Charmagne Tripp has been writing and singing her own style of what she calls “Hartford Soul” for decades. She’s made many albums but hadn’t quite found the sound she wanted. It was her wife who suggested she make a live album. The result, “Live at Parkville Sounds,” was released a few weeks ago.
“I’d played Hartford for a long time but I’d never been able to transfer my live sound to my recordings,” Tripp said. “That live energy was always missing for me. My wife was telling me I should just do a live album.”
So she did, but “it was a huge undertaking. There were a lot more people involved. Parkville Sounds were doing their Parkville Sessions series and it felt like the perfect fit. We invited 80 to 85 people, filled the space and did two sets. We recorded 12 or 13 songs then picked six for the EP.”
The project was partially funded by the Hartford Free Center’s Independent Artists Fund.
“Doing it here in Hartford was important to me,” Tripp said. “I’d been playing R&B/smooth jazz/soul in this community since the ‘90s. I’d cut my teeth here.”
“Live at Parkville Sounds” opens with the eager, funky “Waiting for You,” followed by the jaunty “Like the Way,” the soulful “Read My Mind,” the moody and mysterious “Baby Baby Please,” the frisky and hope-filled
“Cloud 9” (which contains a contagious Stevie Wonder-style singalong bit) and finally the touching peace anthem “Humanity.”
Tripp’s experiences with the wide array of musicians in the Hartford area, from the jazz, soul and pop scenes, “gave me a unique sound,” she said. “I’m not technically a jazz vocalist. It’s what I’ve been calling ‘Hartford Soul.’ When I started neo-soul was the thing, and it grew from that. I like to listen to songs that have great vocals and great storytelling in them, too, music that takes you on a journey. The instrumentations are important.”
Charmagne Tripp shows her vocal and songwriting range on “Live at Parkville Sounds.” She has live shows upcoming at the Old State House lunchtime concert series and Black-Eyed Sally’s. (Keith Claytor)
Tripp does some covers when she plays live — everything from Erykah Badu to Jill Scott to Anita Baker to Lauryn Hill to The Beatles’ “Come Together” — but all the songs on the live EP were written by her and have appeared on previous studio recordings. She gave the songs new arrangements and has been working mostly with musicians different from those who appeared on the earlier records. Some elements are consistent — “I needed that saxophone; it’s like having another vocalist’’ — but some of the new arrangements clicked so well that she’s using them in her other shows.
Though she’s only recently reemerged from a performance hiatus and the process of assembling a new band to play with, the “Live at Parkville” EP isn’t the only way to hear Tripp live these days. On Sept. 19 at noon, she’s performing at the Old State House’s summer lunchtime concert series. “I got invited and I couldn’t say no. I haven’t played it before. I love all-ages shows and places where people may not have heard me before.”
Tripp is invigorated not just by having the live recording out but by putting together a new ensemble. “What happened was, the cats came up with were now so busy that I couldn’t book them anymore. It’s great for them that they’re playing every Friday night somewhere. And it’s been good for me to find other musicians to work with. This time I wanted employ as many female musicians as I could. The lineup on the EP includes her longtime musical director and keyboardist Dee Davis, background vocalist Jessica Montgomery and drummer Sierra Roseboro as well as saxophone player David Davis and bassist Eric Jefferson. The Old State House show will likely involve keyboardist Le’Andra McPhatter, drummer Dexter Pettaway, David Davis on sax and others.
It’ll likely be another lineup when Tripp plays one of her favorite venues in Hartford, Black-Eyed Sally’s, on Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. (There’s a $10 cover.) “I love that room,” she said. Even though it’s often inhabited by screaming blues guitarists or R&B party bands, she finds that she doesn’t have to change her style for because the crowd there is so up for anything.
“Charmagne Tripp Live at Parkville Sounds” can be listened to, and also is available for purchase, at Tripp’s website at charmagnetripp.com.
