Brookline Teen Performs At Grammy Events

There was one last test in the audition that Angelea Taylor, a Creative and Performing Arts high school junior from Brookline, had to pass before she knew if her voice would be heard in California with this year's Grammy Jazz Ensembles Program.

It was an a cappella test over the telephone.

When the last note faded, the voice on the other end declared: “Welcome to L.A., honey. You made it!”

“I cried because I didn't think I was going to get it,” Taylor said.

It was the payoff for the many nights Taylor spent, pajama-clad and with a metronome nearby, practicing melodies such as “Jazz Crimes,” “Hush, Hush, Hush” and “Come Rain, Come Shine” - spiced up, Taylor said, “because this was jazz.”

Taylor, a classically trained soprano, said it was challenging to adjust her voice to jazz.

Taylor flew to Los Angeles in early February to join 30 teenage virtuosos from around the country.

They prepared seven ballads for a series of shows to be performed during their 10-day stay.

“Right before we went on stage I would get anxious and excited, because I was performing in front of my idols in California,” Taylor said. “If I didn't remember where I was, then I wouldn't have been nervous. But then I looked around at the friends I had made, and we were all making beautiful music, and I would just be ecstatic. I was where I was supposed to be. It was magical.”

They shared the spotlight at the University of Southern California's grand ballroom with Sara Bareilles, performed on stage at Spaghettini's Italian Grill and Jazz Club with Grammy-award winner Esperanza Spalding, recorded an album at Capitol Studios, and were the evening's entertainers at the MusiCares Person of the Year Awards, where Barbra Streisand was the guest of honor.

They also walked the red carpet and were given VIP access at the Grammys.

The eight vocalists and 22 instrumentalists only got one chance to practice together once they got to Los Angeles.

“To see them come together was amazing,” said her father, Malcolm Taylor.

Taylor said she and the others quickly learned to work together and that the ensemble's friendship and cohesion were evident during performances.

“We'd look at each other and the conductor on stage and interact. If you're having fun, you're letting the audience have fun too ... It was like we had been singing together for years,” Taylor said.

Witnessing his daughter at the recording microphone in Capitol Studios was awe-inspiring, Malcolm Taylor said.

“Seeing her record in the place that has recorded Frank Sinatra—I was like, wow, this is amazing,” he said.

“It's very gratifying to be able to give a student this kind of opportunity. It can and has led to more opportunities,” said CAPA jazz teacher Timothy Tucker, who assisted Taylor.

Alumni have gone on to school such as Julliard College and the Manhattan School of Jazz, Tucker said.

Taylor, who loves travel and languages, is interested in majoring in international studies when she goes to college - “with a minor in music. I can't let that go. It's too much a part of me. If it's meant to happen, it will.”

“It's about setting the bar high for yourself,” Taylor said. “It's a validation that you're capable of doing what they believe you can do.”