Image courtesy of Gwen Perry.
Black History Month was officially recognized in the US in 1976. However, it was started decades before by historian and author, Dr. Woodson, as a single week every February to honor the month in which Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were born. The week-long event officially became Black History Month in 1976 when US president Gerald Ford extended the recognition to “honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” Since then it has been celebrated in the US every year since.
Thus, in honor of this year’s Black History Month, I sat down with Gwen Perry, the recent winner of la Voz Senior 2022, to chat about her extensive career and accomplishments. Gwen was born in North Carolina, before moving to Washington, DC, where she worked as a program analyst in the government. Not long after, she decided to pursue her singing career full-time, embarking on 50 years of performing across the globe as a jazz vocalist. We discussed her recent win, her inspirations, politics, love and travel.
First, I wanted to say a huge congratulations on your win. How has it been since? Have you had time to take it all in?
I guess the first couple of days I was still floating on adrenaline. And then when I finally came down to Earth, it was like I have things to do now, important things. First of all, there are all of the interviews on national television. And then the reward for having won The Voice is the opportunity to make a recording produced by Universal Music, and we’re already working on that. My very dear friend and pianist, Michele Faber, wrote a song for me. We’re going into the studio in about ten days to record it. I can’t tell you any more than that!
So, how did you decide to sign up for The Voice?
They contacted me because a friend gave them my name—and the friend forgot to tell me. So, when they called, at first I thought it was a joke, and I don’t like jokes, especially about work. And then the person said, we have looked you up, we know that you have an extensive career, but would you like to have a new adventure? At first I said “I don’t think so.” And then I thought about it. You know, sometimes when you have done a lot, it kind of stays there. And since the pandemic, all kinds of cultural activities, especially music, have just been blocked. So, I called them and I said, “ok, I’ll try it.”
I wanted to ask you a bit about your career; something I’ve heard you say a few times is that you were born singing?
This year, thank God, I celebrated 50 years as a professional. But I’ve been singing forever, my mother used to say to me “no one is allowed to sing at the table,” and I was always humming and singing and she would say “girl would you just shut up.” But no, I was born a singer. My mother said that she had a beautiful voice before I was born but after, she didn’t have it anymore, so I guess she gave me hers.
My dreams were thwarted for a while though, especially as a child, because my parents didn’t want that for me. But as the years went by and I went to university, I got my degree, I went to work in Washington, I was still singing, singing on the side, anytime and anywhere I could sing. So when my marriage at the time was on the rocks, I needed to make a change. I worked in the government as a program analyst in the department of housing and urban development. But the only time I was really happy was when I was performing on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. I decided to take a two-year sabbatical and get it out of my system, so to say. But I didn’t go to Las Vegas, and I didn’t go to New York because there were about 10,000 Gwen Perrys there. But in Europe we Americans were still sort of a novelty, especially African American women. I left Washington, DC, for Palma de Mallorca. I didn’t speak Spanish, I didn't know anyone and I didn’t have work. I stepped out on a limb, a limb of faith. Faith in myself, faith in God, and here I am. I was supposed to stay for two years and that was 45 years ago.
How did you find the move? Did you experience any culture shock?
I was where I was supposed to be. That’s the only answer I can give you. I felt like I was at home. It was so different from America, and the people were curious but they were nice. The island was beautiful. You know, when I first came to Mallorca there was maybe one car for every four or five carriages. When you wanted to make a phone call to the mainland or to another country, you had to reserve the call and they would call you back. It was so different from what I came from that I started to fall in love with it. And I loved that island, I still do, I still go every now and then.
And then you lived in Egypt for a while, is that right?
Oh yes. I think of all of the 40-some years that I’ve been away, my stay in Egypt had the most impact on me spiritually, especially. The people are so nice, and the culture! The first time that I went out to the pyramids I felt like a little spot, and that was before they did all of this building up around it. You were just out there in the open; you felt your insignificance next to something like that. And the audience was fantastic. Being in Egypt gave me a kind of energy that I haven’t felt in other places. It was like I was connected, I was plugged in.
So, of all the places you have lived, where have you felt most at home?
Well, it depends on the periods of my life. I felt very much at home when I lived in Egypt. I felt like maybe in another life that’s where I came from. But then I felt the same thing in Mallorca—like I had lived in the Mediterranean before. My stay in Italy was more professionally embellished than socially or culturally and that’s where I started to do cruise ships from. I would do part of the year on the ships and the other part touring with a 10 piece band. It was gratifying. I started to come to visit Catalunya, Mataró, where I had met a family on a cruise ship a year before and we fell in love. I liked Catalunya.
And then I did a cruise that left out of Barcelona. And on this trip, Miquel, my husband, saw my show the first evening. The next day I was selling my CDs and he came to buy one. We had like a ten-minute conversation and then things went from there to there—I won’t give you all the details! It wasn’t love at first sight for either of us, but he is the person who completes me. Miquel makes me laugh. And even with his health situation, when he has a good day, he still makes me laugh. If you are good with yourself, you don’t feel lonely when you are alone. But then along comes a person that touches that cord that nobody has touched before or nobody has touched for a long time and that’s what Miquel did.
I know that you’ve been involved in politics throughout your career. What role does politics play in your life today?
Not as much now as it did when I was president of Democrats Abroad, Barcelona Chapter. It means a lot to me that my vote counts. It was important for me to get people involved and I had excellent people working with me during those two mandates. But it was breathtaking to have been president at the time of President Obama, and not because he’s African American. He was just a charismatic person and he brought hope to hundreds of thousands of Americans.
I know you’ve mentioned a few times your love for Ella Fitzgerald—would I be correct in saying that you opened a show for her?
I was the opening act for Ella Fitzgerald touring in Italy; it was 1985 or 1986. I was flabbergasted to have met her—she was such a down to Earth, generous person. Even at that time she was like 83 years old, she was having sight problems and they had to help her on the stage but when she opened her mouth!. When she was finished I went to say hello. I said “I’m Gwen Perry,” and she said, “I know who you are.” I asked “could you please give me your autograph?” and she said, “I don’t give autographs to my colleagues.” I asked if she could please make an exception and she signed her program with all of her songs on it. I have had that thing with me forever. That was the highlight of everything I’ve done over these forty-some years.
Talking about your inspirations, how important was it to have black women like Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson to look up to when you were growing up?
Even though I grew up in the South, there were many things that didn’t touch me or that I didn’t see—and I grew up in what was Ku Klux Klan country. But we had wonderful parents and they taught us values that I think I still have: you don’t like or dislike people because of the color of their skin.
So, did I see Ella Fitzgerald as a black woman? I just saw her as a singer that I adore, because I also loved Judy Garland. Ella Fitzgerald will always be a model for women. You know, when she came along, there was not so much emphasis on black women or black history, that’s been since her times. Black History Month for me now has more significance than when I was younger, because it finally gives recognition. But it should not be this way, there should not be a black history month, but fortunately or unfortunately, there is one. I think it grew out of the labors, the suffering and the work of Martin Luther King Jr. and that’s what gives this movement, or this celebration, more importance. We should just live to love one another and work together—but that’s just the dream of a little old lady!