Crossing Oceans

Multi-talented baritone Jubilant Sykes will give a recital at the Peddie School in Hightstown Oct. 6.

By: Matt Smith
   Upon completing his studies at Cal State Fullerton, Jubilant Sykes was lucky enough to cross the Atlantic to study privately with voice teachers in Austria and Berlin.
   The young baritone appreciated the chance to soak up the sights and sounds of the continent — and the classical training — but didn’t come home wanting to sing only Verdi or Wagner.
   "I didn’t go live in Europe and say ‘I want to be an opera singer and want to submerse myself in that,’ " he says. "I wanted the best technique I could learn, to sing whatever I wanted to sing. That was the goal."

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"I like the ability to sing American music. It’s a part of me," says baritone Jubilant Sykes. "My classical training and upbringing is me as well, but I can’t sacrifice one to another."

   Mr. Sykes, who will soon "be closer to 40 than I am to 30," has made sure to keep his ears — and heart — open to a wide variety of performers.
   "When I hear Ray Charles, for example, I go, ‘Wow. That’s
great. I love that,’ " he says. "But also I’ll hear Leontyne Price and I’ll
go, ‘That’s great. What a voice.’ When I hear Mozart I just go, ‘Yes,’ and
I love that, but I like the ability to sing American music. It’s a part of
me. My classical training and upbringing is me as well, but I can’t sacrifice
one to another."
   Mr. Sykes will show off his wide-ranging repertoire when he visits the Peddie School in Hightstown for a recital Oct. 6. The program will mix more standard fare with the lesser-known "rhythmic and cool" works of South American composers — and dip into the Great American Songbook for selections by Aaron Copland and Charles Ives.
   Mr. Sykes built his professional reputation on being equally adept at bringing down the house with an a cappella Negro spiritual as he is soloing on Mozart’s Requiem with a major philharmonic. He has also done a fair share of musical theater, and continues to tour with guitarist Christopher Parkening presenting Braziliana, an entire evening of South American music.
   Mr. Sykes is at the forefront of the effort to free classical music from the dusty halls of academia and bring it into the consciousness of the music-buying public. On his latest CD, Wait for Me (Sony Classical), he branches out to offer his own laid-back take on some of the 20th century’s most noted rock and blues songwriters, ranging from Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan to Leadbelly and Robert Johnson.

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On his latest CD, Wait for Me, Mr. Jubilant branches out to offer his own laid-back take on some of the 20th century’s most noted rock and blues songwriters.

   "This is truly an eclectic record," he says, "but the feel that keeps it sort of homogenous really is due to the arrangements. It’s a very mellow record, very calming, very sweet."
   The Santa Monica, Calif., native has been singing "as long as he can remember," and seriously since the sixth grade. He grew up in a musical household: both his parents played piano and his dad, an amateur trumpet player, was always playing the records of jazz giants.
   "I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, the Jackson Five, but because of my folks I knew Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald from old records, and Miles Davis always used to play in the house."
   While not strict about religion, the Sykes family attended church regularly, giving young Jubilant his first taste of spirituals, but he didn’t really explore his faith — and the power of the songs — until after he left home.
   "It didn’t really make sense to me until college, when I found out what the Bible was about, what it was really saying and how it affects my life. I mean, my God, this thing is full of stuff. So, of course, my spirituals took on a whole ‘nother meaning. They were very real to me, they weren’t just folk songs passed down from slavery."
   His first Sony Classical album, 1998’s Jubilant, featured innovative arrangements of spirituals and hymns, including "Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)?" and "Go Down Moses," all recorded with noted jazz trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard.
   His career has brought Mr. Sykes in contact with a number of other notable names, but never more so than when he performed at a Brian Wilson tribute concert in June at Radio City Music Hall. In addition to Wilson, whose "God Only Knows" Mr. Sykes covers on Wait for Me, he met Carly Simon, Ricky Martin and David Crosby, just to name a few.
   "I felt like I was part of history, meeting all these great artists. When you’re in the room with that many people and they’re from so many styles of music, it’s pretty amazing. I think everybody was pinching themselves, but I know I was."
Jubilant Sykes will perform a recital at the Mount-Burke Theater at the
Peddie School, South Main Street, Hightstown, Oct. 6, 8 p.m. Tickets cost $20.
A 30-minute question-and-answer session with Mr. Sykes will follow. For information,
call (609) 490-7550. On the Web: www.peddie.org