“Some close friends of mine tell me that I always used to sing in the lunchroom in grade school, belting out any song that was popular. I kind of knew that I sounded pretty good, but it also made me feel good. I didn’t grow up in the best of neighborhoods, by any stretch of the imagination. And it was singing that allowed me to transcend my surroundings, offering a place of escape and healing. In fact, it still does to this very day. It’s like a soothing balm, healing me from the inside out.”
In the heart of Cleveland, Ohio, a young Laurin Talese discovered her self-healing talent in an unexpected haven – her family’s dining room. Little did she know that this unassuming space would be the birthplace of an unpredictable journey through the magical and constantly evolving world of music.⠀⠀
“My Mom would say that I’ve been humming along with songs since I was four years old,” laughs Laurin. “But my first true recollection of singing was when I was about seven. I specifically remember my Dad, my Uncle Fletcher, and some of their friends coming over to the house on Friday nights, after work, to sing together.”⠀
“They would hang out in our family dining room, and I would sneak in to listen to them sing along to songs from groups and artists of the 90’s … After 7, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Earth Wind & Fire … and you know, anything that was popular. They would try to harmonize together and my Uncle Fletcher, God bless his heart because I love him, would always be a little pitchy. My dad would be fussing at him like, ‘Come on man, that’s not the note, man!’ I would be in the background quietly humming the correct notes because I could hear the harmonies. Sometimes they would kick me out, but I loved it so much.”
“One night, my Dad realized I was singing all the right notes and I remember him shouting, ‘Girl, you can sing!’ That was the stamp of approval for me, because he has always been a tough music critic.”
Time to Audition
Laurin’s parents, seeing how much their daughter loved to sing, decided to nurture her innate talent by signing her up for an audition with The Singing Angels, a local vocal performance troupe comprised of talented kids from the neighborhood. Laurin passed her audition and soon began traveling to nursing homes and hospitals to entertain guests staying there.
Laurin didn’t realize it at the time, but her experience with The Singing Angels would leave a lasting imprint on her personal musical style.
“Singing with that group was so much fun. We would all get together to rehearse at the Masonic Temple in Cleveland, and learn a kid’s hoke version of popular jazz standards,” Laurin fondly remembers as she sings a couple of lines to demonstrate.⠀
“Honestly, I didn’t even know I was singing jazz back then. So later, when I started to discover great singers like Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan … I already knew their songs, just in a different way. When I think back on it, that’s how I really ended up loving jazz music.”
“It’s also how I ended up loving coffee,” smiles Laurin. “Even though I was little, I would drink coffee at the nursing homes with the old folks.” Laurin sips her cup of coffee and raises it in my direction.
Raspy Bodacious Voices
It would be an introduction to gospel music to serve as the next real catalyst in shaping Laurin’s musical journey. When she was ten years old, she auditioned for a gospel group sponsored by a staple Cleveland radio station, 93FM. Laurin recalls being blown away by how gifted the other singers were.
“It was a bit overwhelming at first. I was kind of thrown in there with some girls that were a little older than me, and I was just trying to soak it all up. We were singing the songs of people like Hezekiah Walker, Kirk Franklin, God’s Property, and all the most successful gospel choirs.”
“They had those raspy, bodacious, loud, you can hear them singin’ down the street type of voices. That wasn’t really my voice though. My voice has always been more mellow. I’ll admit that singing with those girls was intimidating, but I admired them, and later found my own voice to blend in with the group.”
As many professional singers will profess, gospel teaches one how to bend, manipulate, and run vocals like no other genre of music. The dominant vocal style became part of Laurin’s toolkit, and it wasn’t long before the prestigious Cleveland School of the Arts recognized her raw talent and invited her to audition for a spot on its coveted school roster.
After being wait-listed for a year, she was accepted into the program and enrolled during her 5th grade year. Laurin seized every moment with purpose, and thrived at the school where she studied voice, flute, and the oboe.
Mentorship Leads to Musical Exploration
Laurin credits her lead music teacher at the Cleveland School of the Arts, Dr. William Woods, for having the most profound influence on her artistic development. He became a personal mentor who encouraged her to pursue her underlying interest in jazz music. He believed she was naturally gifted from the start.
“After hearing me sing for the first time, Dr. Woods just began pouring into me. He constantly gave me suggestions for music to study and a list of legendary musicians to listen to … people like Astrud Gilberto, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, and Chet Baker. I immediately felt like these artists were MY people.”
For Laurin, these jazz greats felt like “tribe,” and the inspiration she drew from them ignited a fresh passion within her soul.
“The first scat solo I ever transcribed was Lullaby of Birdland by Sarah Vaughan. I was in heaven from then on out. I went to the library and read all the biographies I could find about famous jazz artists. I read about Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and so many more. I wanted to know every detail about their lives and the time-period when they lived and performed.” Studying other artists also helped Laurin develop her own unique style.
While at the Cleveland School of the Arts, she got an opportunity to perform in trios – being accompanied by a piano, upright bass, and drumkit. This arrangement was where Laurin felt most comfortable, and it swiftly evolved into her exclusive sanctuary. It also helped confirm that studying music in college was something she desperately wanted to pursue.
Greyhound Bus to Philly
In 1998, several performing arts universities and colleges began touring the United States, visiting performing arts high schools to attract national talent. For Laurin, it would be a visit from students enrolled at University of the Arts that would eventually lead her to the City of Brotherly Love – Philadelphia.
“I remember all of my friends and other music students filing into our school library. Philadelphia’s University of the Arts people rolled out a little television with VHS player, and stuck in a videotape showcasing the university and its programs.”
“Let me tell you something. As soon as I saw Avenue of the Arts on Broad Street, bursting alive with color, I knew immediately that I was going to go to college there. They showed everything that was happening in Philly at places like the Academy of Music, Walnut Street Theater, and other popular venues. I decided right then that I was going for it.”
In the Fall of 1999, Laurin booked a Greyhound bus to Philadelphia, by herself, to audition live for University of the Arts. She paid for her own bus ticket with money she made from working at McDonald’s because her parents were hesitant about the idea of her going to Philadelphia for her college years.
“I told my parents, at the very last minute, that I bought a ticket to Philly because they weren’t trying to have their baby take off for Philly, “ laughs Laurin. “For my audition, I sang Hero by Mariah Carey for my R&B song. I was also asked to perform a classical piece and demonstrate my site reading skills. I was nervous, but it was so exciting.”
Laurin’s performance impressed university officials. So much so, that she was accepted for enrollment.
Divine Intervention
Laurin’s college journey seemed to be much more than just an academic chapter—it was a series of fortunate connections, shared creativity, and a nod to the idea that sometimes, the right people come into our lives at precisely the right time.
On her very first day of freshman orientation, she found herself in the company of individuals who would later become successful musicians and enduring collaborators. People like Ben O’Neill (guitarist for John Legend) and Adam Blackstone (Emmy-winning producer and bassist) entered her life, marking the beginning of lasting connections.
Over the subsequent four years, these chance encounters evolved into meaningful partnerships. Together, they not only wrote songs and created albums, but also shared the stage, toured, and built a camaraderie that transcended their university experience.
Laurin couldn’t help but notice what seemed like a subtle guiding force. “I think everything had a divine influence,” explains Laurin. “My first full day of school, I met so many of the people I collaborate with now. It seemed like destiny, and those people are my guys.”
A Musical Odyssey
“I guess you could say my ‘professional’ career started singing background for singer, songwriter, and record producer Bilal, a Philly guy, during my senior year in college. He’s a dope artist and has pretty much collaborated with everybody on the music scene.”
Bilal is well-known nationally and internationally, with an extensive list of collaborations including music powerhouses such as Kendrick Lamar, Common, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Guru, Kimbra, J Dilla, Robert Glasper, and The Roots.
It would be Bilal, with his unique style and collaborations, to open doors internationally for Laurin, including performances in Rotterdam, Utrecht, and London. In fact, he orchestrated one of the most memorable experiences in Laurin’s career, a jam session at the famous Jazz Café in Camden Town, London, with the legendary George Duke.
“After college, I continued singing background vocals with Bilal and touring with him. I also remained close with Adam Blackstone who became a music director for several top artists. Through Adam, I pretty much became a background singer for hire. I remember doing some awesome gigs, singing with people like Alicia Keys at The Grammys, and performing alongside Maren Morris, Ashanti, Keisha Cole, and Vivian Green for a number of years.”
Gorgeous Chaos
Unbeknownst to Laurin, a debut album entitled Gorgeous Chaos would launch her on a journey many artists only dream of. In May of 2016, she independently released the album, co-produced by Adam Blackstone and Ulysses Owens Jr.
“My whole album was about love, from the age of 18 to 26. It was my voice and my story. I was really happy with it,” smiles Laurin.
“That was also my first time recording in a studio … hearing my own vocals over and over. It was nerve racking, but also a time of immense personal discovery for me. Just to be a novice at something is a blessing. I made sure to give myself grace and patience, because I really didn’t know what I was doing.”
“Ulysses, at the time, was the drummer for Christian McBride, and brought the Christian McBride Trio to the project. The other half of the album features many of my good friends from college … people like Adam, Anwar Marshall, and Eric Wortham who is playing with Adele these days.”
Laurin’s debut album received excellent reviews from both fans and music industry critics. It also became the body of work needed to be invited to perform on larger stages. Winning the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocalist competition shortly after also helped catapult her into a new level of stardom.
She soon found herself performing at top venues and festivals including the Kimmel Center, Academy of Music, Kennedy Center, and the Newport Jazz Festival. But it would surprisingly be the U.S. State Department to bring her international acclaim.
“I remember doing some work with the U.S. State Department through an organization called American Music Abroad. They partner music artists with embassies in different countries. I’ve been fortunate to perform all over the world, including places such as Brazil, Africa, Colombia, China, and throughout Europe.”
“When you perform internationally as an unknown artist, you think you need to perform standards because people won’t know your work. But in 2019, I was performing in Montenegro and the crowd wanted to hear songs from my album, after seeing one of my music videos used to promote the show,” explains Laurin.
“I couldn’t believe it, but while I was on stage, they were singing my songs back to me. This also happened at performances in rural cities in Ukraine and Poland. It was surreal because I didn’t think of myself as an international recording artist at the time.
There is nothing quite like performing your own body of work to audiences that truly appreciate it. It was such a beautiful thing.”
The COVID Wrench
The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the music industry in 2020, with widespread cancellations of live performances and tours, leaving many artists facing financial strain. Independent and emerging musicians, heavily reliant on live shows for income and exposure, were particularly hard-hit. Seemingly at the peak of her rise, Laurin was forced to face a new reality.
“The Pandemic wiped my entire calendar in 2020,” states Laurin. “Every day I was getting cancellations. And that was the first time I had my calendar fully booked for the entire year, with so many great things on the horizon.”
“It was the perfect example of how you can have all these great plans for your life and think to yourself … I have everything in place, I’m secure, I’m happy, this is perfect … and then have no idea what’s going to happen next.”
Even when things started to pick back up a couple of years later, music venues started trying to cut fees to recoup losses, and book only the most prominent artists. They were less willing to take risks on emerging artists like Laurin.
“BUT … I was still able to do a lot of things with the U.S. State Department, which was my saving grace. I was able to perform in Colombia, Africa, and did a lot of work in Angola and Barundi.”
In 2022, Laurin received an unexpected call from the Chamber Music of America, an organization that commissions artists across musical genres to create new music. They told her that they wanted to give her grant money to write more original music.
“I cried that day,” recalls Laurin. “In that bleak time of the pandemic, I wasn’t’ writing any music because I wasn’t inspired. When I got that call, I was so happy. I started writing all these new songs and began collaborating with a wonderful producer named Kamau Kenyatta. Kamau produced Gregory Porter’s first couple of albums … who happens to be one of my favorite artists.”
Laurin resurfaced on the big stage in 2022 and 2023, premiering those collaborations at the Kimmell Center, and experiencing her first sold-out show at the Kennedy Center.
Coming Full Circle
With a pandemic in the rear-view mirror and her calendar starting to fill up again, I ask Laurin what’s cooking right now.
“I’m preparing now to record those songs I wrote with Kamau for a second album,” she beams. That’s my next major project, which we’ll start recording in 2024. I’m also working on a Brazilian Portuguese language project which I’m very excited about. I just completed a two-month residency at a jazz club in Tokyo, Japan. I would love to do more things like that in 2024.”
“University of the Arts is also occupying my time. I’ve gone back to my alma mater to become a professor of voice.”
“I was slightly conflicted because I loved traveling and performing. But they said that was what they actually wanted … real life working artists to teach their students. So, I’m still able to perform and I teach classes virtually when I travel. My students, all freshmen, are so talented. They have great vocals and are multi-instrumentalists. They’re all very impressive.”
Laurin reveals that being able to impart a creative spark and see it in real time is very important to her. She sees her younger self in many of her students and wants to help them find a place of refuge, no matter what things they may be going through.
“I feel music is that place of refuge, or a healing space for me. It’s nice to be able to give that gift to others, and perhaps be a gateway to finding their own voice.”
This past February, Laurin seized an opportunity to act for the first time in a musical play with the Philadelphia Theater Company. She auditioned for and got the part for a one woman show called Lady Day at the Emerson Bar and Grill. The show consisted of 11 monologues and 14 songs and was based on the life of Billie Holiday. Though extremely challenging, it gave Laurin permission to explore her talent further.
“It was so freeing to do it. I studied Bessie Smith and Louis Armstong and kind of patterned my voice after them, because they were Billie Holliday’s influences.”
“It was such a beautiful challenge to become reacquainted with your own story and the contrast that exists between the sweet and unsavory things you’ve witnessed in your lifetime so that you can find a way to tell another’s story with authenticity .”
A Love for Philadelphia
As we wrap up our conversation, Laurin and I discuss the tour scene and how many of Philadelphia musicians are either touring with top tier artists or creating projects of their own. “Nearly every major band in the world seems to have at least one musician from Philly,” claims Laurin.
“I don’t know if there’s something in the water here, but there’s a grit and glamour to Philly that you just don’t get anywhere else. There are so many visionaries here in almost every field. “
“I’ve been blessed to travel a lot, and Philly is still one my favorite cities in the world. The streets can be mean, but the product that this environment creates is full of expression and beautiful nuanced talent. It’s something everyone in the world needs. I just love it. It’s why I’m still here.”
You can follow Laurin Talese on Instagram @laruintalese, or visit her website www.laurintalese.com for more information.
