Milwaukee-based singer and saxophonist Suzanne Grzanna is something of a hybrid. She's rooted in jazz, but on her CDs and at her gigs, she also performs classic pop standards and her own original songs.
So you shouldn't be surprised to hear the glamorous musician and vocalist wail on "A Night in Tunisia," then sing "Fly Me to the Moon" before performing a couple Grzanna-penned works.
The daughter of musicians, Grzanna has lived and worked in New York and Los Angeles, but has always come back to Milwaukee, which she again calls home. As she prepares to release her fourth CD, "Simply Sunday," on her own Diva Records imprint, we asked her about her music, her CDs and more.
OMC: What's your writing method like? How do you start and how do you determine whether something will be an instrumental or a song with lyrics?
SG: It varies. I write songs as instrumentals when I want to convey my song through the saxophone. For example, "Follow your Heart" was inspired by my dear friend and mentor Frank Morgan. When he was around Milwaukee and Los Angeles, he would always inspire me to keep true to my heart and follow my path. Being a musician is not always an easy task. There are a lot of circumstances that come up and try to stop the journey. To have longevity as an artist one needs to keep focused through all of the times of life.
"Love You" is another sax instrumental written to my husband, Chris. Sometimes there are so many feelings that only a melody can say the words. Now, "Love in the City" was originally written for a film and it never got added. I have been to New York many times and for this song I wrote my feelings about the great city. It is very exciting and romantic.
Every song with lyrics I want to convey a story of my own words. With the saxophone I like to show my feeling through the horn and let you imagine the story.
OMC: From where do you draw your inspiration for the songs you write?
SG: My inspiration for the songs can be from anywhere. I am a very empathic person and I feel other people's joy and sadness. So sometimes it comes from a struggle of someone I may know. But a lot of the time many of the songs I write are from my own experiences. I almost feel like my CDs are my version of a diary. I look back and listen to some of my earlier music I wrote and remember the exact time and why I wrote the song.
For example, "The Cat's Meow" CD I recorded right after college days; half in New York and half here in Milwaukee. Then I filmed the video of "The Cat's Meow." In "Fly Me to the Moon" I recorded more standard tunes. Then I did the Christmas CD and wrote "My Santa Baby" which I did on a napkin, sitting in my car on Brady Street.
Most of the songs on "Simply Sunday," I wrote during my travel days. "Moonsand" and "Simply Sunday" I wrote in Maui a few years ago. "My Valentine," "Summer Dreams," "Love You" and Living Your Dream" were all written while I was living in Los Angeles. I think the songs speak for themselves for how I was feeling at that time. I also just love playing my father's tune, " Spring Waltz." It is by far the most moving song one could hear.
OMC: Tell us a bit about the musicians you recorded the disc with ...
SG: I absolutely love the musicians! Scott Currier is just excellent at the piano. Harold Miller is so awesome at the bass, and scats a lot while he plays solos. Andy Lo Duca is the man at the drums. I have known them all for a long time and they are great people and it's a great band and they've made an amazing contribution to the album.
OMC: This is your fourth disc in a decade or so. Are you always working on a CD or do you focus hard to get it together and get it released? For a lot of locally based musicians, doing the latter is a luxury and the former is more the reality, due to financial considerations.
SG: I guess my answer is yes. Basically I am always working on something. It does cost a lot to release a CD and being a very small label I can't compete with the large labels. I have tried. No matter how hard you work it is almost impossible. But since the Internet came along everything is quite a bit easier. Now someone can download my music from iTunes or buy it from CDBABY.com or go to the local Exclusive Company or Barnes and Noble and pick it up. It also takes a lot of extra time. There is a lot of work involved promoting the CD and getting ready for concert. But I tell you, if I had unlimited funds, I would be releasing a CD every other week.
OMC: What do you think of the state of jazz in Milwaukee? Is it healthy or struggling to survive?
SG: I think Milwaukee has a great scene. There seems to be a lot of venues around to perform at and many musicians around town. Many players start in Milwaukee and then venture off to other cities that have more opportunities that just the nightlife. But I thing Milwaukee is a superb city. You know I did come back from L.A. because we wanted to raise our children in a nice safe city without all the traffic. Oh, and my family lives here and I couldn't let my children grown up without knowing them.
OMC: When do you play next?
SG: Right now I am doing bigger concerts and May 12 is the big CD release of "Simply Sunday" (at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center in Waukesha). I have many roles as my life goes on. The most important role to me is being there for my family. I have a 2-year-old named Audrey, a 7-month-old named Mason and a fantastic husband. So I have chosen to be selective of my performances. I do have some other gigs coming up this summer, so someone could check my Web site, saxdiva.com, for other upcoming dates.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
