In conversation with Ekep Nkwelle
By Bridget Arnwine
Cameroonian-American vocalist Ekep Nkwelle has been on a tear lately. Over the past year alone, she has delighted audiences at the Newport, Pittsburgh, and Monterey Jazz Festivals in addition to other festivals, club and concert dates, and special guest performances around the world. Born and raised in the nation’s capital, the young twenty-something got her start in music by studying at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Howard University, and the Juilliard School in New York City.
Nominated by famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis for the Juilliard Career Advancement Grant (which she won), Nkwelle has gone on to work with and be celebrated by jazz icons, including the late Russell Malone, pianist Cyrus Chestnut, vocalist and NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater, pianist Emmet Cohen, and bassist Endea Owens. In 2022, she and the Juilliard Jazz Ensemble appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series.
With a voice that balances grace, power, and love, Nkwelle bridges the traditions of the past and the modernity of the present, drawing from jazz, gospel, and her Cameroonian heritage. Onstage, she walks between being and knowing, between faith in spirit and faith in God’s favor, as she proudly roots herself in the legacy of the great vocalists who came before her while also carving out a sound all her own. Offstage, she speaks with a poise and depth that defy her years, reflecting on her journey in jazz, self-discovery, and why it’s essential to celebrate the women who came before her. I caught up with the young vocalist after her set at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival. Here’s what she had to say.
Bridget Arnwine (BA): What was your introduction to jazz, and what led you to pursue it as a career?
Ekep Nkwelle (EN): This is my favorite question in the world. My family is originally from Cameroon, so growing up, I heard artists like Manu Dibango and other West African artists who played what we consider fusion. I wasn’t aware of what straight-ahead jazz was, nor was I aware of what smooth jazz was, but I was listening to more smooth jazz. My dad loved live acoustic music, so that was my introduction to a certain style of jazz.
Then, maybe around late 2015 or early 2016, I was at my mom’s house in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, watching Looney Tunes. One of the episodes that randomly came on was with the big red monster, Gossamer. He was singing at a talent show, and the grandma was playing the piano. She started playing the introduction to “September in the Rain,” and I had no clue what that was. I knew it was jazz because I was in school for music at the time, and Gossamer began to sing a very standard “September in the Rain.” It was the most beautiful melody I’d ever heard.
So I went to YouTube and typed in “September in the Rain,” and the first thing that came up was Sarah Vaughan Live at Mr. Kelly’s, and that was pretty much history.
At the time, I was studying at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. That April, our school’s New Washingtonian Jazz Orchestra performed for the Duke Ellington Birthday Celebration. They started playing “Sophisticated Lady.” I was in the show choir at the time, and we were going to perform “A Train” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing” after them, but after I heard “Sophisticated Lady,” I thought, “I don’t know what I’m doing singing, dancing, and jumping around. I need to be in front with that band, singing, because I feel so moved and I just want to be a part of that.”
After that, I enrolled in the school’s summer jazz program that was led by the same director of the orchestra. I passed out of all my theory and piano requirements, and I started taking jazz classes. The ball just started rolling from there, and here I am today.
BA: Do you think your heritage as a Cameroonian American influences your artistry?
EN: Absolutely. I think it’s allowed me to grow an affinity toward artists like Abbey Lincoln and Oscar Brown Jr. who saw the Black and African diasporas as one, as unified.
For a long time, I felt torn between my Americanness and Africanness. But recently, I began to accept that it all lies in this one body, so why should I choose when I express them? I just express myself, because I’m both.
It shows not only in the artists I admire but also in how I express myself musically. Loving to dance on stage, being percussive with my voice, having interplay with the drums and bass... It’s in the band I choose as well. I’m always looking for musicians like drummers from Philly and New Orleans, because they’ve got that thing. I love bassists from Detroit and DC. Washington, DC is like a factory for bassists. Ben Williams… there are so many, I can’t name them all.
BA: What about your DC roots? Do you think your experience growing up in DC shapes your artistry? And do you think DC gets enough credit for its contributions to jazz?
EN: I think the credit we get – if people really acknowledge it – is that Duke Ellington was from there. But how often do they mention that? Like, never. (laughter)
BA: Right. And if they do mention it, that might be the extent of it.
EN: Exactly.
BA: And like you said, there’s such a factory of musicians that comes out of DC.
EN: Absolutely. Shirley Horn. As much as we know her, do we really know her and consider her one of the greats in this music?
And not to segue too far off topic, but that connects to how we don’t properly honor women in jazz, especially those who weren’t primarily vocalists. Even though Shirley Horn sang, she was also a talented musician. We don’t give enough credit to women like Mary Lou Williams and even Abbey Lincoln. People aren’t always aware of how many original compositions they created. There are so many things we don’t consider in this music and in this society at large.
BA: You’ve studied at both Howard University and The Juilliard School. How did those experiences (attending an HBCU and a predominantly white institution or PWI) shape you as an artist? Did you feel different things were required of you at each school?
EN: My experiences were very different. My mom has worked at Howard University for about three decades. She is now the Associate Dean for the School of Business, and one of my uncles is on the Board.
BA: That’s awesome.
EN: That’s a deep legacy. Going there meant everything to me. Studying this music, Black American music, in the presence of community, and in the presence of those who reflect the originators of this music, was paramount to my journey and to my growth.
There’s just a different way we approached it. Of course, we studied the technicalities. It’s school. But we were really trying to get to the history and the soul of the music. “You come from the church? Well, this is the church.” “You’re used to listening to R&B? Well, there’s a thread between the music.” Back then, R&B didn’t sound the way it does now. Being able to see this music as a continuum – that’s what we learned at Howard.
Those undergraduate years, between 18 and 21, were so pivotal. I was able to soak up all this information and learn more about who we are, which helped me understand who I am.
When I got to Juilliard, it was different. Instead of learning about who we are and who I am from those who don’t necessarily look like me, I was already equipped with that knowledge. When I went to Juilliard, I was learning how to take what I knew and present it. My time there was about building the career you see expressed now. It was a two-year incubator for me to plan and prepare. If you see my graduate recital on YouTube, that performance was the culmination of six years of preparation. Some of the songs I did then, I’m still performing now, just more authentic and refined.
Both experiences were very different, but they were both necessary.
BA: You’ve been endorsed and supported by some of the biggest names in today’s jazz world. What does that mean to you as someone making your way in this art form?
EN: Of course, it’s cliché to say, but it means the world to me, truthfully. Especially the support I’ve received from the women who have honored me with their time, appreciation, and mentorship.
Dee Dee Bridgewater is a mentor to me. I spent two weeks with her during a residency at The Woodshed Network, and I told her at the end of the program that I learned more about the music business in those two weeks than I had in all my schooling. In ten years of studying, Dee Dee Bridgewater taught me more in two weeks than I learned in a decade. She’s a well of wisdom that you could drop a penny in, and it would never hit the bottom.
Dianne Reeves, too. She didn’t have to bring me out on stage to sing “September in the Rain” with her in Houston, but she did. She didn’t have to stand in the wings and watch my entire set, but she did.
Even Cécile McLorin Salvant – that’s my girl. Jazzmeia Horn, who’s playing in a few minutes, these women have honored me. I can’t speak for every other woman around me, but I’m sure it’s the same.
The women who have come before me, and who, by God’s grace, are still here and will continue to be here, these women are… I don’t even know if I have the words to describe them. They’ve honored us with their time and their gifts. They are out of this world, and we should cherish them.
BA: What projects are you working on?
EN: A few! My own project has been in the works for a while. I’m now in conversation with record labels. I’ve said that a lot over the past two years, and for one reason or another, those conversations didn’t get very far. But they’re progressing now. I foresee that next year, people will finally have an album they can listen to.
BA: If you keep performing like that, people won’t care about an album! (laughter)
EN: Thank you! Performance is my bread and butter. That’s what it’s all about. Even as a solo artist. I don’t see the band as “I”; I see it as “we,” even though it’s my name up there. Ekep Nkwelle is a band.
I’m doing some things with Joel Ross (vibes) and Julius Rodriguez, who you heard this afternoon on piano. I just released something with David Murray titled Birdly Serenade. I sang on two songs: the title track and “A Song of the World.”
I’m also featured on Kenny Barron’s new album titled Songbook, which comes out sometime in November. It’s been a passion of his to do something with just vocalists. I’m not sure if he’s done a project like that before, but this project features vocalists such as one of my other mentors, Catherine Russell, who is like an auntie to me. She wrote her own lyrics for her song. Cécile McLorin Salvant is featured on three songs. Tyreek McDole is on it. Kurt Elling is on it. There are so many great vocalists involved, and I’m so excited about that. I’m also looking forward to doing some tour dates with Kenny Barron next year.
BA: Perfect. Thank you so much. That’s all I have for you.
EN: It’s been an honor.
BA: Trust me, it’s been my honor. I’m so grateful to you.
