- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Houston and help keep the future of Houston Press free.
Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link.
Who? Jacqui Sutton is the lead singer for the Frontier Jazz Orchestra, a local band that fuses jazz and bluegrass. She was introduced to jazz in the 1980s, singing in San Francisco, and bluegrass in Portland, Ore. Her love of both music genres prompted her to combine them into a genre called Frontier Jazz, and she is now dubbed "The Jazzgrass Lady."
"The two sounds (jazz and bluegrass) have been living contemporaneously in my head since the 1980s, and it was only in 2010 that I realized I could fuse the two sounds together, which became the sound of Frontier Jazz," she says.
Sutton currently hosts a bimonthly (the first and third Wednesday of each month) YouTube performances of the singles from her two albums, Notes From the Frontier and Billie & Dolly.
Home Base: Sutton lives in Houston.
Why Do You Stay in Houston? Sutton relocated to Houston with her husband, who is pursuing his Ph.D in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of Houston. While here, Sutton has met the members that have become the Frontier Jazz Orchestra. Even if her husband 's career moves him away from Houston, she says, she will still maintain a "footrprint" in in order to stay connected to the band.
Good War Story: "My war has been internal: the combination of having to spend years correcting bad vocal habits, as well as overcoming intense stage fright," she says. "It turns out that the stage fright decreased once I figured out the mechanics of my voice. Now you can't shut me up!"
Music Scene Pet Peeve: After a health scare at age 50, Sutton decided to start singing at an age when many artists would be considering retirement. It is this daring spirit that has come to define her career.
"It's aversion to risk-taking, and that pop or singer-songwriter seems to be the default setting for gaining acceptance," says Sutton. "My genre is self-created, and I still have an uphill climb getting people to understand that the genre is valid, has artistic merit and is worthy of being presented on the big stage.
"Also, the youth-centered nature of the industry is incredibly frustrating," she admits. "I am a middle-aged African-American woman who is essentially breaking into a young person's field."
Five Six Desert Island Discs: "Seriously? I hate this question because there is so much great music out there," gasps Sutton. "I can only go with my current obsessions." She then listed not five, but six of her current favorite albums.
- Samuel Barber, Knoxville Summer of 1915
- David Bowie, The Next Day
- Bela Fleck and the Marcus Roberts Trio, Across the Imaginary Divide
- Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer & Mark O'Connor, Appalachian Waltz
- Miles Davis, Kind of Blue
- Dolly Parton, The Grass Is Blue
First Song You Fell in Love With: "'Nature Boy,'" she says, "as sung by Nat King Cole."
See who else has joined The Rocks Off 100 this year on the next page.
THE ROCKS OFF 100 2013 ALUMNI
Billy Dorsey, Grammy-Winning MARATHON Runner
David DeLaGarza, Don of Tejano Stars La Mafia
Jason Puffer, Your Psychedelic Sex Panther
Tobin Harvell, Fitzgerald's Unflappable Floor Manager
Walter Suhr, the Straw That Stirs Mango Punch!
Tony Garza, La Orquesta Salmerum Founder
OG Ron C, Chopstar King of the Purple Dome
Football, etc., Giving Emo Back Its Good Name
Angela Jae, Renaissance Artist
Shellee Coley, Voice of the Northern Woods
Blaggards, Houston's St. Paddy's Day House Band
DJ Meshak, Hongree Records' Sound Selecter
K-Rino, South Park Coalition's Southside Maven
DJ Candlestick, One Niceguy and a Very Busy DJ
Danielle Renee, Only Beast's Destroyer of Walls
Felipe Galvan of Los Skarnales
Kristine Mills, Houston's Brassiest Voice
Brian Davis, Punk Drummer, Horror Composer
Elroy Boogie, Top-Notch Turntablist
Alyssa Rubich, Angel of Instability
Alphonso "Fonz" Lovelace, Righteous Drummer
Frank Zweback, Funkmaster General
OG Bobby Trill, Bombon Beatmaker
Beau Beasley, Organist for the End of Time
Dwight Taylor Lee, the Wandering Bufalero
Coline Creuzot, Soulful Pop/R&B Singer
Cristina Acuna, Cactus Music's Twitter Fingers
Clint Broussard, Blues In Hi-Fi Man Now Back On FM
Nortnii Rose, Houston Ska's Greatest Hope
Ramblin' Chase Hamblin, the Man Who Will Be Paid
Chris Alonzo, Bringing Night Flight to Facebook
Follow @hprocksoff
Keep the Houston Press Free... Since we started the Houston Press, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Houston with no paywalls.