Jane Monheit: So This Is Love (An Interview)

It took a little time to warm up to jazz vocalist Jane Monheit in our phone interview. I was after all her last call for the day so I expected a bit of “question fatigue.”

As we discussed the ups and downs of being on the road non-stop since graduating from college and her super nova career launch right out of the gate with handlers and stylists, it is easy to understand why I detected the fatigue.

However, none of this is evident in her music including her latest release, Home, a CD where for the first time she assumed complete control as producer crafting a hastily produced, yet fantastic collection of tunes she and her band are currently supporting with a non-stop tour. 

Suddenly, I heard this tiny voice in the background, it was her child asking a quick question. “Would you mind holding a second,” Monheit says as I hear next the muffled sounds many of us know so well as a mother covers the phone to answer her child.

In addition to a rapid fire touring schedule over the past 12 years, Monheit and her husband, who is also the drummer in her band, found time to get hitched and have a baby.

Juggling a life on the road a single person would be enough for any artist but Monheit is proving she can have it all. So her family unit, which she says includes her husband and child but her band members as well as, spend a lot of time together on the road.

When she returns to the phone, I explain that I love many of the new tracks, which illustrate a wonderful maturity in her voice since college. I think jazz is one of those rare fields where age is rewarded with respect versus say pop music, which is about the next new thing.

“As you get older, you become more confident with your craft,” says Monheit, “But it is so much more than just about me. I am not a singer who is just accompanied by a bunch of musicians.  The band and I are one and we are all about the music.” 

Monheit and I spend more time warming up around the topic of how personal life creeps into a performance and she adds, “I am surprised that no one after all these years has discovered that at the end of many of these songs I add a quick line from a pop tune as I often look back at my husband-drummer.” I add, they know now.

Her Husband is easy to spot in the band she notes since he is covered with tattoos (as is Monheit here and there) but it is not clear how much we will see on stage.

“Oh yes, we have tattoos and you might be able to see one on stage at St. Cecelia’s but their are others that are private,” Monheit says as we laugh, “I used to have a nose earring but that had to come out after our child was born for fear of it being ripped out on a baby’s timetable.”

Other things you may not know about Monheit is that she loves to drive around with her husband listening to the big hair metal acts like Motley Crew and Meshuggah.

And just like she balances this persona she has on stage with this other separate side, she insists there is one item she doesn’t mind sharing from her personal side on the stage with the audience. 

“Each night my son insists I sing ‘Hit the Road to Dreamland,'” says Monheit, “And often I close out my show with this same song for the audience.”

In the end, Monheit stresses that her individuality is a big part of how she approaches music and her interuptations adding, “Everyone is a million different people inside.”

After I hang up a line from a tune Monheit sang to me from Cinderella echoes in my head, “So this is love.” It is a sweet tune to carry me through the rest of my day.

Fall in love with Jane Monheit. (I know I have.)

Jane Monheit in concert continues St. Cecelia’s Music Center commitment to showcasing the very best in music from around the world.  And the greatest crime would be to miss such an opportunity to have the world delivered at your doorstep.  

Admission: $35 / $30 / $10 student