Dida Pelled on Getting to Know Herself Through Jazz
Dida Pelled by Shervin Lainez
After a long stretch during the pandemic, Dida Pelled (it’s pronounced “DEE-da”) landed in her hometown of Tel-Aviv, Israel. Before the pandemic, she was there three times a year, visiting the place where her career began.
A very open book, Dida has a rich and eclectic life story she’s ready and willing to share. That’s because through her story we learn about jazz. Her upcoming album set for release in June, “Love of the Tiger,” takes us on a journey through her life and the lives of artists who came before her. She pulls in inspiration and influence from an incredibly diverse array of genres including jazz, rock, folk and more. That’s because the jazz genre, as Dida describes it, can be like a cult — but she’s learned that it doesn’t have to be. Jazz is accessible, fluid and for everyone. And, most importantly, jazz is for you.
Start your jazz journey with Dida’s exclusive interview with Amplify Her Voice, and her two brand new singles: “Melody” and “Skinny.” Both songs are out today.
Who is Dida? Where did she get her start?
I grew up in Tel Aviv. I started playing when I was young. In Israel, during holy days, a lot of times kids will go to campfires and hang out. Someone’s dad generally comes along and plays guitar and sings for us. I was in fourth grade when I first listened to music by the fire and I thought, “Okay, I want to do that.” I told my parents that I had to play guitar, despite no one in my family being very musical. I had my first “gig” a year later and I dressed the same as the dad I had first heard sing around the campfire. I wore a Canadian Tuxedo! I wore all denim, just like him!
So when did you find jazz?
I ended up going to a very good Israeli high school for the arts and they got all of us into jazz. I was 15, so before then I only really cared about the music 15-year-olds listen to, but that program brainwashed us! All I started caring about was playing jazz on guitar - I wanted to play bebop better than anyone else in my class. I don’t know how much you know about jazz, but it’s a cult, and I say that lovingly. I’ve been in that cult and it was my whole life. I didn’t care about pop music anymore, I only knew Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Nina Simone — all of the greats.
After high school, I went into the military, like all Israelis do, and was put into the army band. I actually wasn’t the first person in my family to have a strange role in our armed forces, because my mom is a magician and she’s the reason magicians have a place in the army! My service was also when I began singing. I had always had a secret desire to sing, but I was never confident enough to start. So, I started going to voice lessons and secretly plotting my singing career.
And how did that secret plot take shape?
I wanted to find a new version of myself, and I needed space to do it. I got full scholarships to study music at Berklee College of Music in Boston and the New School in New York City. I chose the New School because my siblings were already in NYC and, of course, so were thousands of other musicians. During school, I was looking to where and how I could expand my career and realized…oh, I have to leave the jazz cult! I was so laden with shame, I felt like I was doing something wrong when I started digging into other genres. But I also felt free - free to develop my curiosity. I found so many music scenes that welcomed and educated me: secret shoes in Lower East Side living rooms, small wine bars, random pop-up venues. But of course, jazz called me back, so I ended up playing every Sunday for eight years at a wine bar in the West Village - owned by another Israeli, funny enough.
Where did you draw inspiration during this time and how did you learn to become the artist you are today?
Playing at the wine bar helped me refine my voice and develop my repertoire. It also helped that I was away from home - I wasn’t comfortable singing in front of people I knew! So singing in front of strangers helped me figure out how I wanted to grow. I started bringing genres into my jazz, playing elements of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, and Neil Young. I played them like they were jazz standards. I also started writing and exploring the West Village scene a bit more. Through exploring, I met a trumpet player from Italy, Fabio, who connected me with a label that liked my sound. He said I could record a jazz album, which I wasn’t even thinking about at the time - I had no idea how to put together an album! But Fabio told me, “What do we do onstage? We’ll just do that in the studio and see what happens.” So we picked a band, picked some songs, and made a very simple record called “Dida Plays and Sings.” That was what really kicked this journey into high-gear.
Dida Pelled by Shervin Lainez
Okay, so quick break to ask you about jazz music specifically. If we are jazz beginners, where do we start? Who should we put on our rotation?
The legends! They’re legends because what makes a great jazz musician is not just playing and singing the music well, but interpreting the music - taking a song and making it something completely unexpected. Someone who does this exquisitely is Nina Simone. Everyone knows Nina, but it’s really cool to examine how she pulls together songs from different songbooks. Nina could pull something like a Randy Newman song and make it into jazz. She also just had a huge personality and could make any song sound like something that was completely and utterly hers.
Another artist is Blossom Dearie who is just a cool and smart lady with amazing diction and piano skills. Of course I always recommend John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Earl Gardner, but my favorite singer is probably Diana Washington. She is just the sassiest and coolest artist.
You describe your upcoming project as “Jazz gone rogue.” Can you tell us more about how this unique project came to be?
It’s basically the whole story we just covered: I’m a jazz musician and it’s very hard to take the jazz away from me. But this album really plays with a lot of styles: rock, R&B, folk, and - get this - Thai blues. My grandmother is Thai, so she pulled me into the culture. The history there is the king of Thailand who passed away in 2016 was a blues guitar player, so it was quite big there! I started listening to 1960s psychedelic pop from Thailand and I got SO into it. So I wrote this song called “Love of the Tiger” (which is also the title to my upcoming album) which pays homage to that Thai blues style. That story itself sort of describes how I see jazz: I want to make it my own.
What was your creative process like for the album?
The songs on this record had a very specific writing process. I took trips specifically for this project and the writing experience surrounding it. I was on a writing trip in Europe with my bandmates when we got stuck in a tiny town in Switzerland due to a snowstorm. We just started writing songs about the people who lived there - the song “Sylvia” actually came out of that experience! So really, from the Thai blues story and this one, you can tell these songs come from where I am in my life. They are about whoever and whatever is around me. That’s why I like going on trips, it shifts my perspective and gets me out of my every day - it helps me see a little bit more of the unique parts of life.
Of all the songs you’ve recorded, which one makes you incredibly joyful?
Well, I won’t give you the same answer if you ask me again tomorrow, but today I’m thankful for a funny song I almost didn’t put on the album called “Jack Nice.” It’s a character song, but it kind of made my career. It’s one of those songs that came from a completely different perspective I didn’t know I had!
Which of your songs gives you the most intense emotions?
“Smooth Talkin’ Con Man” - it’s the only cover on this latest album. The song was originally by a woman named Mistress Mary and she only ever put out one record. I found her story during a time in my career when I was driven to sing songs by women who, for one reason or another, disappeared after only a song or an album. Most of the songs I found were released after these women had passed away. Mistress Mary was a 1960s mom of three kids who ran off to Hollywood to make a record because it was her lifelong dream. You have to listen to the song yourself, but essentially “Smooth Talkin’ Con Man” was just a funny song about falling for a swindler. This was also one of the first songs I performed when I started singing on my own. One day, I remember being very upset at men for some reason - I don’t remember - and I just SANG it. I sang like I was singing it for the first time. The last line goes “Now I’m smooth talking swinging” and it gives me chills every time. She’s such a badass woman.
Thank you so much for opening up to us, Dida — this has been so enlightening. What can you say to women who are working to make it in the music industry?
I think the world is in such a cool place for not distinguishing women and men. I want everyone to feel like they can express themselves as they truly are, and not feel like their gender holds them back. I think because I am a woman in the world, my album has songs about experiences that I wished I had heard about as a young woman. Sing songs about fellow women: “Sylvia" and “Skinny” are those songs for me. Write about what impacts you, write about what you’ve been through.
What’s next for Dida?
I hope to continue experimenting with things. I already have some stuff I know I want to release after this project - it’s already in the works. I’m really just excited to keep creating music and stand in the confidence I feel just sounding like myself, sounding like Dida. Jazz is like a place to meet yourself again, so I am excited to continue reintroducing myself to the world. And, of course, I want a long career in jazz culminating in owning my own jazz club when I’m 90!