By Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun
9:24 a.m. EDT, September 5, 2014
Every performance by jazz singer Rene Marie is an act of validation. Sixteen years ago, she faced an ultimatum from her then-husband — abandon music or get out. She chose the latter course, and went on to enjoy an international career.
Her musical journey continues as Marie brings her Eartha Kitt tribute to Creative Alliance this weekend. Given her self-confidence and dynamic personality, Marie is a natural to delve into the legacy of the sexy, indelible Kitt.
Although Marie can purr seductively through a song, she doesn't try to imitate Kitt. It's the woman's spirit she seeks to honor on "I Wanna Be Evil — With Love to Eartha Kitt," an album released early this year on the Motema Music label.
"I first discovered Eartha when I was a kid and she was Catwoman on the 'Batman' series," says Marie, 58, who was born Rene Marie Stevens and raised in Warrenton, Va. "Later on, I remember seeing her on TV talking to white folks in a way I have never seen anyone in my community do when I was growing up under Jim Crow laws."
Marie pretty much forgot about Kitt until recent years, when she got an opportunity to catch Kitt in performance at New York's Carlyle Hotel.
Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/artsmash/bs-ae-arts-story-0905-20140903,0,5954429.story#ixzz3Cw9agOGT
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