Singer Miz Dee to join Wednesday Night Ramble Jan. 9

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

The Wednesday Night Ramble at the Empress Theatre in Vallejo has been gaining in popularity — and talent.

The brain child of bass player Don Bassey, who was inspired by Levon Helm’s all-star Midnight Ramble jams, the “by invitation only” pro jam has been described as an evening of organized chaos as unannounced guests take the stage and join the North Bay All Stars in a freewheeling extended musical performance.

Now, for it’s next installment Jan. 9, a new artist is scheduled to take the stage: Oakland native Miz Dee, who Benicia-based promoter Rhonda Hicks has called “a force of nature.”

Born in Oakland, Dee currently calls Gubbio, Italy home. “I work with an Italian band, and a German band. And a band from Holland,” she said Monday in an interview with The Herald.

“I connected with these guys over the year and created my own little groove out there.” Soon, she said, she’ll be on tour throughout Europe with the Maurizio Pugno Large Band.

Miz Dee got her musical start early, singing in her father’s garage at about age 9. “I used to put on a one-woman show there,” she said. “A workbench was my stage, the transistor radio was my background music. I sang all of the Top 40 hits that came on the air.”

Her mother was a minister of music at their church, giving Miz Dee a natural platform for her talent — and informing that talent with the feeling of Gospel music.

“My mother dragged my brother and sister and me along to church,” she said. “Church music is different from rock and roll. It’s all about feeling, no matter what church you go to.”

Miz Dee said despite her success on stage, she still takes singing classes when she can — from her mother.

“My mother is a wonderful teacher. She had choirs and I sang in a few. I learned how to sight read, and harmonize, being involved in choirs, but Gospel music isn’t my forté. I’m okay at it but I wouldn’t compare myself to Shirley Caesar or someone like that,” she said.

Instead, she considers herself a song stylist.

“I take a song, learn the song, I study the music and I sing it the best way I can, in my style,” she said. “I’m not a copycat.”

Miz Dee’s musical journey has taken her through classical, jazz, rock and roll, reggae, funk and soul — “whatever I can do, any style of music I can grab I try to do it,” she said. “I’m starting to get into flamenco. I love it. It’s captivating.”

Even though as the singer, she is naturally the featured performer on most stages, Miz Dee says she is more of a team player. “I create an atmosphere where everyone in the band is featured and gets the opportunity to show off,” she said. “My job as the front person is to entertain the crowd. It’s an honor when someone really speaks highly of the group that I’m a part of because that’s important to me.

“The singer is nothing without a good band. You need that team.”

Her musical journey has landed her on some renowned teams, opening for Gladys Knight, John Lee Hooker and James Brown, to name a few.

“James Brown stands out, but they were all incredible. Whenever you can open for an icon or legend, it’s big, and there’s been quite a few of those opportunities,” she said.

She recently opened for B.B. King at the Paramount Theater in November. “He’s a giant!” she said.

“I’ve been fortunate to have fantastic musicians in my life,” Miz Dee said. “It hasn’t always been that way in the beginning, but somehow good people migrate toward good people, and good players want to play with good players.”

Even now Miz Dee feels honored when she is asked to play with musicians she respects. “When they ask me to play with them, and I have a high respect for people like Bobby Vega, and our local musicians that are giants, when they ask me to perform in their group, I’m like ‘Me? You want me? Oh my gosh!’ I’m always like a big kid.

“I’m happy to be around top-notch players, giving that respect and receiving that respect — it’s very special,” she said. “So I know that what I am doing is not in vain. It’s an honor and a privilege to do what I do.”

She was thrilled, therefore, to be invited to the burgeoning Wednesday Night Ramble. “I get to work with Alvon (Johnson, the other special guest),” she said. “He’s a kick! We’ll see what we get a chance to bring together. …

“I have a wonderful life. Life’s not easy in whatever you do, but I am actually doing the things I love. … I think people should, while they are alive and well and able to, find out what it is that you really want to do, and do it. Then you’ve accomplished something.”

If You Go
The Wednesday Night Ramble will be at the Empress Theatre, 330 Virginia St., from 7-10 p.m. Tickets are $7 in advance, $9 at the door. Call 707-552-2400 for tickets and information.