The Rocks Off 100: Jacqui Sutton, Houston's "Jazzgrass Lady"

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

Sean Ozz, Wizard of The Abyss

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

Rapid Ric, Mixtape Mechanic

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

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