Amira El-Naqeeb talks to the versatile jazz singer Michelle Rounds It is her exuberant presence: confident, funny, and comfortable. This is no Myers Brigs personality test; it's just that Michelle Rounds's personality is reflected in her performance. Her body language, swinging smoothly with each melody, sweeps her audience from one field to the next. Rounds concert took place in El-Sawy Cultural wheel in Zamalek, and she posses a voice that takes one's breath away. It is exhilarating to see how musicians explore and rearrange an existing melody, turning it into an original piece. Rounds serenaded us with Irving Berlin's waltz "What'll I do", made famous by Grace Moore and John Steel, but when she sang sing it the notes were like softly falling snow on a winter's day, or like the happy expectation of Christmas Eve. "What'll I do" was written in 1924; the Nat King Cole trio recorded it in 1947, and Frank Sinatra later made an acceptable version. Rounds then glided smoothly into a samba; "One Note Samba", and with that she set the theatre on fire. I was swaying right and left in my seat, and wishing I could be barefoot somewhere in Brazil. She took me there, with her voice like rough silk, smooth but husky. "Jazz is kind of loose, and groovy," Rounds said later to the Weekly. I remembered first time I listened to Astrud Gilberto singing it on her CD Coffee and Bossa, and how different it felt from Rounds's rendition. Then came the song that rocked my world: Dave Brubeck's "Take Five". Hesham Galal showed us his mastery on the piano with a powerful rhythm and an ability to cope with Rounds' mood swings. Rounds a gain spiced up the concert with "Aquarilla de Brasil", which sent everyone up on a rainbow. Coming from a family of musicians, Rounds grew up surrounded by the sounds of music. "I grew up listening to Julie London, Marion Montgomery and Nat King Cole," she told Al-Ahram Weekly. Seeing how inspirational Rounds is, I was curious to know what inspired her. Her Pacific island heritage--Fiji, Tonga, New Zealand and Samoa--gives Rounds the credentials to describe herself in her song "Half-cast": "We are street and sophisticated. We can do it in both worlds. We are adaptable, versatile. At the beginning you feel you don't fit, but then you realise that you do," and she hums "We can cut it in society; we can cut it on the street." Rounds has been fortunate enough to visit a great many places. "It's Japan and Egypt that are closest to my heart, I'm comfortable and happy in those countries, which mean my creativity is blooming," she said. Rounds said this was a historic time for Egypt, and she was glad to be present to witness it. Her son is writing a song about Egypt which she will soon be singing. During her career Rounds has created two bands, Michelle Rounds and Get Funked and Michelle Rounds and the Soul of Jazz, but she now sings only as Michelle Rounds. Rounds explored "Still We Dream", an original composition by the king of piano Thelonious Monk (when played without lyrics this masterpiece is known as Ugly Beauty). Each soloist perfectly captures the music's emotion, and in Rounds's version her vocals breathe life into the piece. The exceptional chemistry between her and her bass player Andre Fegone was particularly noticeable here. Rounds folded one song into the next with a combination of beautiful tempo changes, a sultry voice and some rhythmic scatting. To my surprise, Rounds said that the people she believed sang in a way that is very difficult for most singers are Egyptians Abdel-Basit Hammouda and Hassan El-Asmar. "They sing in a very difficult way. Straight, and very raw; you can't sustain it; it's too much for your vocal chords. Its [putting] stress on the whole body. However, very impressive," she said. According to Rounds, this concert was reasonably mild. "I believe that a concert is about my wanting to feel you, and you, as an audience, wanting to feel me. There should be this connection .That's what concerts are all about." The audience's wild and sincere applause certainly bore this out.
