Denise King brings soul and storytelling to Bengaluru with her new album

Last month, my latest project People Get Ready was released. At Windmills, we’ll be performing songs from this album, which brings together socially conscious music from the ’40s to the ’60s and beyond. These are songs of hope, unity, inspiration and love. More importantly, the project reflects the times we live in. The show takes the audience on a journey of reflection, love and activism, with classic songs presented through fresh arrangements.

My singing career began by accident. One spring day, I was outside my house singing while cleaning. A childhood friend, Rahmann Rasheed (Raymond Welsh), who worked at Philadelphia International Records, happened to walk by and heard me. After greeting me and walking away, he suddenly turned around and said loudly, “Chile! You can sing!” He rushed back and invited me to audition for a gig. At the time, I was a single mother raising three boys and knew nothing about the music business, but when he said, “I will pay you,” I saw it as a chance to support my family. I auditioned, got the job and everything changed. I never planned on becoming a singer. But life has a way of guiding us — sometimes we find our purpose and sometimes our purpose finds us.

Growing up, I listened to everything — jazz, soul, blues, pop, rock, R&B and even opera. I was most drawn to jazz and the Great American Songbook. My uncle Herb Tatum had a huge record collection and I listened to it whenever I could. The first instrumental that caught my ear was Horace Silver’s The Sidewinder. Around thirteen, I discovered Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan and Tony Bennett. I even heard Sarah Vaughan’s The Nearness of You in a dream before later finding it on the radio — a song I eventually recorded myself. My real musical education came from radio shows like Fridays with Frank and Sundays with Sinatra and from icons like Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln. I never attended music school, so these legends became my teachers. Everything I know about phrasing and storytelling comes from listening to records and radio.

People Get Ready came together in the most unexpected, almost fated way. At the end of a tour in Aix-en-Provence, the club owner introduced me to Seydou Barry of JazzBook Records. I had no expectations, but the moment we met he said, “I have work for you,” even though he didn’t know me. The project had been waiting years for a singer and he believed I was the one. Weeks later, he called to say I would record in February. We eventually recorded the vocals in Pittsburgh with John Shannon, my musical director and co-producer. We finished in two days. I was nervous because these were powerful songs — by Curtis Mayfield, Bob Dylan, U2, The Animals and more — songs of protest, hope, choices and war. I prayed I could bring new life to them. Now, looking back, I’m grateful for that chance meeting. I love how the project turned out and it truly feels like it was meant to be.

I hope to explore theatre or see my music in film. I look forward to more touring, more recordings and sharing a message of love wherever I go. I also hope to release original material. I believe music is medicine and our world needs healing. Art is activism — and I want to carry that light forward.