LOS ANGELES (www.halebaskin.com) - Hale Baskin's first professional gig did not come without its pressures. There she was, standing on the stage, performing at the San Jose Jazz Festival, before 200 people at the Discovery Museum.
"I'd just stand there and sing and look scared, even though good stuff would come out of my mouth," Baskin recently recalled while drinking a chocolate milkshake at the Palo Alto Creamery Downtown. "I was like a deer in the highlights."
That fear wasn't surprising, given that she was only 12 years old when she made her professional debut in the City. But having pianist Taylor Eigsti - another young prodigy - accompanying her that day eased the situation somewhat.
"He made me more confident," said Baskin, now almost 16 and a junior at Menlo-Atherton. "Now I can walk around and have a one-sided conversation with the audience. I try to connect more with the audience."
Baskin's stage presence will be evident next week, in both the Brown Bag and Twilight concerts. On Tuesday, she will be one of two featured vocalists (along with Cara Arcuni) accompanying the Menlo-Atherton Advanced Jazz Ensemble in its concert at Rinconada Park. On Thursday, she will headline with a trio, and passersby at Cogswell Plaza will have the chance to hear more of Baskin's vocal talent.
Just don't expect to hear the same old standards - or straight-ahead jazz - when Baskin takes to the stage on Thursday.
"I've tried more recently to steer away from the standards and pick more unique songs, like 'Sitting in Limbo.' My Dad first played it for me. It was originally a reggae tune. But now it's funky. It feels like it has a little gospel thing going on. It's really cool."
The new generation of jazz musicians, according to Baskin, are putting their own spin on the genre, updating it for the 21st century.
"The kids who are into it want to change it in some way, a little bit, to make it newer," Baskin said. "Because you can't stick with straight-ahead jazz forever."
For example, on her debut CD, "Forecast Calls For Hale," the vocalist added a Latin flavor to "Indiana," a song about the Midwest.
"My Dad had the idea," Baskin recalled. "He talked to (pianist) Larry Dunlap and (bassist) Seward McCain, who did the arrangements. Larry wrote an impromptu chart in the studio (the Annex in Menlo Park) and it came out really good."
Listening to Baskin's sophisticated voice and nuanced phrasings, it's hard to believe she was only 13 when "Forecast" was recorded. Boasting mostly jazz standards ("My repertoire was more limited then, so I sang the ones I thought I could do best"), the album sparkles with a talent-in-the-making.
And it stood out from the competition when Suzanne Warren, coordinator of the City of Palo Alto's summer concert series, first heard it.
"I did not know her age initially when I listened to the CD. When I found out how young she was, I was definitely blown away," Warren said.
Down Beat Magazine was so impressed with the recording that they presented Baskin with first prize in the
Junior High School division of their 2002 Student
Music Awards. Her prize: a scholarship to Berklee College of Music's summer program, which she completed in 2003.
Despite the program's prestige, Baskin said she preferred attending the Stanford Jazz Workshop, as it was more youth-oriented.
"Stanford was more my age group, and the people were nicer. (Vocalist/pianist) Dena DeRose taught me the basics of improvisation. She was the first teacher I had. I was still pretty shy, but by the end I wasn't shy at all. I was excited about discovering my talent."
Baskin's parents, Judi and Bill Baskin, have been instrumental in nurturing their daughter's love of music.
"My parents love jazz," she said. "I've been listening to it for as long as I can remember:
Natalie Cole, Ella, of course, Billie Holiday, Shirley Horn, Wynston Marsalis, Lester Young. And we'd go to the Monterey Jazz Festival every year.
"My Dad always knew I could sing. He made me learn my first jazz song, 'Route 66.'"
Today, Judi manages her daughter's burgeoning career, while Bill still teaches her new songs, accompanying her while she practices.
"He has a wealth of knowledge, and he plays almost every instrument: bass, guitar, piano, drums, trombone. I'm so lucky I have someone who knows so much about music."
But Baskin has other support, as well, such as Frank Moura, director of Menlo-Atherton's Advanced Jazz Ensemble (and two of the school's other jazz bands). He has known Moura ever since she started singing with the ensemble while she was still in middle school.
"I wouldn't talk to anybody, because they were so much bigger than me. I was super-short," Baskin recalled. "I wanted to be cool but I wasn't."
Moura recognized the Redwood City resident's talent and recruited her to Menlo-Atherton (she otherwise would have gone to Woodside High School).
"He's amazing. So supportive," Baskin said of Moura. "I hear some high school band coaches don't understand vocalists. They say, 'Go up there and sing.' But he understands. His wife's a singer, so he totally gets vocalists. Every time I've had a sore throat, he's given me advice on how to fix it, instead of telling me I was being dramatic. He's so nice, he makes me want to work harder."
And singing in a big band, Baskin said, has helped her sing with a smaller ensemble.
"There's so much energy in a big band, and it's helped me keep the energy up with a trio."
Baskin has also sat in with vocalist Kim Nalley, owner of Jazz at Pearl's in San Francisco. The experience has taught Baskin how hard it is to master the genre's improvisational nature.
"It really challenges me. Afterwards I'm mentally drained," she said. "I'm not there yet, where I can just sing and have it come out right when I'm scatting. I feel I have to work on it. Every day I work on improvising and scatting."
Baskin acknowledged that there are still many things to work on, such as her stage presence and technique.
"I wear out my voice every time I sing," she said. "I'm hoarse for days afterward. It's hard. We have a loud family and I'm a yeller."
With her summer schedule heating up, Baskin will have to get used to regular gigs. She is especially excited about playing the San Anselmo Art & Wine Festival on June 25, as she will be part of a teen band.
"It's slow but it's happening. I'm trying to stay ahead of the curve, trying to stay better than the other kids my age."
Hale Baskin Jazz Ensemble
Cogswell Plaza, located at the corner of Lytton Avenue and Ramona Street in Palo Alto
June 23 from noon to 1 p.m.
Admission is free.
Hale Baskin will also be a featured vocalist with the Menlo-Atherton Advanced Jazz Ensemble at Tuesday's Twilight concert. The program will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Rinconada Park Bowl, 777 Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto.
For more info on Hale Baskin see: www.halebaskin.com
