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b'The NoteWorthy concert series is presented by WDAV in partnership with the FAIR PLAY Music Equity Alliance . The series brings together gifted Black and brown artists from the Charlotte music scene with classical musicians for some genre-blending, community building music. Karen Poole, a singer/songwriter and contemporary gospel artist, is joined by trumpeter Keenan Harmon, one of the classical musicians who perform with her in the  NoteWorthy  concert series. They speak about their different musical backgrounds and what it was like to come together to perform Karen’s original songs. Karen Poole Keenan Harmon Transcript: Frank Dominguez : This is Frank Dominguez for WDAV’s Piedmont Arts. On Wednesday, September 1st at 7:30 p.m., WDAV continues the NoteWorthy virtual concert series presented in partnership with the FAIR PLAY Music Equity (Initiative). The series brings together gifted Black and brown artists from the Charlotte music scene with classical musicians for some genre-blending, community-building music. Next in the series, we feature singer-songwriter and contemporary gospel artist Karen Poole and joining in support of her terrific talents are a trio of classical musicians including violinist Alice Silva, trombonist Brent Ballard, and trumpeter Keenan Harmon, who joins me now via Zoom along with Karen to talk about the concert and their own musical journey. Welcome, Karen and Keenan. Karen Poole : Thank you.  Frank : Karen, I noticed from the bio information at your website that like a lot of gifted musicians, you were born into a musical family, so tell me a little bit about them and what you learned from them.  Karen : Yeah, absolutely. I was the baby of the family, so I got the opportunity to watch my parents as soloists and some of my older siblings just navigate, moreso in the gospel of church scene. So we were very, very heavy into the music department of our church, and I just had the opportunity to learn just standing up on people’s shoulders and looking, watching. (I’m) very blessed to have a front seat experience into this. (On a) typical day in our home, you’d hear about three or four songs singing at once. (Laughs) That’s what that was like. Born into it.  Frank : And what about a formal education in music of any kind? What was it like for you? Were you exposed to that? Karen : I did some... I want to say not formal, but more so informal training. I’ve had very great mentors throughout the years who’d sit down with me (and) teach me theory and things of that nature. I actually don’t - I’m not very fluent at reading charted music, but I have very strong ear training, and I can read some chord charts as well. But in that regard, no, I never had formal training, it’s all natural giftings that I had.  Frank : And that’s nothing to be sneezed at, of course. You know, one of the things that I've discovered over and over again in these conversations, whether it's about NoteWorthy or if I'm interviewing Black classical artists who are singers or instrumentalists, is just the amazing conservatory that's provided by the Black church music tradition. There’s so much inspiration there.  Keenan, what about you? What was your coming up like? Did it include a lot of music? Keenan Harmon : My family - I wouldn't say that my family is very musical, but [they’re] music lovers. And that’s, to me, part of the human condition. So, I rarely run into people that don’t have some affiliation with music or some love for it. But in all reality, I kind of discovered or felt that I was heeding this call from a very young age, and my parents had kind of a little bit of a diverse music taste. I mean it was kind of old school eclecticism, so I grew up around Motown, church music… I, too, am the youngest like Karen, so my brothers were really into popular music at the time, which was kind of the early hip hop scene.  And what ended up happening is [that] I felt really drawn to being a trumpet player, and then more or less, I stumbled on some recordings at a very young age that impacted my life. When I was about eleven and I started playing, I was able to hear a classical CD, it was a mostly Baroque type of thing and had a lot of trumpet on it, and likewise my mother had bought this Miles Davis CD, and at the time I knew nothing too much about it.  You know, she had been familiar with Miles. And it was actually the Live at Montreux album that was done in the last year of his life. And not knowing any of that, I asked her could I open the CD and listen to it, and here I am listening to the CD, and I thought, “My goodness, as a trumpet player I could play something like this. Something Baroque, and I could play something like this, something that’s jazz.” And so that’s kind of how… that spearheaded what I’ve been drawn to in my career as a musician.  Frank : Karen, talking about those wide ranges in sound, your sound is a good example of how eclectic contemporary gospel music can be. I think people hear that and assume it’s going to sound a certain way, but you have a very eclectic and versatile sound. What are the sources and the elements that go into your music?  Karen : First of all, I'm glad you recognize that. The best way I can describe my music is gumbo: it’s like a little bit of everything. I would say I listened to a lot of traditional gospel growing up, but definitely (was) introduced to more of a jazzy sound probably in my late teens. I started being introduced to Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, that kind of sound, Yellowjackets… and I’m somewhat of a late bloomer because we had a very strict household growing up, so it was only gospel music that I was allowed to listen to. So I was a late bloomer being introduced to other styles. And still to this day, I’m still grasping a lot of the classic tunes out there. I’m still evolving musically because of that, so I’m actually grateful for it.  And then I’d listen to more of the contemporary Christian music, like Matthew West and Lady Antebellum, stuff like that, just kind of listen to those songs, and they’re very pure sounding. And I love, actually, country music - just the way it tells a story, and the sounds from the violins and strings, all those things. Alice actually played on that (in) the performance we did, she played the violin parts for (one of my) song(s). And it was just amazing to be able to partner with (the classical musicians) and have a range of sounds that they could dig into with me, so I was excited about that.  Frank : I really noticed that, in the little bit of the sessions that I've been able to hear, that it was just incredibly eclectic. And your description of gumbo, I don’t think could be more apt. As a former Louisiana resident, that takes us to the tastiness of gumbo and the tastiness of your sounds, because I really hear that country and all of those various influences in there. It's really wonderful.  Keenan, as a working musician, versatility is pretty much a requirement for you. I mean you've been able to play all sorts of music, and you have to in order to put together enough gigs to make a living. So what are some of the disparate events that you play regularly - the kinds of places where you bring your talent to bear?  Keenan : I’ve done a lot of shows. There was a time where I'd done quite a bit of opera orchestra stuff for a while. Shows tend to run longer and pay more, so I would do that.  Frank : By shows, you mean Broadway shows? Keenan : Musicals and such, yes. On top of that, a lot of chamber music stuff. Some friends of mine and I started to do a lot of collaborations and just be on each other’s radar always to at least be available for performances and various things, and then there’s also recording work that I’ve been known to do. There was a short time - well, I say short, it was about four and a half years - [when] I worked with some guys out of Nashville. They had been in this area and they were bringing a lot of musicians in from the Nashville area, and so I got to work and collaborate and do concerts with them as well. It’s kind of like Karen had said, it’s an evolution on a continuum, and so you try to stay ahead of that and you make sure you’ve got a good namesake, you’ve got a good reputation and like you had said, versatility is the key.  I’ll put it to you like this. I tell people oftentimes that musicians, particularly in the freelance community, have to practice music like an attorney practices law, like a doctor practices medicine. I am continually studying, because authenticity is very important to me. Being genuine. Whenever I’m playing something, if we go back to Baroque or classical, [making sure] that my ornaments are proper when I’m ornamenting the music. And similarly, that I’m very fresh on ideas if I’m doing something that’s jazz.  The pandemic put a different dynamic on that, but what I found more or less is that I worked. You know, I look at last year and I worked fruitfully. One show got cancelled, one musical. Other than that, some of the concerts that I would normally do at certain times a year, like towards the holidays, they went on. So it’s a testament that people really wanted to experience some normalcy, so live music was a part of that. And then on top of that, it was just the fact that it was the determination of the musical community to try to make that happen. And so that's really how you can make (a) living. You’ve just got to persevere through it and stay fresh.  Frank : Karen, you touched on this in one of your answers earlier, but I want you to go a little deeper into what it was like collaborating with the musicians in this NoteWorthy session that folks will be seeing on September 1st. What was it like working with them, and what did they bring to your songs that you had already written and created to give them a different sound or a different life, if you will?  Karen : It was inspiring in a lot of ways. For example... the first song we did that night, “High Praise,” when I produced the music, I had recorded keyboard horns on it and while they sound good, it’s nothing like having a real horn player on it. So, I sent the music and I let [the classical musicians] know, “Hey. I don’t actually have this charted out, but if you can try to follow this pattern, that would be great.” And Keenan was so, so easy to work with. He said, “Okay, we’ll get it. We’ll figure it out.” At our first rehearsal, he had it charted out for him and Brent [Ballard], and they nailed it. It was just very minor little things that we had to adjust here and there, little nuances like something is staccato, not legato, but very, very minor.  They brought my song to life, and it was amazing to hear music that I had created live that way. It was just amazing. And then on top of that, to build a relationship with them to where even beyond this NoteWorthy performance, we can still collaborate on some other things, I can refer him for some things and vice versa, and bring him on for other shows that I might have. And now it’s forced me to have my music officially charted out. So, moving forward, I will always have this thanks to NoteWorthy. I’m grateful - amazing experience working with them.  Frank : I have a last question for the both of you, and that's what would you like to see more of in the Charlotte live music scene? What's missing right now that you think would take it up a notch and make it a better scene for both musicians and audiences? Keenan : For Charlotte, it’s really that connectivity of having people both aware of what goes on musically in Charlotte, because that’s not always the case, and then on top of it, it's to build that culture. Right before the pandemic, I was in Chicago, and I’d gone to see a couple of different performances while I was there and what amazed me - because it had been a long time since I had been to Chicago - it was just being an audience member. That was the most awe-inspiring thing was to watch how audiences were connected and interacted with various music, whether it was a classical or a jazz thing. You just had that community. So in the Charlotte area, there’s a thirst for it, I think. It’s just a matter of that connection that’s there. Having Charlotte have enough room for music is kind of the big goal because we’re making room for a lot of things in this area. Lots of things. And music, I feel like, has always been here. It’s just the awareness is the thing, I would say.  Frank : Karen, you’re here a little more recently. What have you observed in your time here? Karen : My answer may not be what you expect, but honestly, in my time here - it's been about four and a half years - I’m actually quite pleased, because the first couple of years of me being here, I was not very well-known. I made some connections with some individuals in the music scene here, like I met Tim Scott, Jr. once on a show, I think it’s called the Soulful Noel, that they do at Christmas time every year, put on by Quentin Talley. I met some folks who said, “Hey, we need an extra background singer, can you come on.” So, by me being there, I made some small networks there, and just earning my place, if I can say that. They got a chance to see how I flowed in the background.  And somewhere around the middle of 2019, I was offered an opportunity to do my own show. I had my own set. It was just a small acoustic session put on by Arsena Schroeder, and that was really exciting for me because I hadn’t performed my music at all since I’d moved to Charlotte. I’d put out a couple of singles working with a great producer, Johnny Abraham, who was also playing keys on the NoteWorthy performance.  When I did that show, people were like, “Wow, we need to see more of this.” And so that really opened up opportunities for more performances. I didn’t do very many, but the ones I got were impactful. I think that was in July of 2019, and somewhere in September, I had the opportunity to open for a major artist, Tweet, and then from there, it built the energy to say hey, I’m going to go ahead and try to finish my album. I had never put out a full length album. Yes, the pandemic hit in 2020, and I had plans to do a small live recording... we did it in February of 2020. The plan was to do that and then work on a few more, and I was going to have an album done, ready to release it on Easter of 2020. But we shut down.  Even despite that, though, I’ve just got to say it catapulted me, because I got all the tools I needed to finish recording at home. Folks around here in the music community were very much on board to work with me, and we got the album done, and I put it out in February of this year. So, even in the course of that time, I was able to do a few virtual shows, we did some shows with John Tosco. Although we were shut down, I think Charlotte did a great job of keeping us busy. As a newcomer, I’m impressed.  Frank : Well, I'm impressed with both of you, and I'm so excited from these conversations that I've had with NoteWorthy artists to see what this music scene’s going to be like when we get back to being able to comfortably perform in person, and it just seems to me like the talent that's going to be showcased is going to surprise a lot of people. So I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes. My guests have been two of the performers of the next virtual concert in the NoteWorthy series from WDAV and FAIR PLAY Music Equity Initiative, singer-songwriter and contemporary gospel artist Karen Poole and trumpeter Keenan Harmon. The concert streams on Wednesday, September 1st at 7:30 p.m., and it will also feature violinist Alice Silva and trombonist Brent Ballard. You can get more information and find a link to the Facebook Live and YouTube event at NoteWorthyClassical.org . Thank you so much, Karen and Keenan, for speaking with me. Karen : Thank you.  Keenan : Thank you.  Frank : For WDAV’s Piedmont Arts, I’m Frank Dominguez. '