After speaking with vocal legend Janice Pendarvis, I made several affirmations. One, my desire to teach is legitimate and it’s OK to enjoy more than one genre of music. The ex-wife of producer, arranger and “Saturday Night Live” music director Leon Pendarvis, Berklee College of Music’s associate professor of the voice department and background singer for Sting, Pendarvis has defied tradition and preconceived notions about an entertainer’s career span. –kipper jones
The single ‘Dream of the Blue Turtles’ is high on my list of influences. How did that experience come about?
Sting actually put it together. When I was contacted, I was aware of The Police, but not any of the [members] individually. It was like, ‘Sting, who’s that?’ But I suppose I was too young to be intimidated. I also had trouble understanding the controversy deriving from his choice of musicians for ‘Blue Turtles’ and ‘Bring on the Night.’ Here was this white British superstar, fronting this all-black jazz band. ‘Why are these folks playing behind this white cat?’ and ‘Why is this guy only using black musicians?’
It all seemed to work out just fine with ‘Dream of the Blue Turtles’ selling three million copies and ‘Bring on the Night’ being hugely successful.
I have always tried to transcend genres. While my early influences include the music of Smokey Robinson, Holland-Dozier-Holland, etc., I value all other styles as well. In my class at Berklee, I touch on everything from jazz and pop, to country.
Let’s talk about your status as one of the most sought after session singers in the business.
When I first came on the scene, it was through my ex-husband. There was a general feeling of, ‘Oh, she’s the producer’s wife.’ Some of the singers were mean to me in my early years. But that I thank those divas for making me stronger.
You also just performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies last year.
It was great. I worked with [2009 inductee] Jimmy Cliff early on in my career. So it was wonderful to perform with him. But I tell you, I do have one concern; how come there hasn’t been a R&R HOF Sideman Award ever given to any background singers? Wouldn’t it be great to see legends like Cissy Houston, Elvis Presley, Luther Vandross and Zack Sanders, [lead singer on “Holiday” by Change and the first black male singer on a national ad campaign], who have sung on more recordings than probably anyone?
Did you work with Luther Vandross?
Absolutely. One of the moments I remember about Luther, we were doing a jingle that my ex-husband was producing. I kept looking at this guy saying to myself, ‘he sure looks familiar!’ When the session was over, he walks over to me and says, ‘What’s the matter? You can’t speak?’ While he looked familiar, I didn’t want to embarrass myself. But I had to ask, ‘Do I know you?’ I didn’t recognize him because this was after one of his drastic weight losses, but before the career of Luther Vandross, the superstar.
