Gypsy Jan - 9-6-2012 at 08:23 PM
From San Diego Red
"My ideal scenario is with 100 people."
"It was complicated during the first days, every transition is a test; the question is: Can you do it? Do you have the courage to do it, got the
guts?"
"We have been telling our readers how new things are happening in Tijuana's old touristic spaces. Avenida Revolución is slowly recovering the vitality
of its golden years, but this time Tijuanenses themselves, not thousands coming from north of the border, are the ones walking through places visited
by their antecessors last century.
We had already told you how at the Gómez Passage young people from the city are injecting new life to old, now historic, places. A quaint paradox:
elder Tijuanenses abandoned the city and their grandchildren are now taking it back. As a part of this process, the Caesar's Hotel sponsored a jazz
and blues concert by The Steph Johnson Band. The trio, formed by the guitar and voice of Steph Johnson, Fernando Gómez on the drums and the
double-bass player Rob Thorsen, filled the corridors and corners of the Gómez Passage with good music and a great ambience on the night of August 25.
The audience, mostly young people, enjoyed an evening that started at 8 when the trio appeared through the corridors of the improvised stage. Steph
(like the singer likes to be called), gently released her notes and chords sharing her personal history through her songs. The temperature started
dropping and despite the cool breeze of the night, Johnson shared the vibe of Gómez' drums and Throsen's strings. Meanwhile we, sitting on the old
chairs of the Café La Especial (located just as you go down the stairs, into the Passage), felt like we were inside a time capsule. The musicians
shared the lyrics of two of their CDs: Mysterious Feminine and Genesee Avenue.
The singer interacted with the audience all the time, she even asked us to join her voice. Two melodies in particular were recognized by the public,
one of them being a cover of late Etta James (who in turned covered Billie Holiday) "The Man I Love" and the other "Freddie Freeloader" by Miles
Davis. Before she finished, Steph shared her life experience. She worked all of her life in US banks, but with the 2008 crisis where the only sure
thing was losing her job, she had to reinvent herself and make a lifestyle of something that had only been a hobby: the music. In her song "The Big
Life" she talks about how despite the changes we always find the way of moving forward, she also gives advice on life "Do what you love."
Steph told us during an interview that music for her is like a journey, a trip. She says that she has "sung about her life since she was young," but
started to sing professionally at 21: with her guitar, she gathered a few musicians and everything went along. "I worked in many bands, but my main
job since I was 16 was the bank although I had been making music as an extra income while I polished my style."
Was the transition from banker to singer difficult?
"It was complicated at first, every transition is a test; the question is: Can you do it? Do you have the courage? The guts? I was in a funky R&B
band, there I met Rob at the Ocean Beach Jazz Festival, that's when I started to play jazz and I had to learn to do it in my guitar and go deeper with
it. What now is The Steph Johnson Band also changed, the entire previous band transformed in a drum set and a double bass; before we had a piano and
two more guitars. I feel freer this way; it forced me to learn because now I am more exposed.
How did Fernando Gómez join?
"From the moment I met Rob I wanted to tour with him because I had decided to play jazz permanently, but we needed a drummer and Fernando Gómez joined
by Rob's suggestion. He auditioned a few musicians and he told me 'I know a guy, he is very young but he is very good.' Steph said that Fernando's age
plus hers equals Rob's age, 'but Fernando is very mature and he's like my brother, while Rob, despite his age, is a young spirit. I feel kind of
without a certain age which allows me to come and go between them.' "
What is next for you three?
"We are going to launch a third CD and tour the west coast. They have invited me to play in Istanbul, in Turkey, we also want to play more often in
Baja California, we want to go to Ensenada and come to Mexico more often. We want to keep playing and growing."
How is your ideal stage like? We saw you getting down and singing with the public.
"My ideal stage is with an audience of 100, if you noticed I was able to get down with the public and to sing among you without microphones to share
that with you. Not many singers do so, that allows me to get closer to the public; when I was young I had trouble because I sang too loud, now I've
learned to do it more comfortably."
When the evening was over, she thanked her musicians and Caesar's Hotel sponsorship for inviting her. She jokingly said "in San Diego, where I live,
the party starts at 9 and ends at 12, here with you it's just starting at 12, so enjoy the night." Lastly, she thanked her "boyfriend" for the two
roses he gave her; he was actually a fan from the audience who honored her music with a pair of flowers.
That is how Steph Johnson said goodbye, taking her music away for the moment, but promising to come back soon. We will probably see her in Tijuana
very often. This is the kind of events that the city needs to spend a peaceful, relaxed Saturday on Revolución, there is more to Tijuana than La Sexta
(6th street)."
Original Text Binomio 1+4 info@b1mas4.com http://b1mas4.com
Translation: Karen.balderas@sandiegored.com