THE SACRED GARDEN
The six selections on For Your Inner Ear represent the influences of musical masters from her childhood. A departure from her usual jazz performance, the resulting cd is a 100% self-produced, organic recording where she does virtually all the music -- arrangement, lyrics, keyboards, drum programming, and vocals.
(Her brother, Michael, contributes the lead piano part on the song, "Dreamer.")For Your Inner Ear goes beyond market-driven labels of R&B, jazz, neo-soul, and other limitations. She hopes that her music will step past your mind and roam through the inner ear of your soul.
Dawn Norfleet's debut recording, For Your Inner Ear "… is a remarkable CD from a remarkable young lady. More than a vocalist and composer and musician, she is a storyteller in the old tradition. The emotion in her sultry voice grabs you right away." -- JazzUSA.com
(For full text, see http://jazzusa.com/stories/hotsing0304.cfm.)
CD & Jazz SamplesUS $12.50
Dawn possesses a solid 3 ½ octave vocal range, and a soulful, earthy flute sound. Shunning restrictive labels, her overall output is an amalgam of all of the styles that have influenced her, from Stevie Wonder to Steely Dan, and from Claudio Monteverdi to John Coltrane.
Born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Inglewood, California, Dawn first became involved in music through Los Angeles public school music programs at age nine and distinguished herself early on as an improviser in local churches and school jazz bands. As a once-aspiring hoofer, Dawn choreographed her first -- and only -- solo tap dance piece at eleven. She began composing music and lyrics at fifteen, accompanying herself on piano. Her early interest in improvisation led naturally to her interest in jazz. Primarily a self-taught flutist until college, she eventually formed nearly her whole existence around music, whether in academia, writing or performance.
Born into a family of musicians, vocal and choral music have always held a particular interest for Dawn. She was perhaps influenced early on by her mother, who taught vocal music at a Watts high school at the time, and often brought her young daughter with her to rehearsals and musical productions. Dawn's musical palate was expanded further by her jazz-organist father, veteran R&B musician brother, and through public school programs that brought schoolchildren to experience operas. In college, Dawn performed in, arranged, and composed for several jazz and European classical ensembles. After moving to New York City, she joined a semi-professional vocal ensemble that premiered a serial composition by respected classical composer, Milton Babbitt. While still a grad student in composition, she wrote a classical choral setting of an ode written by a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance: poet, Jean Toomer. This piece, "Prayer," eventually won an award for emerging composers and was performed in Minneapolis in 2002.
Dawn's eclectic musical history reflects her passion for diverse musical expression. Her past includes stints in several bands, which included Afro-Dominican fusion, garage funk/rock, and hip-hop-tinged spoken word. In the jazz realm, she first paid her dues in the smoky jazz haunts of the highly competitive New York jazz scene in the 1990's. Along the way, she earned her reputation as a respected bandleader, musician and composer. As a result of her openness to the limitless Spirit of music, even her experience in the jazz realm ranges from straight-ahead to the avant-garde: from arranging and interpreting jazz standards, to creating free improvisation. She has worked with brilliant young musical innovators, including pianists Andy Milne and Vijay Iyer, and master percussionist David Pleasant. In blatant disregard for restrictive "Jazz Police," she accompanied R&B superstar, Monica on flute, appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Pepsi Smash, and the Orlando Jones Show. Sharing her gift for music, she gave performances and concert-lectures at Columbia and New York Universities, and the University of Virginia. She also led performance workshops on improvisation at Grinnell College in Iowa, and in public schools and community centers in New York and Los Angeles.
Lyrics
1 9 G O N E - REQUIEM FOR TYISHA MILLER
Words & Music by Dawn Norfleet
© 2004 Uptown West Music (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.a young life stamped out much too fast
19 gone in 16 blasts
one more brown child in the past
19 gone in 16 blasts…west coast winter night began
festive time toward century's end.
some friends took a drive down a lonely road
left sick girl in the car as they phoned.gun in her lap police were warned
as flashlights shined on slumbering form.
then deep sleep changed to loud nightmare
as lead and fire ripped through the air.a young life struck down much too fast
19 gone in 16 blasts
one more brown child in the past
19 gone in 16 blastsnow row row your boat through broken dreams
shattered in the windshield
'cause none heard your plea
shots rained like hail, the judgment complete
guilty as sin for the crime of being…12 in the back, 4 in the head
"'cause she aimed first" the first lie said.
steel wombs don't shed a mother's tears
your antibirth: smoke blood and fear.a young life struck down much too fast.
19 gone in 16 blasts.
a precious brown child laid to rest
19 gone in 16 blasts.
19 gone in 16 blasts
19 gone…
ROAM
Words & Music by Dawn Norfleet
© 2004 Uptown West Music (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.do you wanna roam thru my secret garden?
do you wanna get lost, or do you wanna find your way
like a mother's arms my world is a safe place to staydo you wanna roam thru my secret garden
if you get lost, i can show you the way
take a little time and relax, there's no pressure to stay
...even just a little whiledo you wanna roam thru my secret garden
you want me to guide or let you feel your own way
like a second home you'll know you're so welcome to stay
...for even just a little whileleave all worry when you to come to this mountain
don't mind the forest as you wind thru the trees
i will take you to my private fountain, if you
expand your zones of comfort's boundaries.don't you wanna learn what's in my garden
secrets of my hidden garden
don't you wanna roam inside my garden
....the sacred garden of my mind?do you wanna home in my secret garden
the guards surround, but i can send them all away
if you show me your soul, maybe i'll show you mine and let's play...play with me a little while(i can be your lover, or i can be your muse
enter into my mind's womb
make a pretty little baby-tune)never you be afraid when you come to this mountain
slide down the valley from my highest peak
slow dance to music near my private fountain, then we'll
whirl on the edges of our boundariesyou won't regret it when you face that mountain
take in the forest and get lost in the trees
bask in the waters of my private fountain, as we
discover our each other's destiniesdon't you wanna learn what's in my garden
secrets of my hidden garden.
don't you wanna roam inside my garden
...the sacred garden of my mind?
