Cynthia Layne’s video in which she sings her song, “We,” is simple yet elegant, just like the singer. Shot only in black and white, the video is stylish, yet it does not distract the viewer from the most important element of this production, that being Layne’s effortless, luxurious vocals. The gifted vocalist deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Anita Baker and Patti LaBelle.

Layne discusses the creation of the video, “We got together with Ross Simpson, who has his own video company. We told him that we wanted to do something simple and very clean, because the song (“We) is very simple. We decided to do it in black and white to keep it simple. We didn’t want a lot of action going on in it, since it is my first video. We wanted to concentrate on me as the artist. Ross came up with a storyboard that we liked, and we went with it.  There is not so much going on visually, that it takes away from what you are hearing.”

Whether you are listening to Layne sing, “Kings and Queens,” “We,” or “Beautiful Soul,” you will be blown away by the quality of her vocals and wonder aloud where she has been all of your life. What will you surprise you even more, is when you learn that the Ohio native, who for many years now has called Indianapolis home, has never been formally instructed in music, nor does she have one of those stories about how she grew up singing in church.

“I always sang as a little girl, listened to all kinds of music and tried to emulate the phrasing and sounds of different vocalists. I considered taking some vocal training, but then some musicians told me that vocal training could end up changing my natural tone and talent. Sometimes you have to be careful with that. It (my voice) is all natural and all God given,” says Layne, while admitting that as a child her radio was seldom turned off.

On her newly released CD, Beautiful Soul, Layne once again hooked up with two talented cats and old friends, Rob Dixon and Reggie Bishop. The three artists have performed together, and collaborated on their songwriting for a number of years. Bishop and Dixon produced the album, take turns on the keyboards, and Dixon plays three different saxophone voices, tenor, soprano and alto.

Layne recalls her first meeting with Dixon, “I met Rob years ago while on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While we were on a group vacation in Mexico, there was a hurricane, which prevented people from leaving the party that we were at.  To help people relax and to pass the time, Rob brought out his saxophone. He started playing a standard, I started singing and we entertained the crowd during the hurricane. That was an incredible and wild way to meet somebody, which I will never forget.”

The two hooked up for a few gigs while Dixon was studying in New York City. Over the years, other opportunities opened up for them to perform together, before they settled into regular gigging.

About Dixon, Layne has this to say, “We work together really well and compliment each other with our songwriting. He is a terrific songwriter with great ears. We have gigged together forever. He is part of my band. He is a cool cat.”

You never know where a good musician is going to turn up and that was Layne’s experience when she met Reggie Bishop. “My drummer Reggie Phelps phoned me, and said that he was at a gig, where he had met this cat named Reggie Bishop. He told me that he was amazing and that I needed to come down there right then and hear him. I went down there, listened to him and told him that I was looking for someone to play in my band. I asked him if he was interested in doing some gigs. He was new in town and looking for work, so he said sure.”

“Reggie is extremely versatile, and as far as pop and R&B are concerned, he has his finger on the pulse of what is going on in today’s music. He was also formally trained in jazz. He loves to tinker with the new sounds, and he is real techno cat. I told him that in a previous life, he was probably a DJ. He wrote (on Beautiful Soul), “Will U Be There,” and “Two and One.” Both songs are more techno, disco cuts.

When you put together two superbly talented musicians, with an incredibly evocative vocalist, one might be tempted to conclude that friction could develop or someone might feel that they did not share enough of the spotlight, however, Layne says the camaraderie that the three artists share on stage carried over into the studio, when it came time to create Beautiful Soul. 

“I am so glad that we all have this relationship. It is not like I am a vocalist who was thrown together with these writers and producers. We all know each other really well, and we know what works and what doesn’t,” observes Layne.

“I was getting tired (of playing the songs from Reality) and I said I am ready to do another album. We sat down and came up with some music and lyrical ideas. We started putting little things together and tried them on live gigs, before recording them. We went into the studio and Reggie and Rob worked on the music. They both know the texture of my voice, and we were careful not to overpower that. We tried different things, and if they didn’t work, we would change them. Everybody had an equal amount of input on what was done, and when we got it done. We also had a great engineer in Gary Mielke. I have worked with Gary a lot, and he knows the texture of my voice, as well as the sound that we wanted to create. We are very proud to say that our music doesn’t sound like anyone else’s music. It sounds original and holds true to who we are,” says Layne.

Layne takes time to reflect upon the eclectic elements that contribute to her music, “I grew up in the seventies, and I am a girl of the seventies. I grew up with fun and I love funk music. I got into jazz a little bit later. We (including Dixon and Bishop), are all jazz musicians, who can write other wonderful melodies.”

Those eclectic influences are evident throughout the CD Beautiful Soul including the song, “Pimp Talk,” the type of tune that Layne says she imagines Mary J. Blige might sing.

The roots for the song, “Free Yourself,” go back to some of Layne’s earliest musical influences.  “It is that old Chaka Khan kind of vibe, and that Rick James thing from the seventies. Originally, we wanted it to be a little bit more rock influenced. We had two different versions of that song. One was more R&B with a funk groove, and then we had more of a rock version with more guitars to it.  We decided to go with the R&B groove and the funk thing. I think about Chaka when I think of that particular song,” she says.

Bishop was driving the bus, when it came to the creation of the song “Funny,” a tune which possesses some wonderful instrumental grooves, and evolved out of the band’s regular gigs.  “Reggie had the groove for that, and we liked it, so we created the lyrics on the fly. When we played it out live, people really liked it and we decided to record it. It has a smooth, jazzy, sexy kind of feel. It also has a strong bassline. When we play “Funny,” we make it very smooth, soft, dark and mysterious. It is awesome,” says Layne.

In the liner notes of Beautiful Soul, one will find that the CD is dedicated to the memory of Cynthia Layne’s sister Denise, who passed away from breast cancer, in 2006. She credits her sister for being one of the first people to encourage her in pursuing a singing career, and the one who continues to serve as an inspiration to her.

Interview by Joe Montague for Riveting Riffs (www.rivetingriffs.com) ©

April 2008

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