Jocelyn Medina

This is an interview with vocalist/composer Jocelyn Medina. Her original music fuses elements of Brazil, Spain, Africa, and India with jazz harmonies, grooves, neo-soul/funk, and adventurous improvisations.

Born in upstate NY into a family of singers, Jocelyn determined her identity as a musician at the age of five through choirs and piano lessons. She later pursued opera work at Stanford University, earned a Bachelor’s degree from Berklee College of Music, and a Masters in Vocal Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music.

In addition to her original repertoire, she sings, plays percussion, and arranges for her Brazilian Jazz project, as well as sings and drums with the Mokomba West African dance and drumming ensemble.

Partial transcript

Why don't we start with a brief bio of your musical career?

Sure. I'm originally from a small town in upstate New York. I grew up always singing in choirs and so forth, and I kind of knew that's what I wanted to do. I spent a couple of years studying classical music at Stanford University but then decided that really that wasn't the right box for me or that it was a box, and I wanted to do more jazz.

So I transferred to Berkeley College of Music, studied with some amazing folks there, and got my feet wet in jazz and vocal jazz, composing, and so forth. Then, I lived in Spain for four years after Berkeley, when most of my colleagues moved to New York, and I said I couldn't possibly move to New York. It's too big and overwhelming…”