I think jazz has given me freedom with my voice.
I'm comfortable singing jazz. The only thing I was concerned about is that everybody, even in jazz, has their own style. To me, the queen of doodling was Ella Fitzgerald, and scatting is something I never thought I could do.
I've been a massive obsessive about jazz singers all my life.
One doesn't have to scat to be a jazz singer.
I've sung a whole lot of jazz. It's my favorite style of music to sing. People don't realize it, because they're so accustomed to hearing me sing musical theater.
Dianne Reeves, a famous jazz singer, would be my biggest influence.
The most common misconception about me is that I'm basically a jazz singer.
I studied and sang lot of jazz when I was growing up. I think that plays a little bit into some of the things I do vocally, notes that I pick in chords.
Intermittently in my concert format, I sing a little jazz, a little scatting.
My strength is to communicate with an audience and to know what jazz singing is capable of.
No one in the world can beat Ella Fitzgerald as a riff singer.
I want to be the jazz singer.
