by Harold McMillan

ADA: Why do you think what you do is important?

Pam Hart: Women in Jazz is the only program in Austin devoted to promoting female jazz vocals and musicians. It is also the only program that offers a vocal jazz workshop. The female jazz performance and workshop programs keep traditional jazz vocals alive and well, as we see less and less singers interested in singing jazz. This is an American art form that is so beautiful and requires such special skills that it cannot be forgotten. We cannot replace Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn or Billie Holiday, but we can nurture other singers who will develop their own unique jazz singing style. The workshop offers instruction on not just singing, but jazz singing.

The difference between jazz and any other singing style is that a jazz song is seldom sung the same way twice. The singer improvises through the melody and takes whatever road fits the emotion at the moment. The singer also needs to know how to communicate with musicians in a jazz tune. There is much more to it, and it's more than one will learn at singing lessons. We fill in the gaps at the Women in Jazz Singers' Workshop.

ADA: How would you characterize the jazz scene in Austin?

PH: The Austin jazz scene is very bleak. There are very few venues that offer jazz. The one venue that offers jazz every night has jazz vocal maybe once or twice a month, so vocal jazz is very scarce in Austin. I stopped participating in SXSW because its jazz component was mediocre. No attention is ever given to the jazz venues during that festival.

ADA: How is doing a nonprofit project better/worse/different/the same as jazz in the clubs?

PH: Starting the Women in Jazz nonprofit project has helped female vocalists and some female musicians gain more exposure in the Austin community. For some, it is the only venue where they were presented in a professional manner -- with a quality sound system, a large audience and a production -- not just a gig. The 30 minutes each performer has in Women in Jazz provides an experience and memories that a performance at a club cannot. There are some singers, however, and I'm one of them, who do appreciate the intimacy of a club setting. I like to sing up close to my audience. If in that setting they would listen as attentively as they do in the concert halls, it would be ideal. But Austin is still learning how to attend a club act and listen.

ADA: Who is your audience?

PH: The Women in Jazz audience is highly diverse. We like it that way. Our major audience are the people who appreciate jazz the most -- people between 35 and 80. Then there are those who are just hip enough to like vocal jazz. Most are women.

ADA: Is it different to focus on vocal jazz?

PH: It is different to focus on vocal jazz because the choices are very limited. We have a great group of jazz vocalists here in the Austin area. I'm sure I haven't tapped them all. When it comes to recruiting a singer or musician, though, the playing field feels even scarcer. The talent is either too expensive or they change their act. For example, the Rachelle Farrell we knew two years ago, the jazz singer, is now an R&B singer. Marketing a jazz singer is a challenge because not many people are into jazz vocals. Many people I know didn't know who Dianne Reeves was until they attended Women in Jazz. To my surprise, many didn't even know Nancy Wilson! Well, everybody isn't into what I'm into, so that is just one of those challenges we have to face as we continue with this program.

HM: General plans for the future?

PH: Women in Jazz will host a local show on September 29. We'll start at 10am with a Singers' Performance Workshop at the State Theater. Mady Kaye and me are the instructors. That night we have two shows, one at 7 and the other at 9:30. The concert will feature Pamela Hart and The Beat Divas (Dianne Donovan, Mady Kaye and Beth Ullman). This will be a great show. Then on December 2, in cooperation with UT, we're bringing back Miss Nancy Wilson at the Bass Concert Hall. I will open for her.

ADA: Women in Jazz, on the road in the future?

PH: Not as long as we receive funding from The City of Austin. We have received offers for co-producers, but nothing solid yet.

ADA: Any interest in doing music full-time? Why/why not?

PH: I have always had the goal of doing music full-time. First, I wanted to wait until [daughter] Shelby was old enough to leave behind for days at a time, and I also wanted to get my "act" together and be ready. Now that I am ready, that is a new direction that I will pursue heavily in 2002. I went to Europe this summer and performed with James Polk's Southwest Texas State Jazz Band. They really liked me there, and I got a surge of energy to do much more.

ADA: Your funding sources? Better/worse since the economic downturn?

PH: Don't ask. We felt it first when Dell Computer Corporation didn't fund us. We are also receiving less donations from private donors. Our City funding has remained almost flat the last four years.

ADA: Best moments in your producing history? Worst?

PH: The best moment was the Nancy Wilson concert. It was our first sold-out show at a major venue, and the show was wonderful. It also helped to have Miss Nancy Wilson invite me on stage to sing with her. She was really into the whole concept of what we were trying to do with Women in Jazz, so she gave back that night. The worst I would say would be our Straight Ahead concert. This is an all female group we invited from Detroit. The band was great, but we didn't present them properly. We had three singers go on before them and lost most of our audience before they came on. That was a big learning experience.

ADA: Is it possible to separate Pam Hart the singer from Women in Jazz ?

PH: Sure it is. I would expect Women in Jazz to continue even if I weren't here. As long as I am, though, it's my baby. Of course, it's Kevin's baby too. He has become a major partner in this production. He has great organizational and project management skills that have brought us a long way in simplifying the production. All of the technical aspects of the project -- contacts, back line, travel, radio ads, ticketing -- he does. I concentrate on fund raising, print ads, some marketing, the workshops and working with vocalists. We both work very hard.

ADA: Should [husband] Kevin Hart really be the person being interviewed?

PH: You may want to get some insight from Kevin. He is just as much a part of Women in Jazz as I am.

ADA: Brief history of Pam and Women in Jazz?

PH: Women in Jazz started in 1994 as an offshoot of Black Women in Jazz, which was a Pam Hart idea given to the Black Arts Alliance. When Harold (McMillan) brought it to my attention that they were no longer going to do the show, I decided right then that it would continue and be inclusive. Our first shows were held at Antone's. We also had shows at the Helm Fine Arts Center, the Victory Grill, the State Theater and the Paramount Theatre. The shows have been video taped, and you may still catch shows from 1996 through 1998 on the Austin Music Network. In addition to the wonderful vocal talent such as Tina Marsh, Hope Morgan, Beth Ullman, Mady Kaye, Willie Nicholson, Karan Chavis, Jacqui Cross, Maryann Price and many more, we have had Carmen Bradford, Dianne Reeves, Straight Ahead, saxophonist Rachella Parks, and Miss Nancy Wilson.

ADA: Thoughts on the jazz scene in Austin as a "community"?

PH: We don't have a jazz "community." Producers don't get together to plan an Austin jazz calendar or to consult on show dates. We hardly even support one another. That would be nice, though.

ADA: What's coming up for Pam and Women in Jazz soon?

PH: In 2002, we're going to concentrate more on the vocal workshops. We are working on having Bobby McFerrin host a workshop in April. We will also host a national act and a show with local singers.