Teacher and jazz singer Erika Johnson is using her shows at Jazz at the Bistro on August 19—her first time performing there in a decade—to honor the past and pave the way for future musicians.
“I really wanted to pay homage to beginnings and traditions,” says Johnson. “I had some wonderful, wonderful people who helped me get my start, and I have some traditions that I have to uphold as my responsibility to the jazz community.”
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Johnson has spent the past several years combining her vocal talents and pedagogic desires, and she’s honored to give back to those who helped her forge her career. Her set will include tributes to such local legends as Willie Akins and Mae Wheeler. She’ll be joined onstage by Ptah Williams, who Johnson says was “one of the first people who let me sing on their stage with them.
“Also, I’ll have some students who will be performing with me,” Johnson adds. “I wanted to give them an opportunity to have the same coming out as I did and to be presented to the jazz community in a very distinguished, honorable way.”
Johnson, who is working on solo and duet projects to be released later this year, recently shared about paying it forward, enriching her surroundings, and leading by example.
What responsibilities do you feel to the jazz community? To keep the music alive, to make sure we lift up our young people in jazz and teach them about the strong traditions and language that goes along with jazz, because there’s so much value to it. I want to make sure I’m empowering not only young people to get more interested in jazz, but also giving the people who’ve loved it for so long an opportunity to celebrate the music and lift up the traditions.
What have you been doing in the decade since your last performance at Jazz at the Bistro? I went back to school and got a bachelor’s of science in business administration and marketing, then my master’s of science in education. I’m working on becoming a certified teacher and pursuing my doctorate. Those things—and a lot more community work, more outreach in music—became my focus. I’m really trying to plant seeds in the community to make sure this art form survives.
What kind of work? I’ve done an instrument drive for my students. I work at a school where they don’t have many instruments, and I’m the music teacher, so I was given the freedom to develop my own music program. Through this program, I have students for 10 weeks, and I teach them everything about setting up a stage and sound equipment, stage presence, public speaking—things they wouldn’t normally get. I’ve also done a lot of community outreach with Cherokee Street Reach. Four friends of mine got together, and we started our own summer camp. We did that for two years. This year, we’re taking off so we can make sure next year is even better, but we’re still doing a festival in the Cherokee neighborhood. Being able to plant those seeds of love of community, love of art, love of music…those things are so important. Focusing on just me would do such a disservice when I know my voice can help so many other people and keep this alive.
Which do you love more, teaching or performing? Oh, that’s a tough one! I love performing because I enjoy the freedom of music. I’ve always been passionate about that. And that love of music is going to last a lifetime. My passion for kids is a very personal one. I am going to be telling my story at this show, so I’ll be explaining why I work so hard for these children. I am an adopted child, so my passion for children comes from just seeing myself in so many young people and knowing they need one person to reach for them and care about them and believe in them, like all the people who have taken me under their wing. Those passions live together.
What makes the St. Louis jazz scene different from any other? We are very much a family, and we believe in keeping the art form alive. What I find different about St. Louis is that we open our stages to young people. We allow our children to learn—as we call it, baptism by fire. There are some lessons you’ll learn onstage that you’ll never learn anywhere else.
Johnson performs at Jazz at the Bistro (3536 Washington) on August 19 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 or $10 for students. Click here for more information.
