Melanie Charles is a Brooklyn-born singer-songwriter, actress, and flutist of Haitian descent. She has a fluid sound to her music, including jazz, soul, experimental, and Haitian roots. Her jazz work is recognized by The New York Times and NPR. You can stream her first album, “The Girl with the Green Shoes,” online or watch her recent NPR Tiny Desk from Home concert.
“When I get to perform music in the Haitian language, it feels like I’m breathing, it doesn’t really feel like I’m singing.”
Penelope Condon : How did growing up in Brooklyn and being surrounded by so much art and culture affect your music?
Melanie Charles: Growing up in Brooklyn is the most amazing thing that could’ve happened for me. I was able to experience so many different kinds of people and cultures. I went to Junior High School in Williamsburg - I guess you could call it Williamsburg, literally right off the Marcy stop. Actually it was the same Junior High School that Jay-Z went to. I was part of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and we had rehearsals in Park Slope and with them I was able to travel the world. I would go to Harlem on the weekend for Jazz Band at the Harlem School of the Arts. Being in this place really formed and shaped who I am and how I interact with music.
PC: Was it difficult to stand out as a musician in a predominantly white institution like LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts?
MC: Actually I never really considered LaGuardia High School a predominantly white institution. At least at the time that I went there it was actually very diverse, very inclusive. That is one of the things that I loved about LaGuardia. It wasn’t a melting pot but it was a stew, if you know what I’m saying.
PC: I know your ties to your Haitian culture are strong. How has this connection to your heritage inspired your art?
MC: Being raised in a household with my grandma who was very religious, she went to a Haitian Baptist Church in Brooklyn and she would have little prayer meetings in the house. We would get the best Haitian patties and the ladies of the church would come by and sing. I would remember hearing the sounds of these women singing upstairs from my grandma's section of the house, and the sound would just float down the stairs. So for me the Haitian language and Haitian songs represent peace and comfort for me. When I get to perform music in the Haitian language, it feels like I'm breathing, it doesn't really feel like I’m singing. It feels extremely intimate physically, I don’t know if that makes any sense. I feel like sometimes things are easier said in Creole even though I speak obviously English perfectly and was born here. But there are certain things that only truly make sense in Creole. So I'm grateful for my heritage and how I’ve been able to incorporate that in what I do.
PC: How did you find your experimental voice in jazz?
MC: I guess I was always interested in creating my own sound. I always just felt like I wanted to be different, that’s really my whole thing. Even my fashion and the way I dress, even if something is really in style or trending, I’ll always try to do the opposite thing. That is the same way that I’ve approached a voice in jazz. I feel like we’ve had Sarah Vaughan, we've had Ella, we’ve had Billie, we’ve had Jane Monheit, we’ve had Dee Dee Bridgewater, we’ve had… I can go on and on and on. But now it's time for me to say something different, so here I am.
PC: Who are your biggest influences?
MC: You may consider them to be experimental people. Like Meredith Monk, I love her work. I am a child of the Sun Ra school, he’s a huge influence in what I do especially recently. Thelonious Monk, who inspired one of my recent songs that I wrote, “The Dilemma” actually. I love of course Badu and Dilla and MadLib and Georgia Anne Muldrow.
