Hailing from Toronto Canada, Jazz and Soul/Gospel pianist Desarae Dee releases her jazzy instrumental “In Rotation.” Defining her playing as ‘spontaneous and unconventional,’ she kept her talent hidden for years and developed her piano to translate any emotion that overcomes Desarae Dee. Landing her music on a variety of Spotify playlists and Toronto radio stations, her latest single “In Rotation” shows precisely why. Conjuring up an incredible jazz-infused instrumental and rhythmic and unpredictable piano playing, we’re left with vibes that are difficult to come by nowadays. Not to forget the layered grooves within the production, from harmonic synths to mid-tempo percussion. “In Rotation” opens with a vibrant beat and blissful keyboards that bring in a whole-sound jazz tune. As the introduction begins to date, we’re left with Desarae Dee’s textured playing on both piano and keyboards that bring in a harmonically-rich sound. Not to mention the ethereal melodies that bring a sense of calm and tranquillity within “In Rotation.” While also evening out the atmosphere of the song with faint and mesmerizing soundscapes that lay over top of Desarae Dee’s playing, just like the sky lays overtop land. She also gives “In Rotation” a dynamic feel through the prominence of different sounds and instruments. Overall displaying a calm atmosphere, Desarae Dee’s single “In Rotation” is one to take note.
Listen to "In Rotation" here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Desarae Dee! We’re captivated by your beautiful piano and keyboard playing on your single “In Rotation”. What made you want to take an uplifting jazz vibe with this track?
As I create, I want to stay true to who I am musically and Jazz is embedded in my musical style, so it’s just natural for me to keep my jazz vibe with anything that I create. With my music, I always want to create uplifting music that inspires and encourages people. That is the premise of the majority of my music and I never want to lose sight of that, especially in my creative process. A lot of the uplifting vibe that you hear comes from the gospel music nuances (gospel music is a very uplifting genre), coupled with the Jazz chords and melodies that I have used in this song. As someone who has had the basis in playing in church and gospel being a huge part of my life, my music will always have that uplifting feel to it.
In regards to your single “In Rotation”, Desarae Dee also establishes a groovy underlying beat the gives another jazzy aspect. Could you share how you went about crafting and finalizing “In Rotation”? Do you have a specific process that works best for you?
My process for creating never stays the same and tends to change, depending on what direction I want to go in and the type of mood or emotion I want to convey. Normally I’ll figure out the overall melody that I’m going for or I’ll figure out the type of beats I want to work with. For “In Rotation,” I knew that I wanted to explore outside of my Jazz/Gospel/Neo-Soul realm a bit by introducing a few different vibes that I don’t normally work with to accompany my jazz chords. I already had a chord pattern thought of at the beginning stages of this song, so that was the easy part. The next part obviously was to figure out how I wanted the overall feel. I wanted to establish a beat that was energetic, and still keep the overall uplifting jazz smoothness that I’m known for. I had the idea of going for more of a hip-hop/house/electronic feel and I felt that with what I had, it was a perfect fit. Once I had that underlining beat figured out, the rest of the song really came together.
We’ve noticed that Desarae Dee uploads #DailyVibes youtube videos of whatever melody and emotion you feel that day. How has doing this helped your personal sound flourish? Do you ever come across a melody that you might use in a song?
Being able to create the #DailyVibes has really elevated my personal sound. My earlier music was your typical 3-piece jazz band of piano, bass, and drums for more of a live setting. What really elevated my sound was learning to produce more; not just for piano but for other instruments such as synths, auxiliary keys, percussive sounds, and soundscapes and really developing my sound production abilities. The more I did that, the more I could use my jazz chords over different genres. Over the last 6 years, my music has elevated and has gone from just Jazz to Jazz fusion. With the DailyVibes series, I’m able to create different sounds and melodies which I oftentimes use for future songs that I want to put out.
After finding the courage and confidence to release music of your own back in 2014, what did you learn most from your years of staying musically silent? Is there anything that Desarae Dee would like to say to our readers who might be going through something similar?
During those silent years, I learned how to develop my OWN UNIQUE SOUND! I have always said that I never want to sound like another piano/keyboard players or artists who were already on the scene in my particular genre. I observed I listened, and I learned from my musical influences: Robert Glasper, Alicia Keys, Oscar Peterson, Frédéric Chopin. I would study their styles and find ways to “rearrange” what I heard and interpret in my own way, coupled with the musical knowledge that I already had to create what I call the “Desarae Dee Sound.” I wanted when I released music that people would know that it was MY SOUND and not somebody else’s. My encouragement to anyone who’s going through something similar is to take the time to figure out who you are as a musician and what you would like your overall sound to be. Don’t see your silence as a negative thing, but as a process and a journey to creating something unique that cannot be duplicated by anyone and that you can be proud of.
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