Brownstein: Professor Richardson lifting spirits in class and on stage

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Class is set to begin at 9:30 am sharp at Concordia University’s Department of Music. Kim Richardson, more night owl than early bird, is alert and ready to provide a few lucky students with private lessons on the intricate art of jazz vocalization.

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They want what she’s got. Do not doubt.

Yes, Richardson can now add professor along with singer, actress and dancer to her resume. And for February, Laureate as well.

Richardson is one of the 12 designated Black History Month Laureates taken from Montreal’s arts and cultural communities, but few should have any problem with her being named a full-time Laureate here.

That’s because few have managed to build bridges connecting all sides of the cultural divide as she has, and fewer still are able to lift our collective spirits when she lets loose on stage with her vocal magic, be it jazz, gospel, soul or R&B.

A Toronto native who moved here three decades back, Richardson not only adapted to life here but has also made her mark in English and French on the theater and TV fronts. But she it’s as a songstress where she stands out most.

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In a career spanning more than 40 years, Richardson has nabbed three Juno Awards and has sung, both backup and solo, on over 500 discs. She has performed live with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Céline Dion and in front of Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth ll.

In Gregory Charles’s special Autour de Minuit, she got to croon the classic Summertime alongside her mother Jackie Richardson, the Canadian jazz great who helped launch her career by giving her permission to work at Toronto bars as an underage teen.

“It’s all been a blur of late, and now I’m still trying to get used to being called Professor Richardson,” she jokes. “I never saw this one coming.”

The reality, for the most part, is that those with the best singing pipes appear to be born with that innate ability. So how can one teach those not blessed at birth with that talent? And jazz to boot?

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“The toughest part for me is to find the right language that they understand,” she says. “Not everyone understands the same lingo I do. So you have to find different ways of explaining that same point. But, in general, everybody can sing in their own way.”

Perhaps, but what are the odds of success?

“If you really want it, it’s attainable as long as you’re prepared to work at it. It’s all about dedication and sheer will. There are singers out there who are not trained, who don’t necessarily sing on key sometimes, but still.

“Dylan…give me a break, man. The guy is not the most amazing singer in the world, but he has a certain tone and a certain emotion people can relate to. So it’s not necessarily all about technique. For me, it starts with emotion. Are you feeling what you’re singing? If you feel it, then others will feel it, too.”

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Cool. Ready to take another stab at the concert stage. Not hard to understand why this prof’s classes are much in demand.

It’s also a matter of hanging in as well as genetics. Richardson, who just turned 56, shows no signs of slowing down. Nor does her mom de ella Jackie at 75.

No surprise then that tickets have fast been gobbled up for Kim’s SoulRnB gig Saturday night with Dorian Sherwood at Le Balcon in the St. James United Church.

“I had been performing regularly before restrictions, before being forced into hiatus. I’m really looking forward to getting back into the swing again. It’s a stamina thing, too. When you stop for a bit, it’s a little hard to get the machine running 100 per cent.”

The Balcon crowd can also expect to get back in the swing again with a top-heavy repertoire in R&B — “because you can’t go wrong with Motown any time.”

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It’s no accident Black History Month this year is focused on the arts, as few have been as hard hit as those in the field.

“Be it visual arts, spoken word, singers, rappers, musicians… it’s great that we have been given this honor. And I feel very fortunate to be chosen one of the Laureates,” says Richardson, a Black History Month spokesperson in 2014.

Richardson may have surprised many by moving here, but she is now so firmly planted in this province that there’s no getting her back to TO

“It wasn’t an effortless adjustment,” she said. “It took me about six years. Even 30 years later, I’m still making mistakes in French. But I embraced it and made it my mission to learn a new language and enrich myself. My motivating factor was just wanting to be understood and not missing out. There’s so much you’re missing by cutting yourself off.”

Perhaps Concordia ought to conscript Professor Richardson for some civics courses as well.

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