Daya Denise Dey knows the Shanghai music scene. She’s been performing in the city for the past decade in a half, and living in the ’Hai for almost a decade. Previous to living in Shanghai her home base was Singapore, where she also plied her trade as a performer and a musician, traveling around the continent, hitting up Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia among other countries.
Now with her birthday bash upcoming in The Pearl this month, she has prepared an outstanding show for fans of soul music, bringing together the best of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone for one spectacular evening. We caught up with Denise to find out more.
Image courtesy of promoter
Could you tell us a little bit about your life as a musician in Shanghai?
I’ve been here in Shanghai since 2010, and I started working regularly here at The Cotton Club, but I had been coming to the city since 2003, while I was based in Singapore. In around 2009, I started performing at the JZ Club in Hangzhou and I was working with a girl called Sugar Mama and I stayed with her for a while and took care of her. Later the Cotton Club were looking for a new singer and so I stayed on until they closed. Since then I’ve played in Heydey, Shake, I’ve produced concerts and done a range of different shows with groups.
Could you describe for us your style of performance?
I’m an entertainer. I do jazz, funk, R&B, whatever it is. When I came first to this region, my whole repertoire consisted of two jazz songs, because at that time I was a rocker, a funkateer. When I arrived in Singapore, I was playing in a blues and jazz club. I didn’t know much blues and I didn’t known much jazz, but I had some great mentors who pushed me. Throughout my whole career, I’ve always been very entertaining. The thing I always tell people is that I’m not really a songbird, but I’m an entertainer.
Was it a big leap for you making the change from playing funk and rock to then performing blues and jazz pieces?
It definitely was for me.
Can you tell us about the difficulties and the difference between singing those styles of music?
The biggest thing for me was that I was scared. Jazz, from my understanding, is delicate. I don’t have that kind of voice. My voice is deep, dark. Jazz is more pretty. I have a Tina Turner voice. The trick of it was, it’s not about the genre of music but how you deliver it. I can take any song and make it mine, that’s where my gift came in. I realised that I didn’t have to sound like Ella Fitzgerald or BB King or whoever. I had to sound like. I just need to sound like me and put my own twist and spin on it.
Do you see yourself staying in Shanghai permanently, or will you eventually return to the US?
Well, right now I’m working on a project, which is me trying to develop young talent in the city. I have a platform with some people that I’m working with on this project, and these same people are now pushing me to do this concert. We’re working on putting together a workshop team that can travel around and work in different continents, who can train unprivileged youth in music.
Talk about how this show came together?
When I first did the Billie Holiday and Nina Simone show I was really nervous, but it turned out fantastic. It was the first time I ever tried to put together a show based around artists like this, especially of that caliber. They have a certain type of magnitude to their shows, Billie especially. A friend said I needed to put that show on a bigger platform. So I went to The Pearl about it and they said yes.
Scan the QR code below to get your tickets:
Aug 17, 10pm; RMB150 presale, RMB200 door. The Pearl. See event listing. Tickets.
[Cover image courtesy of promoter]
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