Rebecca Jade – Interview

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By: Giget C. Johnson

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You’re gonna want to take a listen to Rebecca Jade’s “A Shade of Jade”! Like the title, the cover art gives us “A Shade of Jade”. The hair is all hers just like every single song on the album. She wrote every lyric to every song (“Bottle Up Magic”was a collaboration but wasn’t supposed to be on the record. She got permission to steal it for her own project.”) and yet we only get “A Shade of Jade”, for there is so much more greatness to come from her. She wrote the lyrics. Carnell Harrell co-produced and put the music behind the lyrics. The result is a gift of empowerment to the broken hearted. This CD reveals the deep hurt of a breakup. A reminder to move on. On the heels of a recent divorce, it caused me to realize that I am much further along in my healing journey than I was giving myself credit for. I learned long ago that the easiest way to move on is to travel light. Don’t invest your whole being into a relationship. Save some of you for yourself. Some Time. Some Space. Some Energy. But take the risk, for love is worth the risk, however calculated that risk must be. Make some magic and bottle it up for later when you need it! Nov/Dec Let the music take you… SmoothJazz Magazine | 31

Rebecca Jade has perfect tone throughout the album. Her words drip like honey on the perfectly adorned music. Some of the songs have been in her lyric book for years and finally have come to light. “At the end of the day, I feel people can relate to something related to love, to loss, to fighting for yourself and sticking through a tough time.” After 20 years as a professional artist, with 15 years of doing it for a living, and 10 years of original projects, Rebecca Jade gifts us with “A Shade of Jade”; the name was penned while she was in college. After years of working with others whose ideas helped to shape her and contributed to her growth, the name “A Shade of Jade” was placed in its proper place on her very own project. A sucker for love songs, Jade forced herself not to write all love songs, which you’ll see in “ Thankful” which gives a different spin on love. “Sometimes people don’t have a way of saying things. Music gives a voice to people who can’t find the words. The melody and the music support the concept and the song is exactly what I’ve been trying to say.” This particular Shade of Jade is a soft version of pining for love. A plea for love to stay. A grateful heart for love when things are going well; thankful for the opportunity to have loved even when love is lost. But also serves an acknowledgment that it ’s time to move on from love if it is not working. Rebecca Jade draws her motivation for lyrics from the experiences of others or from anywhere she can get it, a walk, a drive, a picture, the sky. Nov/Dec Let the music take you… SmoothJazz Magazine | 33

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If you are in love, have ever loved, have ever been loved by another, ever lost love whether in finality in death of your loved one or just through what turns out to be a temporary relationship ending, “A Shade of Jade” will speak to you. Somehow love has a way of making a fool out of even the best of us. As Main Ingredient ’s song goes “Everybody plays the fool, sometimes.” Whether you’re a sucker for love or just a sucker for love songs, you’ll find yourself with “A Shade of Jade” on replay and before long you’ll know each word, like me. It ’s a sing-along.

SHOW ME

A song serving as a plea to allow one to show their love for you and if you’re not the one for them to show them how to let go.

PLEASE COME HOME

A fight. He left. She ran after him. This is the song that revealed to me how much further along I was in my healing. Perhaps in the way that I love. Perhap in the lessons that I have learned from loving, losing and yet continuing to try again. I only want to be in love with those who will love me in return. No one expects perfection but you gotta have something to work for and someone willing to work with. I recently saw a quote that read “I want ease. Not easy. There’s a difference.” We should not look for the one who hurt us to heal us. These are lessons in love. 34| SmoothJazz Magazine Let the music take you… Nov/Dec

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MY REASON (featuring Dave Koz)

“ The Rico Song ” – My Reason pays homage to Rico, Rebecca Jade’s husband of 17 years. It is a reflection of the early years of their relationship. Dave Koz adds to the sweetness of this song. Closing your eyes while listening takes you on a ride curated as only Dave is capable of. [It ’s not Rebecca Jade’s first go ‘round with Dave Koz as she is looking forward to hitting the road for Dave Koz & Friends Christmas tour for the second year in person, with the first time being a livestream due to the Covid pandemic. Catch them on tour this holiday season.] There is beauty in the hope of love. Perhaps heartbreak does not jade us after all. My Reason is the culmination of Rebecca Jade’s desire to write a song about new love. It ’s her time at bat for a song that people will play at their wedding for many years to come, like Ed Sheeran’s “ Thinking Out Loud”. She knocked it out of the park, cleared the bases and got a homerun on My Reason.

WHAT’S IT GONNA BE. A song of empowerment. Courage through music. To move on. From anything that may be holding you back. She is giving Mary J Blige a run for her money on a heartbreak anthem with this one. “Sometimes it ’s hard to recognize your power when all the world seems to be bringing you down.

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Don’t let no one take away your place in the sun. Don’t let no one win your race. You’ve only just begun. You can fight or you can hide. Run away or take it in stride. What ’s it gonna be? You might lose or your might win. As long as you stand strong ‘til the very end. What ’s it gonna be? See it through. Do it for you.”

DRIFT AWAY

The power of love to drown us. When we’re in love, we see things differently. It ’s all good until it ’s not. “Our love is powerful like the waves of the sea. Swelling and crashing down so effortlessly. With you I want to drift away. . . . Nothing and no one can pull me from the abyss and thirst of your love. I’d rather drown than stop fighting for us. “ This is the sweetest love song. Only certain people can love us in such a way that it is intoxicating. Pulling us in so effortlessly. Drowning us. Causing us to escape reality. Or is that just what love makes us do . . . want to drift away?

THANKFUL

“Look at me my heart is broken. Tired from dragging all this pain around. . . A broken heart is part of life. How do I go on from here? Be thankful for the chance to love. The good. The bad. The ups and downs. 36| SmoothJazz Magazine Let the music take you… Nov/Dec

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Take the time to see the beauty of it all. Hellos and goodbyes. Life is made of pulls and pushes like the tides. And though you’ll never leave my mind, I’m moving on from here. And although my heart hurts. And I wish that things were different. I know this is my path. My journey is my own to have.” Encouragement to move on.

BEAUTIFUL LIES

“You love me. You can’t live without me. There’s no one else in the world for you. I’m special. I’m all that you want and forever and ever your love will be true. You’ll be by my side to the end of time. How I wish you were telling the truth.” All lines that I’ve heard before. Amazing that the lyrics sound so familiar. Perhaps they pass out booklets with the lines that work. “You tell the most beautiful lies.”Jade calls a spade a spade in this song. A silver-tongued devil. Wasted time. Listening to sweet things fall off the lips of a liar. Honesty in a relationship is paramount to a strong foundation. Honesty allows others to make decisions for themselves whether to move forward or to move on. It ’s so much better to be truthful than it is for one to tell lies that you have no intention of following through with. It leaves a relationship in shambles when untruths are revealed. Time reveals all. Jade likens the song to a jewelry box with the ballerina on top, dancing and twirling around. It looks so real and evokes such sweet emotions yet it ’s fake, like the lies told by one this song. This sounds like a song to be sang in a musical on Broadway. She ends it so beautifully. Nov/Dec Let the music take you… SmoothJazz Magazine | 37

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BOTTLE UP MAGIC

“Like a Saturday night on a Monday, carefree you, me. Like a cherry on top of a sundae, your love is so sweet. Can’t help but tell I’m under your spell. It ’s captivating. Enchant me with the way you breathe in, breathe out my name. I’ve never heard it said that way before. It ’s like a potion. Let ’s drink it. I’m toasting to you. If I could bottle up magic, I would save some up for you. Just in case you start to panic when the weight of life gets to you. Let ’s bottle up this magic. A little thing that we call love. We won’t hesitate. Let ’s elevate and make the stars look up.” This song reminds me of a love of yesteryear. With a superhero of love. He comes through with his superpowers and makes everything alright. He swoops in when others cause pain. I’m reminded by him that “my love is like no other. There is no limit to mine.”And there is no limit to his. Sometimes when relationships end, there are only good memories to cherish. My great aunt reminds me often to make “good remembrances” for it is all that we’ll have later in life to cherish. When we create magic with another, we should save some for later when we need it. We should all bottle up magic – a little thing that we call love.

OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON

Lyrically a dreamer ’s wish for love. “Here we go again doing the same old things, day to day like a broken record. We used to dream like that of queens and kings. Now we don’t even know what we’re after. Maybe if we can get away, we can live our dreams of yes38| SmoothJazz Magazine Let the music take you… Nov/Dec

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terday. Meet me on the other side of the moon. Let ’s go far away. Take my hand baby. Meet me on the other side of the moon, where our love can play. Take me away.” Who would you like to meet on the other side of the moon? Their face shows up when listening to this song. Close your eyes and you’ll be able to see them.

INSANE

“Even though you’ve been gone, you never left. Even though time has moved on you take my breath away. In my mind you’re by my side but my world is not the same. No. No. You got me going insane.” Multiple genres of music wrapped in one song. That tone of her voice though!!!!!! It ’s what really going insane. “A Shade of Jade” reveals that Rebecca Jade is like a kaleidoscope. She has so much talent running through her being that we’ve only begun to see what she is capable of. I hope she bottled up some of this magic to sprinkle on her future endeavors.