Kaylene Peoples Talks About the Album and Why the Title
Kaylene Peoples goes deep as she talks about what led her to record My Man, and the title track in English, including the unplugged French version, “Mon Homme.”
I established myself as a jazz artist with my first jazz release, All Jazzed up! My single, “Do You Remember?” topped the independent charts. There was literally a 10-year gap between my two big jazz projects. I don’t think people realize how much goes into releasing an album. Just like with the first project, in My Man I pored over songs that I knew I wanted to cover, but they had to be something I could see myself performing for the rest of my life. Just the track listing alone had to have staying power.
I knew when I first listened to Diana Krall’s album Love Scenes, the repertoire was everything, combined with a great melody, great performances, and inspired arrangements, it didn’t matter the size of the band. And Diana Krall proved that with her trio ensemble on that release.
“With this project, I was excited to finally make my song selections. Some recordings never made it on the album. But between two major studios (Westlake and The Mouse House) and nearly four years in the making, My Man was a massive undertaking.”
Kaylene Peoples
Kaylene records vocals at Westlake Studios (Photographed by Arun Nevader)
My Man was the album I was born to record. Ever since my first jazz CD, All Jazzed Up!, I knew I was meant to become a jazz/Broadway singer. Without divulging too much, as a small child I was always drawn to music. From as young as four years old, I remember enjoying and even trying to dance to the music my parents would play! We’d take road trips and in my parent’s car, I’d be humming along to my dad’s eclectic, yet very diverse collection of music, ranging from BB King’s “Blueberry Hill” to Lee Morgan’s “Sidewinder.” As I grew older, my own musical taste began to emerge. I was allowed to watched many movies, mostly G-rated musicals. I grew very fond of the Barbra Streisand films, ranging from Hello Dolly, to What’s Up Doc? Sometimes the movie of the week even featured Streisand’s older films. Now, I can’t remember when this happened, but one day, I caught a movie called Funny Girl. I was so into this film. It resonated with me. Remember, I was very young, but I related to Fanny Brice’s character. I felt like I, too, had this huge talent and nobody knew it but me.
Barbra Streisand from a Scene in Funny Girl
From there, I listened to Nancy Wilson. I mean I listened to her a lot! And when I heard “Guess Who I Saw Today,” I fell in love with Wilson’s conversational singing style. Barbra and Nancy could tell a story through a song like nobody I had ever heard at that time in my life – a mere ‘tween in junior high. I had sophisticated taste for such a young, scrawny 6th grader. Another fact (I mention on the home page “Flutician”) is that I fell hard for jazz. I discovered Dave Brubeck, heard “Blue Rondo a la Turk” and made it my mission to memorize it, including every major solo Hubert Laws and Dave Valentin recorded. I was studying classical flute at the time, so memorizing music was what I was trained to do at 11 years old. I always knew one day I would play and record Brubeck.
Mark Hammond plays guitar on “Blue Rondo a la Turk on Kaylene Peoples My Man. (Photographed by Arun Nevader)
Still exploring music, I liked the current popular artists (Swingout Sister, Michael Jackson, Basia, Earth, Wind & Fire, etc.), but whenever I saw a Streisand musical, I could feel this seed growing inside of me. I wanted to be like her, but with my own style! Now, because I was a musician and in band, as well as orchestras and honor bands, section leader, and a whole lotta related musical activities for a budding prodigy, singing really wasn’t something I focused on. My older sister was the “singer” in the family, and boy, could she sing. A lyric soprano, she sounded like an angel. I always felt that was her lane, and mine was formal orchestral and classical music. But as I explained on my “The Singer” page, I kept getting asked to sing whenever somebody heard me. I finally made the decision to do just that. And all I wanted to do was communicate through song, tell a story, stir people’s emotions the way Barbra Streisand did in Funny Girl . . . and yes . . . in Yentl, too. I even recorded “A Piece of Sky” and held that long note at the end. The song was important to me because I was still feeling the sting of recently losing my father. So when I recorded this song, it was a deeply powerful experience. As a side note, my talent in the Miss California Young Miss Pageant was singing “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” And yes, I won that pageant! It was always my talent that made me a worthy adversary in most competitions. So you see, Streisand’s essence has been present at a lot of my defining moments!
Fast forward to 2011, when I stepped foot in Westlake Recording Studio. My first day of recording, I discovered Barbra Streisand was literally in the studio next to mine. I couldn’t believe it! It was a sign. I mean really, what are the odds of that happening other than God was showing me that I was on the right path.
“Mon Homme” . . . My Language Coach, Bunny Brunel
I had hired bassist Bunny Brunel to play bass on the tune, “Nature Boy.” After the quartet had finished recording, and I’d had a chance to listen to the rough mix, I asked Bunny to come on board and rerecord an additional eight songs, including “Spain,” a tune he played bass while touring with Chick Corea and Al Jarreau. But “Mon Homme” was critical for my album. It was really the final piece to bring it full circle. I speak French, but needed the authentic accent. I didn’t want to sound American. Bunny agreed to help me and coached me through the song when I recorded my vocal. The result was a perfect, authentically French accent.
“Mon Homme” is translated as my man, and it was a huge hit with my friends and colleagues in France! But why did I decide to sing “My Man” in French? Well, the song originated in France, becoming a hit for Mistinguett, and it became popular in English in the 1920s with the 1921 recording by Fanny Brice! Brice also sang the song during one of the sound sequences of the 1928 film, My Man. So that version had to be on my album too. It is the second track featuring Mark Hammond playing guitar in the style of Joe Pass with Bunny Brunel playing the upright bass on the final verse and chorus.
KAYLENE PEOPLES – My Man: “I want to cry. I want to laugh. I want to sing!”
“Barbra Streisand’s Funny Girl is the reason I became a singer. Having always been a fan of her movies, I was in constant awe of her ability to capture my emotions every single time she sang a song, any song. She still brings me to tears and has me in stitches more often than not. One day, I rented Funny Girl, and something life-altering happened to me. In the closing scene of the movie, her love interest Nicki Arnstein says a final goodbye to backstage Streisand’s character, fanny Brice. Fanny stoically accepts her fate and pretends that everything is all right, even though it’s not. Brice goes onstage, choking back tears (she’s barely able to articulate the words).
Barbra Streisand as the character Fanny Brice performs the song My Man in the closing scene of Funny Girl.
‘Oh my man I love him so, he’ll never know . . .’ Streisand blew me out of the water with that two-minute song! I still remember the performance – I was so deeply affected by it. There were no vocal acrobatics, pretense, or bravado—just old-fashioned singing with a beautiful arrangement, and a rare visceral quality to Streisand’s voice that literally seared my soul.”
Kaylene Peoples, Quoted from the My Man Booklet, Page 2.
My Man . . . “a massive undertaking.”
Kaylene Peoples, My Man CD Insert Booklet Cover with Guest Performances by Bunny Brunel , Bobby Lyle, Hubert Laws, and Featuring Mark Hammond
Over 30 people were involved in the making of My Man, an album that took almost four years to complete. There have been highs and lows during this process. Whenever you’re doing a project of this magnitude, setbacks are to be expected. The biggest low was when I couldn’t finish My Man in time to be on the Queen Latifah Show to perform “Take Five” live with my band and give out the album to the entire audience. I met with the producers of the show who absolutely loved my version of “Take Five.” The caveat was I had to finish the album first. I was met with so many stalls and setbacks, causing me to delay my release date, forcing me to miss out on one of the biggest opportunities of my career. I would have been seen by millions on national TV. The Queen Latifah Show was canceled when I had just one song left to complete. This news knocked the wind right out of my sails. However, there is always a positive side. After the show canceled, I was able to get Bunny Brunel, Bobby Lyle, and Hubert Laws as celebrity guest performers on the album, and that definitely made up for my missed opportunity.
Hubert Laws, Bobby Lyle, Bunny Brunel, Mark Hammond, Cory Mason perform “Giant Steps” during the Kaylene Peoples MY MAN recording session at Westlake Studios and The Mouse House recording studios (Images Photographed by Arun Nevader)
SPECIAL THANKS: I’d like to acknowledge the following people:
Del Atkins for helping to make our recording sessions run smoothly. Thank you Del, for your reliability, your musicianship, and your dedication to excellence; Mark Hammond for your unfailing support and honoring me with your virtuosity; Verdell Adams for believing in my project and for your support; Leon Bisquera, Bunny Brunel, and Tony Moore for breathing life into “Nature Boy.” I’d like to thank you, Rich Mouser (The Mouse House) for your sonic genius, your support, and the long hours, as I changed my mind constantly about my mixes. Thank you for caring so much about My Man; and Jeff Fox (2nd Engineer) for all of your help in the studio; Victor Alfaro for providing and setting up the video monitors and extra mics; Gerald Thompson for getting me a killer deal at Westlake Studios at the start of this project; Robert Barnes for all your assistance. Thank you Eveline Morel for your help during the recording of this album; Arun Nevader for flying in from Berkeley for my sessions and photographing the process from beginning to completion; my mom Lee for always being there as a constant source of emotional support; my father James who inspired and nurtured my artistic yearnings. And I especially want to thank all the musicians that I ever listened to, saw in concert, and loved throughout my life. You helped shape my musical choices. And last but not least I want to thank all the incredibly talented musicians who performed on My Man!
Quoted from Kaylene Peoples from the My Man CD Booklet . . .
“My Man is all about inspirations and God-given talent. It’s delivering a performance that’s authentic and transparent; and doing it to your highest excitement. No fear. No reproach. No judgment! That is what I want to achieve with this album… an exposing experience that lets you peak into my world for 64 minutes, the duration of this CD.
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My Man is dedicated to YOU. My wish is that you will be as inspired as I have been! I guess it’s no coincidence that on my first day of recording, while at Westlake Studios, studio D, I discovered Barbra Streisand was recording in the room next to mine. I took that as a sign that my title My Man was meant to be!” —Kaylene Peoples
Enjoy the Highlights of Kaylene Peoples My Man.
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- Mark Hammond
- Bobby Lyle “Time Traveler” Session
- Vernell Brown, Jr
Learn more about My Man by visiting the discography page for the complete list of credits.