else,” said Bell.
Marcos Valle, with an animated bass solo by Thompson and Silva’s sparkling piano work.
Bell said she’s looking forward to performing again. But as the pandemic lingers, it’s hard to line up work. “I’ve been trying to book dates, but it’s a challenge. Some people are offering dates for 2023, but everything’s hanging by a thread. We like to entertain, but some venues are more conducive to a true show. I’ve added poetry and mime, and created movies for the background, to enhance the lyrics or song elements, but that’s not always possible, given the set-up of the room. The show set is planned for flow, but we can change it in progress, relative to what the audience gives back.
“I meditate before each show and work on having my vibration generate a circle of love with the audience,” she continued. “It doesn’t always work. Some audiences are too busy with each other, their phones, or the environment. If that doesn’t work, we keep it within the band, until the audience finally comes along.”
