Dawn Bishop loves and sings jazz, R&B, pop, Brazilian music, Afro-Cuban jazz, soul ballads and virtually any style of music. On her debut recording as a leader, People and Places, her voice is beautiful, she displays a wide range in both notes and emotions, and she is as versatile as her taste in music. “I see music as a quilt,” says Dawn. “There are some common threads throughout the quilt along with some patches to keep them connected. There is the thread of jazz. I have such a love for straight ahead jazz and love Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Jaco Pastorius. Also, the Caribbean aspect is there due to my roots, I love strong percussion and also the carnival culture of Brazil. Another thread is the rhythm & blues that I grew up hearing, the soul music that my mother played in our home, the Temptations, the Delfonics and others plus church music. Born in Hollywood, Florida, Dawn was in love with music from the start, singing constantly and dreaming of becoming a singer. Her grandmother played organ in church and her mother was a music teacher. “When it came to music, I couldn’t sit still. It was always what I wanted to do. All through high school I sang and played piano.” After being accepted at several colleges, she chose to attend the Berklee College of Music where she ended up being the only female in the Commercial Arranging program, learning to write and arrange popular music and jazz. “I loved that students came from all over the world because I wanted to be exposed to many different types of music.” After graduating from Berklee in 1992, she studied at the Actors’ Workshop in Boston and went on tour with saxophonist Walter Beasley and vocalist Bryan McKnight as a background singer. She also worked on a cruise ship, singing every day with an R&B/jazz/dance band. In Jan. 1995 Dawn moved to Los Angeles. “I worked my way up, performing right away, singing and playing piano. One regular restaurant gig led to another and I started working at private parties too, performing Carole King/Oleta Adams/Roberta Flack type of material. I met a lot of people and it started snowballing.” After keyboardist Billy Mitchell happened to hear her sing, he made it possible for Dawn to perform at the Pasadena Jazz Festival which was part of the Playboy Jazz Festival. At a meeting of the bandleaders at the Playboy mansion, she met Harvey Mason, leading to her performing with his group each Sunday night at a club. Mason’s saxophonist, Steve Tavaglione, also worked with Sergio Mendes and told Mendes about this hot young singer who had a great deal of talent and knew a lot of Brazilian tunes. Dawn Bishop has sung and regularly toured with Sergio Mendes’ band ever since in addition to working as the studio singer for South West Sound Recording Studio. She has also worked and written with Don Grusin. Although she had planned for some time to record her debut CD, the tours with Mendes kept her very busy. For example, in 2006 when Sergio Mendes recorded Timeless, he had two tours of Europe and memorable visits to Brazil, Japan, South Korea and through the U.S. 2007 was a bit less hectic and Dawn finally had the time to get her own project recorded and released. “The music on People & Places reflects my personality and the way I love different cultures. I don’t like to be confined in one genre so the ten songs tend to go everywhere.” Utilizing different personnel and instrumentation on each of the selections, six of them being the singer’s originals, she has created a musical world that reflects her diversity, versatility and wide interests. The title cut of “People And Places,” which is in 5/4 time, hints at music from India, the Middle East and Latin America while Dawn sings in a jazz-oriented style about how it is important to open one’s eyes and learn from other people and cultures. “My family is from the Caribbean. ‘West Indian Brown’ is a blues that includes an accordion and mixes together New Orleans Cajun, Brazilian music and a bit of the Caribbean.” The song is about a woman who defeats the blues by wearing a red dress. “Black Angel” is a heartfelt tribute to Angela Bofill, a singer whose eclectic tastes in music was an inspiration to Dawn. “I loved how she, as a young woman in her early twenties, mixed all of the things she had experienced growing up in Harlem.” “Sunlight,” which was originally written by pianist Bill Cantos for Anita Baker (who never got to it), was formerly recorded by Kevyn Lettau. Dawn turns it into a spirited R&B piece that builds and builds. “Wonder,” written by her close friend Rhett Judice who does interior design for churches in addition to playing organ, shows off Dawn’s very attractive voice on a pop/folk ballad. The lyrics are heartfelt and Bill Cantos’ harmonizing background vocal blends perfectly with Dawn. One Less Bell To Answer” is a Burt Bacharach/Hal David song made famous by the Fifth Dimension. Dawn puts her own take on the song, giving the piece a triple time feel and an interpretation that is a lot slower and a little sadder than the original. Nigel Williams’ bluish rock guitar is a strong asset. “The chorus for ‘Late Night Special’ just came to me and I found myself singing it, thinking that I’d heard it on the radio recorded by someone else. But when I asked people about it, no one had ever heard of this song!” A particularly catchy original, “Late Night Special” could become a standard in the future and one can easily imagine audiences singing along. Raymond Jones’ “Someone to Come Home To” is interpreted by Dawn as a memorable duet with bassist Hussian Jiffry. “I’ve spent a lot of time in this business waiting on other people to come through, so ‘Waitin’’ is about learning that one cannot always wait on other people to save you. Follow your own dream, keep on creating, and do not let your creative process depend on outside energy.” People & Places concludes with “Gonna Getcha,” which utilizes the Schurr High School Jazz & Marching Band. The lesson to this song is to follow the golden rule and not worry about revenge or grudges if one is mistreated, because bad behavior is always punished someday, one way or another. Dawn Bishop’s future is limitless. She can sing anything and, with luck, she will have many opportunities to delight audiences in the future. “Singing is what I was born to do and I feel very happy right now. I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.” Scott Yanow- LA Jazz Times Magazine