NEW ORLEANS--Ever since the release of her debut album in 2000, neo-soul singer Jill Scott has elaborated on the question posed by its title: "Who Is Jill Scott?" In brief, she's a singer, songwriter, actress, poet and businesswoman, someone who both thinks and feels deeply about her art. She's also a flesh-and-blood woman who wants to experience the full range of human emotions and experiences.
And she's a latter-day Essence Festival favorite, simultaneously classic and contemporary, sensual and cerebral, strong and vulnerable. She appears on the main stage of the 2014 Essence Festival on Saturday, July 5, performing just before headliner Mary J. Blige.
Scott hasn't released a new album since 2011's "The Light of the Sun," which was parked at No. 1 on the Billboard chart when she performed at Essence that summer. The New Orleans Times-Picayune Newspaper's Music Writer Keith Spera interviewed Scott recently, where she and her band were rehearsing eight hours a day in preparation for her first concerts in several months.
Q: What's your philosophy when putting together a set list?
Scott: I go by feeling. I try to perform the music that people love and have enjoyed over the last 14 years. But I also like to throw some new things in and revamp arrangements so that they feel different to me. I've been singing a lot of this music for 14 or 15 years, so I have to keep it fresh for myself.
I have an amazing band. I can give them colors and tastes, clues for moods, and we create from there. We start all over.
Q: Your band is a good balance of old- and new-school.
Scott: I just believe that music is timeless. If you can create music that touches the heart, and then switch it up and make it different for yourself, it becomes alive every night. I've never really had the same show twice, because there's a different audience, a different environment, a different day. We're really going off of how we feel at the moment.
Q: In 2011 at Essence, you wore a sparkling dress and had your hair piled up like a 1940s jazz singer. Last year, you sported a gold grill on your lower teeth.
Scott: I like to have fun. I really want to enjoy myself. It's as much for you as it is for me. It's mutually beneficial. I want to give you a great show, and have you enjoy yourself and be entertained. But if you feel something as well, or think about something, that's more exciting to me.
Q: That's one of the things that struck me about your show. It's not one-dimensional. You inhabit songs almost like an actress. How much of that is you consciously thinking about the lyrics and putting yourself in character, and how much of it is the emotion in the song taking you where it does?
Scott: The emotion is definitely a part of it. But I also try to remember that it could be new for someone. I prefer to be that girl at that time. So if I'm in love in a song, then that's exactly what I'm going to be. If my feelings are hurt, then I'm going to be hurt.
A lot of music is about shaking your booty. And that's awesome – I love to get my dance on. But I also like to get my romance and my thoughts and my revelations. When I go see a concert, that's what I want to see.
So yeah, there's some acting involved. I've been acting for over 20 years; they kind of blend together. The writing inspires the emotion, and the music takes me on a journey. I allow myself to be all of that at the time.
It's spirit work, moreso than anything else. It can be pretty exhausting, but it's also very, very fulfilling.
Q: In my review of your 2013 Essence Fest show, I wrote that you "flashed a plethora of moods, passions and postures onstage." You were "defiant, commanding, aroused, aflutter, angry, flirtatious, coy and just a little bit street." Does that sound like some of the things you do onstage?
Scott: Thank you for noticing! Music is humanity. I've never been one way all the time. I admire those kinds of folks who can always be happy, or always be angry -- they're pretty consistent. But I'm living life. Sometimes I'm filled with joy, and other days, I have to search for it. Sometimes I'm fully, completely in love, and sometimes I'm like, "Forget it." It's life.
Q: You played the risqué songs "Crown Royal," "The Way" and "Cross My Mind" at Essence in 2010. I described that set as "carnal soul." Is that accurate?
Scott: I like it. I like it a lot, as a matter of fact. "Carnal soul" sounds fair enough. I'm a woman, and I'm living. I enjoy passion, and I enjoy mutual romance as well. Sometimes there's s*xy in there too.
Q: Your brand of s*xiness is tied in with a theme of empowerment for women. In the song "Rolling Hills," you note that women have power both between their eyes and their thighs. Many performers emphasize one or the other; you emphasize both.
Scott: What is great s*x without being there mentally as well? Physically is great, but it's limited, and not layered. When you're connected physically, spiritually and mentally, you've really got something special going on there. That's a good stew that I want to be a part of. I have cornbread for that.
Q: In "Whatever," you describe making a meal for a lover after a good night.
Scott: (Quoting from the song) "Do you want some money, baby? How about some chicken wings? Do you want some fish and grits? I'll hurry and go get it." Yeah, why not?
Q: When you sing something like "He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)," are you still thinking about the real person that inspired it (her ex-husband, Lyzel Williams), or does the song just exist on its own merits at this point? Do you still tap into what was back then?
Scott: I don't tap into what was then. I tap into what is now. I also tap into my Creator, I tap into my son. I go to a lot of different places. Sometimes you have to search for it, in order for it to be true.
As an actor, we might do a scene 15 times. Each time, it has to be realistic and in the moment; you have to believe it. I feel the same way about performing. I have to be there. If I'm singing about being in love or being loved by someone, then it could go anywhere from God, to my child, the man I'm dating, or the dog that I'm petting. We just have to find it.
Q: And sometimes the man is the dog.
Scott: Well, not really. I wouldn't go that far. I don't do a lot of male-bashing. I tell it like it is. Mostly I just tell the story, and it's that individual person. If they wronged me or righted me, it's that individual person.
You have to see it. You have to see who it is that you're talking about. Even if it changes 50 times in the course of a song in order to make it true, you have to be there.
The best acting advice I've ever gotten was from a (theatrical) director named Aaron Posner. He said, "Be that guy." I've incorporated "Be that guy" into pretty much everything that I do.
If I'm writing something, people believe that it's me, that I'm having this experience. Sometimes I am. Sometimes it's a combination of a friend's story, or something I've seen on the bus. I put it all together in order to represent humanity.
I really believe that I'm never alone in any feeling. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
Q: When you are invited to perform at the Essence Festival, is it an automatic "yes" for you at this point?
Scott: Pretty much. I just enjoy the whole idea of so many people coming together from all over the country, and all over the world. I did an interview with someone from the Netherlands who is coming to the show. They want to experience all of this that is the Essence Festival – so many people, so many colors, so many different hairstyles, so much great music.
Bringing all these artists together for a few nights of incredible music and camaraderie... they'll be some folks singing and dancing and enjoying life as it is at the moment. I love that.
Q: Do you get to see other artists at Essence?
Scott: I do. I just have to go a little undercover.
Q: You're on a bill with Tank, Ledisi, the Roots and Mary J. Blige. It's a great line-up from top to bottom.
Scott: I agree. I'm so excited for this (Essence) audience to see the Roots. I don't know if they really know how much of a legacy these guys have. I don't know if they know the level of musicianship and artistry that the Roots create. I don't know if they know, but they're about to be blown away.
Q: You knew those guys back in the day in Philly.
Scott: The Roots gave me my start. I was at a poetry reading. Questlove (the band's drummer, Ahmir Thompson) was there. He asked me if I wrote songs. I lied and said yes. He set me up with (producer) Scott Storch and asked me to write a hook, which I did.
Q: Be sure to point out to the Roots that you're actually higher on the bill than they are.
Scott: (Laughs) I will not! I will not!
Q: How much of the appeal of the Essence Festival is that it's tied to Essence magazine, which is for and about women of color?
Scott: The magazine is celebratory. Being an African-American woman, you don't get to see yourself on the covers of many magazines. If you do, it's sporadic. Every now and then there's a cover of something, and everybody gets it, and we're all excited.
But Essence is consistent, and has been for many years. That's really appreciated.
Q: Do you do anything differently in a room as big as the Superdome?
Scott: I have a great sound man. That's important to me. And I appreciate Essence for this: A lot of festivals, or so-called festivals, really don't think about sound quality. They get the line-up, and they get the tickets sold, but they don't think about the quality of the sound.
Those are the gigs that I don't want to do – where there's four speakers for 20,000 people. The closest thing I can describe it as without trying to be lewd is blue balls. You get so excited and you want to do well for an audience.... It matters so much to us, my band, my crew, myself.
I'm really excited about being at Essence, because I know that they're going to serve a girl properly. Essence really makes a point to highlight these awesome artists that are coming to touch the stage. I really appreciate and respect that.
Q: You don't have a record coming out any time soon, do you?
Scott: I am working on a record, and have been for quite some time now. It's taken a lot longer than I anticipated.
But good things take time. It took me 27 years to make my first album, and I remind myself of that. I'm not microwaveable Jill. I have to live some life outside of my business.
I can't -- I won't -- just be an artist. I'm a lot more than that. I'm a person. I've got to balance that. I've got to meet new people, fail, learn some lessons, shed a few tears, have a whole lot of laughs if I can, and learn some things. So it just takes time.
And when it's ready, it's ready. When it is, I'll be able to give it with all the accoutrement it deserves.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Thursday, July 3rd 2014 at 12:23PM
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