Everything's Coming Up Rozzi
Meet Rozzi Crane. After hearing her sweet and low-down sultry voice, the Bay Guardian called her a "Christina Aguilera-inspired siren from San Francisco". That's high praise for the 17 year old Marin Academy Senior who rotated Christina Aguilera on the IPOD of her adolescence - but now belts out her own smoky brand of R&B. She's also got the fundamental moves, good looks, stage presence and self-confidence to be a...well, who wants to be an American Idol when you're smart, talented, beautiful and you've got your own pithy million-dollar melody (potentially) stuck in your own musical mind. "Already, I feel like I have an identity of my own as an artist, says the young singer with the big voice and the sophisiticated demeanor: "I'm a songwriter and I'm really connected to the words that I sing because they're about me. I'm not the kind of performer who can sing off another person's page."
With her recent acceptance into the elite pop music program at the University of Southern California, (only five singers from around the world made it in!), and her first professional recording (a self-titled three cd sampler of her own songs), it's fair to say that these days, at least in Marin County, California, everything's coming up Rozzi Crane. "She's definitely taking it to the next level," said Amber Morris, her voice coach of four years, who is also her "mentor and fairy god mother". Amber smiled, "I think Rozzi has something really special to offer. Most people who hear her agree with me."
For Rozzi's recording, Amber assembled a team of seasoned, hard-driving players (including Mic Gillette, whose horn work has been heard in Tower of Power for 30-years on "Tower of Power" albums and Tal 'T.Mo' Morris, a preeminent SF rock, blues, and funk guitarist currently with Creedence Clearwater Revisited") who hark back to "that Bay Area soul sound of the Seventies," said Amber. " That's the kind of power I hear juxtaposed with a voice like Rozzi's. And it's not just about her tonality, which is exceptional. It's about her being able to feel an experience and translate it to an audience. She's got that earthy, organic voice that can do just that."
In addition to her talent, Rozzi has an inner drive that rivals the beat of her own music."She's like a super action figure", said Amber of Rozzi's determination, focus and high self-esteem. "In my opinion, she's unstoppable." You do come away after meeting Rozzi and listening to her tunes also believing that this is the start of something big in her musical career. "I've always wanted to express myself," said the straight-A student who once played Wendy in a production of Peter Pan, but now stars as the lead girl in her own music. "This is what I have been dreaming about my whole life."
Pam Abramson
March 2009
