Tammy Lynne Hall, Pianist, Indie Artist, Composer, Collaborator

By Lee Hildebrand

Tammy Hall. Photo by Len Keller.
Ask just about any jazz singer in the Bay Area who their favorite piano accompanist is and they’ll tell you, “Tammy Hall.” The San Francisco-based musician has played with some of the best over the past two decades. The list includes Rhonda Benin, Brenda Boykin, Darlene Coleman, Debbie DeCoudreaux, Frankye Kelly, Lady Mem’fis, Kim Nalley, Denise Perrier, Pamela Rose and Linda Tillery. She’s also backed such out-of-town vocalists as the legendary Jimmy Scott, the late Etta Jones and former Supreme Mary Wilson. The secret of being a good accompanist, says Hall, 48, is to “leave your ego at home and open your ears and open your heart. It’s not about you. It’s about the soloist, and that can be a vocalist or another instrumentalist. You’re there to support them, and you learn to go with person you’re backing.” She first learned those lessons while playing piano and organ for choirs at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist in her native Dallas. “It’s about listening and following, even though you’re usually reading scripted music, and especially in my church,” she explains. “It was a quiet missionary Baptist church, no holy-roller gospel church. There was a lot of classical music involved. A lot of the singers were classically trained, and, of course, we did spirituals, which are different from gospel — a little more structured, if you will.” Hall also studied classical piano, attended the elite Hockaday School for girls in Dallas on a music scholarship and in 1979, moved to Oakland to attend Mills College on another scholarship. She dropped out after two years. “I wanted to get into the thick of things, and it wasn’t going to happen there,” says Hall, who went on to play for blues singer-guitarist Patricia Wilder and an all-woman fusion band called Beyond Definitions, among others. From 2003 to 2008, she was a house pianist for the now-defunct Jazz at Pearl’s in San Francisco, where she backed owner Kim Nalley and such visiting artists as saxophonists Houston Person and David “Fathead” Newman. Hall can be heard on recordings by Nalley, Lady Mem’fis, Pamela Rose and others and in 2006 released “Blue Divine,” her own instrumental CD of mostly original straight-ahead jazz and Brazilian- and gospel-flavored songs. It includes “For Miss Jones,” a swinging salute to Etta Jones, who died in 2001 at age 72. The pianist is presently working on a second CD and has seven songs completed. She hopes to include an arrangement of “Never Can Say Goodbye” as a tribute to Michael Jackson. Houston Person had suggested she do it, and she hopes to be able to get him to record it with her when he comes to San Francisco to perform with her and Nalley at the Rrazz Room from June 30 through July 3. Hall will be previewing music from her forthcoming release at 8 p.m. Friday, February 26, at the Jazzschool, 2087 Addison Street, Berkeley. She’ll be joined by bassist Ruth Davies and drummer Kent Bryson. - The Oakland Post

Jazz pianist Tammy Hall doesn't look like a troublemaker, but she's been known to instigate a brawl or two.

Over the past decade, she's become one of the region's most sought after accompanists, an essential collaborator with a glittering roster of top jazz, blues and cabaret vocalists such as Denise Perrier, Rhonda Benin, Linda Tillery, Frankye Kelly, Veronica Klaus, Connie Champaign and Debbie de Coudreaux. Hall's resourceful piano work is in such demand that some singers end up scrapping over her services.

"We all fight over Tammy," jazz singer Kim Nalley says. "She's put so much soul into every note she plays. And now it's worse than ever, since she's started doing her own thing."

Hall recently stepped into the spotlight with "Blue Divine" (Elfenworks), her debut recording as a leader, featuring nine well-crafted originals and a ravishing version of Jobim's "Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Voce." She celebrates the album's release on Thursday at Jazz at Pearl's, where she'll be joined by bassist Marcus Shelby, drummer Kent Bryson and percussionist Michaelle Goerlitz, who also play on the CD. Hall's quartet is also featured June 9 at the Berkeley Public Library's Re-New Orleans Jazz Festival.

After so many years of blending in with other artists as a side musician, Hall seems to have had little trouble finding her own voice. What stands out most on "Blue Divine" is her compelling lyricism. With an uncluttered, telegraphic style marked by her classical training and deep roots in the Baptist church, Hall gracefully combines elegance and grit.

"I think the experience I had accompanying so many wonderful vocalists really helped me to develop as a better instrumentalist," Hall says between sets at Pearl's. "Accompanying isn't difficult, because I had the experience growing up in the church, backing choirs and soloists. But putting out my own record with nine original pieces is really scary. The music is personal anyway, but to have your own compositions out there feels quite exposed."

Hall needn't worry. With her vibrant mix of blues, Latin grooves and exquisite ballads, "Blue Divine" effectively showcases her empathetic sensibility as a player, composer and arranger. She's also well represented on several recent releases, including the self-named debut CD by trumpeter Ellen Seeling's hard-swinging Montclair Women's Big Band, and Nalley's rollicking tribute to Nina Simone, "She Put a Spell on Me" (CE Jazz & Blues).

Both as a vocalist and the owner of Jazz at Pearl's, Nalley has played a key role in spreading the word about Hall's talent. As one of Pearl's house pianists, Hall has worked with a succession of sax greats, including Mel Martin, David "Fathead" Newman and Houston Person, who described her as "one mighty soulful lady." After her performance at Pearl's on Thursday, Hall reunites with Person for his three-night run at the North Beach club starting Friday. And on May 29, Hall holds down the piano chair when Perrier records a live album at Pearl's, with Person as a special guest.

Perrier, a Bay Area musician equally authoritative belting the blues or interpreting American Songbook standards, has worked closely with Hall for more than a decade, including a three-year run in the '90s at Bentley's (now Perry's) in the Park Galleria Hotel in San Francisco.

"Tammy is a very sensitive and passionate player," Perrier says. "As a vocalist, one of the things I like best is that she's a true accompanist. She never gets in the way of your phrasing, which is why she's so popular. She can absorb all of a singer's feelings, and she plays very individually with each of us. Some of us do the same songs, but she listens to you and interprets your delivery. She's been in the background for so long, it's good that people are starting to take notice."

Born and raised in Dallas, Hall got her start as a performer playing in the Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. Her mother, an aspiring concert pianist, died when Hall was 1, and her father, who she never knew, played the clubs on Saturday night and church on Sunday morning.

"I seem to be carrying on that legacy," Hall says, noting that she's co-minister of music at the Inner Light Ministry in Soquel.

Raised by both sets of grandparents, she was introduced to jazz by her paternal grandfather, a math professor and film buff who ran a projectionist club where he often screened shorts featuring jazz stars such as Louis Armstrong and Dorothy Donegan. By age 8, Hall was studying classical music, while soaking up the sounds around her, absorbing influences such as Stevie Wonder, Ahmad Jamal, Hank Jones, Cedar Walton, Joe Sample and Oscar Peterson. She won a scholarship to the elite Hockaday School, where she took informal jazz lessons from a sympathetic music teacher.

In 1979, Hall moved to Oakland to attend Mills College on a scholarship, but after two years she left the program, looking to gain experience on the Bay Area jazz scene. She attrac - San Francisco Chronicle

Pianist Tammy Hall has spent the past decade as one of the Northern California’s most sought-after accom-panists, providing soulful support for many of the region’s best jazz and blues singers. With Blue Divine, her new release on the Elfenworks label, Hall is stepping forward as a leader in her own right, and she’s clearly ready. Working mostly in a quartet format with bassist Marcus Shelby, drummer Kent Bryson and percussionist Michaelle Goerlitz, Hall delivers nine well-crafted originals and a ravishing version of Jobim’s “Se Todos Fossem Iguais a Voce.” What stands out most is her compelling lyricism. Possessing an uncluttered, telegraphic style marked by her classical training and deep roots in gospel, Hall combines elegance and grit.

That enticing blend of soul and precision is what’s made her so invaluable to vocalists such as Etta Jones, Kim Nalley, Denise Perrier, Rhonda Benin, Linda Tillery, Frankye Kelly, Veronica Klaus, Brenda Boykin and Debbie DeCoudreaux, who have all availed themselves of her keyboard services. After so many years as a sidewoman, Hall decided the time was right to make her own statement.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Hall said between sets at Jazz at Pearl’s, San Francisco’s leading jazz club. “I think the experience I had accompanying so many wonderful vocalists really helped me to develop as a better instrumentalist. Accompanying isn’t difficult, because I have the experience growing up in the church, backing choirs and soloists. That all helped prepare me to make my own record, which is really scary, putting out nine original pieces. The music is personal anyway, but to have your own compositions out there feels quite exposed.”

Hall needn’t worry. With her vibrant mix of blues, Latin grooves and exquisite ballads, Blue Divine effectively showcases her empathetic sensibility as a player, composer and arranger. She’s also well represented on several recent releases, such as the self-titled debut CD by trumpeter Ellen Seeling’s Montclair Women’s Big Band—powered by rising drum star Allison Miller—and Kim Nalley’s thrilling tribute to Nina Simone, She Put a Spell on Me (CE Jazz & Blues). Nalley, who owns and runs North Beach’s Jazz at Pearl’s with husband Steve Sheraton, has played a key role in spreading the word about Hall’s talent. As one of Pearl’s house pianists, Hall has worked with a succession of saxophone greats, such as Mel Martin, David “Fathead” Newman and Houston Person, who has described her as “one mighty soulful lady.”

Born and raised in Dallas, Hall first started playing music at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. By 8 she was studying classical music and soaking up the sounds around her, absorbing influences such as Stevie Wonder, Ahmad Jamal, Hank Jones, Cedar Walton, Dorothy Donegan, Joe Sample and Oscar Peterson. She won a scholarship to the elite Hockaday School for girls, where she took informal jazz lessons with a sympathetic music teacher. In 1979 Hall moved to Oakland to attend Mills College on scholarship. After two years she left the program, looking to gain experience in the Bay Area jazz scene.

Hall attracted considerable attention in the mid-’80s with the female fusion band Beyond Definitions. In 1987 she decided to try her luck in Belgium, settling in Brussels and working the European festival circuit. When she returned to the Bay Area in 1989, she was far more seasoned and before long had won a reputation as an ace accompanist. She gave up her day job as a law office bookkeeper in 2004 in order to concentrate on music. “It’s been a real roller coaster, but I wouldn’t give it up for anything,” Hall said. “That’s all I want to do. I want you to hear my music and feel good, or just feel, period.”
- JazzTimes