Goddess Jazz

[Alysa Guillama]

Oneof the greatest tennis players the world has ever seen was a woman few even remember. A championship player by the age of fifteen in a Europe overshadowed by impending war, Suzanne Lenglen broke records for ticket sales and match winning streaks, scandalised and entranced the public with her playing outfits, and became a pioneer, making friends and enemies throughout restrictive tennis society in the trailblazing jazz age.

Tom Humberstone has produced some highly memorable comic strips across his career for the likes of The Nib, The New Statesman, Vox, Buzzfeed and the Eisner nominated anthology Nelson. This is his first full length graphic novel and it proves to be quite the debut. It helps when you have a subject matter as fascinating as Lenglen. Tennis is obviously a mainstream sport around the world and has led to several players becoming major stars. However, this was a radically different time and idea that a female tennis player could become a sport sensation in the early 20th century was unheard of.

In addition to being a fascinating snapshot of the jazz age in Europe, this is a brilliant exploration of a woman who revolutionised both how tennis was played and how it was viewed by the public, not to mention the impact she had on Wimbledon itself. Tom Humberstone continues to prove himself as one to watch.

The fact that anyone had indeed drawn such a parallel between the 26-year-old jazz pianist and the keyboardist-bandleader of one of the greatest prog-rock bands of all time seemed noteworthy, if not flattering on the merits. But one thing became evident during a two-hour conversation over video from her hotel room in New York: Han hates being compared to others in general.

She had just flown in from a jazz festival in Vancouver to do a video shoot at the famed factory of her main endorser, Steinway & Sons. Sporting a shoulder-length rocker hairstyle that looked eerily similar to the cuts worn by all three of Emerson, Lake & Palmer during their heyday, Han exudes an aura less compatible with jazz and more with any other popular music genre, be it rock, funk, punk or hip-hop: a defiant, brash, f*#k-you attitude and image that has nothing to do with fitting into any societal norms of modesty and decorum. Quite contrarily, she intends to push audiences out of their comfort zones into areas that are more, shall we say, dangerous.

Born in Los Angeles to Chinese parents who were at one point both career musicians, Han started piano lessons at age 5, with her mother being her first teacher. She acknowledges her early classical training and the work ethic passed down from her parents through some cultural and/or genetic traits as crucial to her ability to play the way she does.

Sun Goddess is a jazz album by Ramsey Lewis, released on Columbia Records in 1974. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 12 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.[5][6] Sun Goddess was also certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.[7]

After his classic acoustic albums in the 1960s, Ramsey Lewis wanted to head in a new musical direction in the 1970s. As the mid-70s approached, he reunited with Maurice White, who at that time was with his own band, Earth, Wind & Fire. Members of EW&F including White played on the album sessions, while Philip Bailey added vocals.[8]

The album became a crossover hit, charting at No. 1 on the Billboard R&B and jazz album charts, while peaking at No. 12 on the pop album chart. The tracks, "Hot Dawgit" and "Sun Goddess", charted on the R&B, pop and disco singles charts.[9] Sun Goddess was certified gold by the RIAA.[7]

For years, the identity of the woman on the album cover, photographed by Herb Breuer, had been a mystery among fans, as there was no credit on the album cover. Lewis revealed on his Facebook page in June 2011 that the model was Susan Leigh Scott, now Susan Maxon.[10] Maxon had moved to Seattle, where Lewis was performing during his 2011 Sun Goddess Tour, and decided to attend one of his performances. A photo was taken of the backstage meeting between Lewis and Maxon, which Lewis posted on his page.

The first 50 years of modern advertising was based on hard-sell. The next 50 years was persuasion through creativity and media tonnage. But as advertising squeezed into the 21 century, it was forced to shed its elbowing ways and become a delicate dialogue. The goal is no longer to triumph by weight, but to win by influence. CBC's Under the Influence is hosted by Terry O'Reilly.

Dramatic tales, killer beats and the edgiest new talent in storytelling come together for a weekly show that straps audiences into an audio rollercoaster. From WNYC Studios. Hosted by Glynn Washington.

Radiolab is known for its deep-dive journalism and innovative sound design. Created in 2002 by former host Jad Abumrad, the program began as an exploration of scientific inquiry. Over the years it has evolved to become a platform for long-form journalism and storytelling. Radiolab is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser.

Laufey: My mother's a violinist, so I grew up playing cello and piano and then I started singing jazz when I was 12 or 13. We always had jazz playing in the house. I just became obsessed with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday and these jazz icons with these deeper voices.

You have received a lot of love for your music. What do you think then that says about the kinds of music that young people do enjoy these days? What do you think it is about this time that we're living in that makes that work?

I think new audiences alike, whether it be Gen Z, or even Gen A, audiences are incredibly versatile. There's just so much exposure to different genres of music and different eras of film and TV. There's this openness towards new music on TikTok. Even on social media, these songs from the 90s, 80s, 70s, down to like the 40s, fly up the charts just because they're having little viral moments. It's incredibly exciting. You're no longer boxed into genres.

It was crazy because I remember I had, like, 1,000 followers. I gained 10,000 followers within a week. Back then, it felt like I had made it. [Social media] played a huge role. It was the only way I had of exposing my music to the public during the pandemic. I couldn't play live anywhere. I figured out how to grow an audience there, and it became my community. I'd write a song, I'd open up a live stream, and I'd get feedback from the audiences. I'd decide which songs to continue, and it just snowballed from there.

For me, the most successful songs are the ones that are the most authentic to me, which is a really, really lucky chain of events. After Everything I Know About Love, I found that the songs that were performing the best were the songs that either most closely resembled jazz standards, or were the ones that were recorded live with a symphony orchestra. I also felt this higher level of confidence. I'd grown a bigger audience that were just willing to listen to what I put out, not just for the song, but for my vision and musicality.

It's been several months or so since you released your second album, and a couple of days since releasing adeluxe version. Is there anything new that Laufey wants to try with her next set of records? Like could we see you dabbling in different genres, kind of Beyonc style?

Oh my God. I mean, I want to do a country album at some point. 100%. Like, an old kind of bluesy country album? Absolutely. I'm open to anything. I definitely feel quite adamant on my mission of introducing jazz and classical, like, that's still my life blood, so we'll see. I'm not closing anything out. I just love all kinds of music and I feel like I've gotten to the point where my audience trusts me and I can make the music I want.

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