Pauline Jean: Music From a Strongly Rooted Core

Pauline Jean at Dizzy’s Club/ photo by Clara Pereira

Pauline Jean had been working as a paralegal in New York City for several years when she reached a verdict about herself: guilty of not following her heart. Fortunately for the music world, she eventually gave in to her desire “to pursue my passion for music, especially for singing,” she tells Brooklyn Roads. She moved to Boston to study at the Berklee College of Music and received a music degree in Vocal Performance.

“After my graduation, I returned to New York to immerse myself into the music scene.” It was the best life decision she ever made, she tells us, because “I have been able to sustain myself doing what I love.”

Pauline Jean at the Chile Pepper Festival / photo by B.L.Howard

The Haitian-American singer — who is also a composer, arranger and educator — grew up listening to pop, gospel, hip-hop/rap, R&B and Caribbean music. These influences morphed into her musical core, which she describes as “an erudite blend of jazz that draws from my Haitian Creole roots while integrating modern worldly grooves and traditional inflections.”

NWAYO album cover / Photo by Joey Rosado

Jean’s second album, NWAYO (pronounced n-wah-yo), is a prime example of her original works. “Nwayo is a Haitian Creole word that refers to the hardest part of the fruit, or the core, and converses a broad musical spectrum of a cultural and historical perspective,” she tells us. Fans of BRIC-TV’s live in-studio music series “B-Side” got a taste of NWAYO in March 2018, and on Sept. 28, 2019, she sang at the Chile Pepper Festival at Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

Jean, who calls Brooklyn home these days, tells us that, “Living in New York City gives me an opportunity to explore my creative outlet with other artists, various institutions and the audience. It allows me to share my perspectives on music and life as a musician through teaching, conducting workshops, and presenting music in schools and nursing homes.”

One of the artists with whom she has collaborated is fellow Brooklynite Dan Zanes, who invited her to sing “Boll Weevil” with him on his 2017 Lead Belly, Baby! tribute album. They repeated that performance at the Brooklyn Music School’s “Lead Belly, Brooklyn!” concert in November of 2017.

Pauline Jean With Claudia and Dan Zanes / courtesy of Pauline Jean

“I met Dan Zanes a few years ago through a family member and introduced him to my music,” she tells Brooklyn Roads. “Since then we have shared the stage on many occasions. I continue to perform with him and his wife Claudia from time to time.”

Like Zanes, Jean’s musical creativity has also shaped her philanthropic work. “I am a co-founder of the Experience Ayiti organization,” she says. “I travel to Haiti annually with a group of musicians to provide aid, hold master classes, present concerts, and coordinate the distribution of the collected instruments and related accessories throughout different regions of the island.”

It’s good to know Pauline Jean has solid core values to complement to her strongly rooted musical core.