[MUSIC - GRACE KELLY]
[CHEERING]
SPEAKER 1: Do we have room for one more?
Grace Kelly, ladies and gentlemen.
GRACE KELLY: Thank you.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER 1: And your colleagues and friends.
Putting our music room to very good use.
I think there's a-- oh, You have it.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah, I got one.
SPEAKER 1: It's my honor and pleasure
to introduce you to Grace a little bit more,
get to know her.
If you haven't heard of Grace Kelly,
then you haven't traveled on the T today.
"Improper Bostonian" just came out.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah, today.
SPEAKER 1: Just today.
You are incredibly, incredibly busy.
And you do a lot of diversified things.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: You're originally from Boston, moved to LA, now
in New York.
GRACE KELLY: Yes.
SPEAKER 1: But Boston this week.
Why?
GRACE KELLY: So yesterday-- is this on?
This cool?
You can hear?
So yesterday-- I'm part of this documentary about a mentor--
now it's on.
I'm part of a documentary about a mentor of mine in music.
He passed away, but he's the late, great saxophonist
Frank Morgan.
And he was a protégé of the bebop saxophonist and the king,
Mr. Charlie Parker.
Frank was asked to join Duke Ellington's orchestra
when he was 18.
But he couldn't because his parents said he was too young.
And he should be one of those jazz saxophonists
that everyone knows, but he spent 30 years
in and out of San Quentin due to drugs.
So this is a documentary about his life.
And I got to know him in the last two years of his life.
And we were very close.
We played a lot.
So that premiered in Boston at the--
in Brookline at the Brookline Coolidge Corner Theatre.
And it was exciting.
So that's why I'm here.
Because it's played at the LA Film Fest.
It's played all over.
But that was its first screening in the area.
SPEAKER 1: But you'll also be back in Boston
at the end of the month.
GRACE KELLY: I will.
So May 22, Sunday May 22, you can put it down
in your Google Calendars.
I will be at the Berklee Performance Center
with a fantastic band of mine.
And we're going to be celebrating my new CD.
And it's going to be a multimedia, visual thing
and really cool.
So I hope you guys can come.
It's going to be lots of fun.
SPEAKER 1: Incredible.
So a new CD.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: Is this with a regular band?
GRACE KELLY: So this CD has probably
20-plus musicians on it-- including special guest
Jon Batiste sings and plays harmoni-board on it.
Michael League, who's the founder of the band Snarky
Puppy and plays bass in that band,
Shayna Steele, Mocean Worker.
But there's a lot of cats, including band members of mine
and then just other incredible musicians
that added their talents to it.
SPEAKER 1: And is this all originals,
or is there a mix of originals and standards?
GRACE KELLY: It's a mix of it.
There's a good amount of originals.
And then there's some of my favorite standards.
And it's kind of a thematic CD in the way
that from the first track to the last track,
it goes from darkness into light.
I called it an emotional musical journey.
And every song kind of uncovers more of that.
So that's how I picked the songs that I wanted.
SPEAKER 1: So then will you be touring elsewhere
to support the album?
GRACE KELLY: Yeah.
So I've been doing--
we're going to be doing some stuff in the West Coast coming
up.
And we have some gigs.
I've been doing this gig with Jon Batiste playing
on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."
So that's like an everyday thing Monday through Friday.
So it's been a little bit tricky to figure out how
to kind of get it all together.
But they've been super flexible in letting
me go off and perform.
Like today, they were like, OK, go do your thing.
And then I drive back to New York tonight,
and then I'm on the show tomorrow.
SPEAKER 1: Wow.
GRACE KELLY: So yeah, it's--
that came up so last minute for me in December
that it's just been a juggling act now of being like, OK,
how can we fit in all of these great things?
SPEAKER 1: Gosh, I can imagine.
So then-- but that's not the only way we'll see you on TV,
right?
GRACE KELLY: Right.
So I was asked in May--
I think the premier is May 31, right?
On NBC, there's a new show called
"Maya & Marty in Manhattan."
And it's Martin Short and Maya Rudolph.
It's kind of an updated Carol Burnett variety show.
And I was asked to be in the band for that.
So I'm hopping over to Rockefeller Center
to record that.
SPEAKER 1: Sweet.
GRACE KELLY: And that's going to be six episodes, right
after "America's Got Talent" on NBC.
So you can tune in.
The first episode will be May 31.
And it's supposed to be a lot of musical guests and comedians,
so I'm guessing it's going to be really fun.
SPEAKER 1: But then you're also on an Amazon show, right?
GRACE KELLY: Yes, I am.
Yeah, it's been a TV year, which is great.
SPEAKER 1: I'm exhausted just [INAUDIBLE]..
GRACE KELLY: So some of you might know the great "New York
Times" best-selling author Michael Connelly.
And he writes these detective novels.
One of them is about Harry Bosch.
I mean he's written 20-something books about him.
And it got turned into a TV show that Amazon Prime picked up.
So season one was super successful.
People loved it.
It's so well-done.
And then in season two, it features my band
and me playing in front of the main character Harry Bosch.
And I'm playing a song that I wrote
for him called "Blues for Harry Bosch," which
is the first track on the CD.
And so that came out March 11, the whole season.
And it's very binge watching worthy.
And they just got the green light for season three too.
But it came about--
Michael Connelly, the author, wrote an email to me.
And he said, hey, I wrote a part for you in our TV show.
Any chance that you would want to come do it?
I was like, hmm, let me check.
Yeah, I'm free.
I'm very free.
SPEAKER 1: You have to clear it with Colbert.
But otherwise, you're free.
So it's interesting.
So you work with Stephen Colbert.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: And you're doing this show with Martin Short and Maya
Rudolph.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: All master improvisers in comedy.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah, totally.
SPEAKER 1: You yourself a master improviser in music.
GRACE KELLY: Thanks.
SPEAKER 1: Now what is that relationship?
Do you get to collaborate improvisationally
with these folks?
What is that relationship like?
GRACE KELLY: Well, it's just super fun for me
because I love the spontaneity of jazz.
And like the fact that we all just got together
this afternoon and playing music that we didn't even
rehearse before today, that's kind of how Stephen operates.
It's really fun.
Like certain moments in the show,
you might not see it because it's during commercial breaks.
But for the live audience, he'll come over to the band.
And he'll start singing and dancing with us
or just go over to the piano and start playing.
And so it's just the mentality behind these great comedians
with the musicians.
We're all from the same language, which I love.
So it just makes everything feel much more fluid.
SPEAKER 1: And then according to your bio,
you say that not only do you use improvisational techniques
or mindset in your music, but also in the rest of your life.
GRACE KELLY: Totally.
SPEAKER 1: Can you give an example
of some non-musical-related incident or anything where
improvisation helped you?
GRACE KELLY: Yeah, yeah.
I mean I think it's really important--
since I've been studying jazz and studying improvisation,
it just kind of creeps into my life.
And sometimes I'm way more laid back about situations
than I probably should be.
But it's just how I've been trained.
But there was this one time years
ago that I was supposed to go to the Apollo Theater in New York
City to go see a show that featured all the jazz greats.
Like Dave Brubeck was there, Wynton Marsalis.
The woman putting on the concert was like, yeah, you can get in.
I'll get you backstage.
So I was super excited.
And then last minute, she said, actually,
all the tickets are sold out.
And we can't get you in.
And so maybe the non-improvising Grace
would be like, oh shoot, and just super bummed out,
and go to my hotel, and eat Twizzlers and be sad.
But I was with one of my mentors that night.
And he said, well, why don't we go to Roth's Steakhouse.
There's a great trio playing nearby.
So I was like, OK, cool.
So we went to Roth's.
And I had my horn with me.
And the pianist playing said, hey,
why don't you come sit in with the band?
He was great.
The trio was awesome.
And then he said, why don't you stick around
for the second set?
And we have a trumpeter coming in.
Is it OK if he sits in with us too?
I'm like, sure, cool.
It's your gig.
And then who walks in?
The trumpeter is Wynton Marsalis to Roth's Steakhouse--
in front of like 10 people who probably didn't even
know who he was because they're just eating steaks and not
paying attention.
We played a whole second set together.
And then like a week later, I got a call
from his people being like, would Grace
be a guest with Wynton's Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
at Rose Hall for three nights?
And that was kind of a case of really going with the flow.
And something way better and amazing happened.
SPEAKER 1: That's so awesome.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: I want to get back to the music
because there's a lot more music coming.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: But I just--
it's really impressive to kind of run down your history
because you wrote your first song at seven.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah.
SPEAKER 1: You recorded your first record at 12.
GRACE KELLY: Yes.
SPEAKER 1: You wrote an entire arrangement for the Boston Pops
at 14.
GRACE KELLY: Right.
SPEAKER 1: And you played at Obama's inauguration at 16.
GRACE KELLY: I'm tired.
Phew.
That's a lot of stuff.
SPEAKER 1: Again.
That's whee-- And it's hard to read anything about you
without seeing the term prodigy kind of following you around.
GRACE KELLY: Right.
SPEAKER 1: And I wonder what your relationship
is to that word.
How do you feel now that you're a grownup?
You're in the same industry as many other adults?
Is that something that you have a mixed
relationship with that word?
Or how has it been to be a child in jazz?
GRACE KELLY: It's funny because I never
put that word upon myself.
And it was funny when that word just started floating around.
I mean I remember the first time I saw it, it was like, what?
I'm not a prodigy.
It's just something that I found early on, had amazing teachers,
and was lucky to find a passion that I
was good at from an early age.
But I guess that's what the outside world was calling me.
So I never took it too seriously.
But then I did end up hearing the word quite a lot.
So I think I have many feelings with the word.
I'm very glad that I started young
and was able to have people start
to know about my music and all that from a young age.
And then at the same time, I kind of just
figure I was just practicing, and doing my thing,
and trying to work really hard as I continue to do every day.
And that's-- yeah, call it whatever you want.
SPEAKER 1: And your musicianship speaks for itself.
So there you go.
GRACE KELLY: Yeah, exactly.
Right.
SPEAKER 1: And let's let it do that some more.
So Grace Kelly and the G CAM All Stars.
Give it up for them.
Look at that.
Innovators issue.
Let's have that word.
GRACE KELLY: I met Diego last time I was here at Google.
I played with them in the cafeteria.
Now you have this incredible theater,
which I was saying to Bob is nicer than a lot of jazz clubs.
It would be-- jazz musicians would
be so excited if this got in the roster of the performing tours.
But anyways, this next song is Diego's.
So do you want to say anything about it?
SPEAKER 2: Enjoy.
[LAUGHTER]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CHEERING]
GRACE KELLY: Diego's rumba.
[APPLAUSE]