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Young singer has it her way

Chrisette Michele joins the big names for Jazz in the Gardens

BY MICHAEL HAMERSLY

mhamersly@MiamiHerald.com

The lineup for this weekend's Jazz in the Gardens music festival is packed with enduring star power, with R&B and jazz legends George Benson, Chaka Khan, The O'Jays, Wyclef Jean, Nancy Wilson, George Duke and Stanley Clarke topping the bill.

But there's a new kid in town with an old soul who's well on her way to joining these household names.

Chrisette Michele, who got her big break singing on Jay-Z's track Lost Ones,possesses one of those rare voices that's inevitably compared to such all-time greats as Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald. She's equally comfortable scatting sassy jazz notes around a melody or nailing that melody straight-on with her pure, flawless voice.

And she's only 24.

Michele's slow-jam hit If I Have My Way from her eclectic debut album I Am was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. But she has managed to take her sudden success in stride.

''Honestly, I was singing my whole life since I was a little kid,'' she says. ``I never wanted to be a superstar because there wasn't a lot of media in my house growing up. I just knew I wanted to sing all my life.''

And if that hadn't worked out?

''I'd be a lawyer,'' she says. ``I like to argue and get my point across.''

Michele -- who will perform at 6:35 p.m. Sunday, after Anthony David and before Kem -- vividly remembers her first public solo performance, at age 4.

''It was church, of course. I remember the coat I had on, the hairstyle, the shoes -- everything,'' she says. ``And I sang real low. I had a really deep voice when I was little. My mom said I should sing higher.''

Even before she signed a record deal, Michele had performed onstage with stars such as India.Arie, Angie Stone and Lionel Richie. And that's Michele's voice channeling Billie Holiday on three of rapper Nas' songs from his album Hip-Hop Is Dead (Can't Forget About You, Still Dreaming and Hope). But she says catching Jay-Z's ear was the true sign that she'd really made it.

''Being featured on a historical rap artist's LP -- that was really exciting,'' she says. 'I had just signed on to Def Jam, and he asked me if I wanted to be on his album, and I was like, `Are you serious?' It took a while for him to like what I wrote, but he ended up liking it.''

Michele grew up listening to gospel and classical, but when she discovered jazz at 17, a new musical world opened up for her.

''I love the chords and the chord progressions -- they just wake up a song,'' she says. ``I try to simplify it, though.''

The resulting sound is a seamless melding of styles, anchored by Michele's slinky, elastic vocals.

''Musically, I guess you can take everything I've been given over life -- jazz, gospel, hip-hop, R&B,'' she says. ``Fuse those things, and that's what I'm going for.''

The musical influences that shaped Michele's sound are as diverse as her songs.

''Sarah Vaughn was big, big, big,'' she says. ``And Erykah Badu I loved coming up. I also listened to Gwen Stefani every day, trying to get her vibrato. I guess I just like people with unusual voices.''

And now Michele is being compared to legends with unusually brilliant voices, such as Holiday and Fitzgerald.

''My life dream is to play Ella in a movie -- that's how much I love her,'' she says. ``She's one of the greatest singers there ever was, so to be mentioned along with her is very special.''

As well-received as I Am has been, Michele still feels the need to mature as an artist.

''The first album was like an experiment, with all these different styles,'' she says. ``My next album will be less convoluted, more streamlined.''

And if Michele's second album leads to another Grammy nomination, and another Grammy snub, so be it. Some thought If I Have My Way should have topped the winner, Alicia Keys' No One, but Michele was thrilled by the opportunity.

''Man, I was the most excited person on the planet when I walked down the red carpet, when I got my hair done, when I put on the dress,'' she says. ``Nobody was more happy to be there than I was. I was so happy even when I watched Alicia Keys walk up there and accept that Grammy. I was just proud to be there. And I was proud of all of us, because we all deserved to win, and I'm not the type of person to say things just to be politically correct.''