A passion play

Jennifer Minuto and 'the emotional thing'

by Bob Gulla

Jennifer Minuto

When talking with Jennifer Minuto, you get the idea that music is not so much a vocation but a destiny, a place she knows at which she'll arrive no matter what the conditions or the obstacles. Unlike many potential career musicians, Jennifer holds no doubt about it. She was born to play, born to sing, born to write. And when you see her do any one of those things, you'll believe in her and in her quest. There are musicians and there are obsessive practitioners. Jennifer Minuto qualifies as the latter.

"I've never doubted I would be anything other than a songwriter," she says, in a quiet, rather breathless voice. "I could feel so much so young, I never doubted it. Music was my existence when I needed answers or felt anything that needed interpretation. Of course, there have been many frustrating times, because of the industry and the business and having to step outside of the purity of the artistry. But still, I could never imagine being anything else."

Minuto, a native of East Greenwich, began playing piano at the age of five, and gigging in clubs by the time she was 15. She studied classical and jazz as well as improvisation and composition soon after. The voices of Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Joan Armatrading, and John Lennon began working their magic, inspiring Minuto, now 29, to delve deeply into music as art.

While a four-year stint at URI saw Minuto exploring politics -- she became the youngest woman elected to the RI Women's Political Caucus and enjoyed other high-ranking college appointments -- she never stopped gigging and writing. A Master's degree from Vermont's freewheeling Goddard College, in a Music and Expression program, followed.

In 1996, her creativity manifested itself in her first film, On the Mother Road, in which she interviewed various women artists, writers, and songwriters. To that, of course, she provided the score.

"You're never not a songwriter," she says. "You're constantly gathering information and ideas and people and emotions. You're an incubator for possible songs."

But can't constantly carrying around songs like that be a burden? "My piano is on my shoulder in the rain, in the snow, night after night, and to have the excitement and the gift in hand despite that means that I truly believe in these songs and what I do."

As you can imagine, writing is a labor of love for Minuto. "It's a lonely life," she admits. "You melt yourself down and sit for hours and sometimes don't write a word; just sit in the feeling and let it come to some kind of honest place." She brightens. "You have to be a dreamer, too. You have to be someone who senses a deep vision, someone who can be in touch with what is most soulful, someone who pays attention to life and humanity. Then you have to consider: How can I possibly give something, an invitation to people to hear my music?"

If you've seen Jennifer Minuto at one of her many local gigs -- she held frequent court over at Jazzmasters this summer -- you know she believes fully in what she does. Whether she's belting out a Janis Joplin tune, swinging to classic Billie Holiday, or leaning into one of her own heartfelt, piano-based pop tunes, she throws herself into the material mind, body, and soul. Her eyes closed, her chestnut hair draped over the ivories, her voice irresistible.

"I guess I'm a passionate player," she says. "I try to sing with a lot of romance and sadness and excitement, whatever it needs. If I don't have anything else, I have the emotional thing down. I close my eyes when I play. I have a poster hanging in my studio that has a Paul Gauguin quote: `I shut my eyes in order to see.' "

That philosophy, that emotion, in part, helped Minuto take home the coveted first prize in the Live at the Apollo Amateur Night Competition this spring in New York City. She covered Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" on an out-of-tune piano and mowed the audience down. It was another massive milestone in Minuto's fast-moving career.

Today, the diva is delving into the recording of her new album. Shuttling between her home in Providence and her second home in NYC, Minuto has been working with Grammy-nominated producer Richard Abbondante in a variety of studio settings, including Kampo Cultural Center, the preferred NYC haunt of performers like Paul McCartney and Bonnie Raitt.

"This record is like a dream come true," she says. "It's the first installation of having a gift to give. It'll be the first widely released collection of my original songs, so this is huge. The energy and excitement has been so great for years and not only am I ready with songs that I'm excited about, but also the excitement of the public is so high. It feels like everything's really catapulting."

Interestingly, the idea of "success" never comes up in the hour of my discussion with Jennifer. It's as if her very dedication is success itself, that succeeding in the industry has solely to do with exploring the artistry and opportunities of being a songwriter and a performer, that success is putting out a record for the people who believe in her. That success has nothing to do with money or fame, rather something more spiritual and worthwhile.

"I desperately want to leave a legacy, to give something important to the world."

WANDERING EYE. Things are going great at www.downcitysignal.com, a local music outlet run by Sean and Tyler at Rattlehead Records. They're still hovering at about 25 listeners a day, which is awesome since it's completely unadvertised as of yet. The station played 19,725 tracks from 45 local musicians like you to almost 800 listeners! So, needless to say, they're confident that when their advertising begins in September, things will really take off. Check it out and send your music and gig info on to them for some valuable exposure.

Cool stuff going on AS220 this weekend. On Friday at 9: am*be*thang, a monthly event for acoustic, media, experimental, techno, ambient, and grooves. The audio portion includes Spogga, Ukuphambana, Codec, and Gallimimus, while the video segment features Serotonin and Ogre B. Bring a fin for admission and a few more for beer. More information available at: as220.org/ambethang.

Also this weekend, you can catch the very worthwhile Jazz and Blues at the Pier Festival on the beach at the North Pavilion in Narragansett, on Saturday at the conventional hours of 3 to 7. Funkshon, an all-state youth jazz/funk ensemble, kick it, Debra Mann and Clay Osborne will sing in a quartet setting, the high energy Psychic Horns led by Dan Moretti will prick up your ears without a doubt, and Mike Dinallo, formerly of Radio Kings, will play some down and dirty blues. It's a good lineup and it's free.

Bob Gulla can be reached at b_gulla@yahoo.com.