Transcripts For KQEH Tavis Smiley 20130816

I try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. We know that we are only halfway to completely eliminating hunger and we have work to do. Walmart committed 2 billion to fighting hunger in the u. S. As we work together, we can stamp hunger out. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Tavis natalie cole was first introduced to latin music by her legendary father, nat king cole, who learned to sing in spanish in the 1950s in havana. Inspired by those songs, natalie has recorded her first album in spanish, titled appropriately, natalie cole en espanol. Lets listen to a cut from the cd. Tavis he still sounds so good. I do . Tavis you do oh. Tavis but your daddy does, too. Well of course. Tavis no, you sound good. I was getting to that. I was just starting with your daddy, saying oh, yes. Tavis he still sounds so good. And we found footage of him singing that song in spanish, which is, like, so very cool. Very cool. Tavis yeah. Let me ask you a but you know neither one of us is fluent in spanish. Tavis yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let me ask you to set your modesty aside for just a second where your father is concerned. I know you love your daddy. But the older you get and the more you hear his voice and you find treasures like these, what do you think of your father now . I think hes still unparalleled. I really do. I think that he came at a time when there was no one out there like him. He had a demeanor as well. When people talk about my dad, they dont just talk about his singing. Almost everyone wanted a chance to see him. Whether it was his television show, even though shortlived, or whether it was live performance, they loved his spirit, his demeanor. He was a really great man. He was a good, he was a cool person. People could get that from him. Tavis ive never seen a picture, and this which is rare and im sure there may be one or two in the family photos somewhere, but i like look at these pictures were running through now. Ive never seen a picture where your daddy didnt look cool. I mean his style. No, no question. Tavis his style. Hes just so smooth. Please, please, no offense, but Justin Timberlake has nothing on that hat. Tavis yeah, yeah. Oh, no. Dad was sporting that a while ago, okay . laughter dont even try it. Tavis it wasnt just the smoothness of his voice. His whole style yeah, the way he dressed. Tavis his whole aesthetic. The way he at home, same thing. Tavis same thing. He was very cool. Very cool. Except with his boxer shorts, though. Tavis yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a little okay. laughter tavis so how did this idea come to be . This is a 10year development, really. After the success of unforgettable, we started thinking around about what else could we do that would be magical. My sister and i at the time my sister passed several years ago but at the time, we started having talks with capitol, with emi. They were going through changes and timing is everything. So its just taken that long to bring it to fruition now, and i was talking with david foster about three years ago. I was out on tour with david foster and friends and i said, you know, david, im thinking id really like to do a spanish record. He said, well, if anyone could pull this off, it would be you. Then 18 months later he became the ceo of verve universal. I didnt think he was going to sign me, but he did, because he just believed that much in the idea of this kind of a record coming out now. Tavis so now that youve done this, how difficult was it to do . I had so much fun. Tavis oh yeah . I could tell you. Im blessed with a gift for accents, even though i dont speak spanish fluently, because i thought we were going to need a coach, especially for the songs that we chose. But rudy perez, my producer, he heard me sing quizas, quizas, quizas and he said, youre fine. So he just coached me through with a little phrasing, and i just, i dont know. Maybe it has to do with my kidney, my latino kidney from my donor family from el salvador. laughter tavis im glad you went there, because i was first of all, you look great, and obviously you sound great. Thank you. Tavis how are you feeling . I do feel good. Tavis yeah. I feel terrific. Its really a miracle to go from one part of your life health wise and then you never think youre ever going to feel the same again, you just want to be normal, so to speak. Ill never be normal, but in the scheme of things, compared to how i was four years ago, im doing real good. laughs tavis does that i was going to say a brush with death. With you, it was more than a brush with death, because you were yeah, but i didnt even know how close i was to that. I just knew i didnt feel good. Tavis yeah, so it wasnt a brush with death. In your case, it was that you were knocking on deaths door. I was yes. Tavis how, then, does that encourage you, give you the impetus to push these kinds of projects higher up on your bucket list, as they say . Right. Probably because its like god, you going to give me a little more time to do this . So thats the impetus. Lets do this now. Lets not wait. Lets not wait until Something Else happens. What are we waiting for . Im older, im more seasoned. If anybody can pull this off and i still think of myself as an artist who needs to continue to explore. I wanted to broaden my horizon internationally, and it really was almost a nobrainer to do a spanish record. Not a french record, not an italian, but Something Like this. Tavis what do we know, what do you know, what can you tell us about why this was a challenge that your dad accepted for himself . My dad was persuaded to do this by his manager, whose name was carlos gastel. Carlos gastel was cuban, and i guess he just felt that dad could do this, and that he and that he ended up being the first american, black or otherwise, male or female, to go overseas, period, to do this kind of music. He was, the response was dad was over there in, like, 58 for that first spanish record, cole espanol. The response was so huge he did two more records. He was in havana for the next 20 years. They still have a statue of him tavis ive seen it. In front of the nacional hotel. Tavis at the hotel de nacional. Ive been there unintelligible . Its just amazing. We were, my sisters and i were just going through pictures at the unintelligible museum last month of photos that my mom had donated. We had not seen these pictures before, and there are some amazing photos, tavis. You would just theres when he was in south america, when he was in argentina, when he was in havana, and the crowd, just the adoration on their faces for this man is just, its really something to behold. Tavis one of the things ive always and i want you to comment on this one of the things ive always loved about music in spanish is that even if you dont know what theyre saying, its sexy. It is. Oh. Tavis oh, man. laughter its sexy, its smooth, it is soothing. Yes it is. Tavis they could be cussing me out for all i know. Thats right. Tavis but it sounds good. Yes, it does. Tavis so tell me more about what it feels like to sing in spanish. I tell you, the first time i started hearing myself, hearing these tracks back and these vocals, i looked at my musical director, who always goes with me when im recording, and i said, i think i like myself singing in spanish better than english. My voice just takes on this because i dont know how much youve heard of the record, but tavis ive heard it. You could tell. It sounds like natalie cole, but it doesnt sound like natalie cole, and i think the biggest compliment that i have received is that theyre saying i dont sound like an american singing spanish. That theres a bit of a columbian, whatever that means. Its something good. But i love rolling these lyrics, these words, off my tongue. Some of it is definitely challenging, i will definitely agree, but boy, once we get it, it was like you dont forget. You just cant wait to it just feels good. Tavis compare and contrast, now that youve had both experiences, compare and contrast for me, natalie, singing with your father in english and singing with your father in spanish. Im better. laughter tavis yeah, you know what im better than he is, actually. Tavis yeah, mr. Cole is not here to defend himself. Yeah, i know. Because when the tavis he is not here to defend himself. laughter but see, the problem is is that its so funny, because you should hear my producer, because of course he was a huge fan of my fathers, but he said he had to do it phonetically. He said, his spanish is not as good as yours. laughter tavis okay, let me ask another question, since your daddy unintelligible . laughter hell let his little girl get away with that. Tell me more about the challenge of or the joy, you tell me of producing singing with him in english on the unforgettable project, and in spanish on this project. Oh, this was a joyous feeling. Unforgettable was bittersweet. It really was. And it was the first time, as well. Since then, i think i get much more pleasure out of it than i do pain. I still go, i must say, when we do unforgettable, that one still tavis still gets you. It still does, because we have nice video footage. Everyone in that picture is gone. My sister, my mom, my dad. Its tough. Its tough. But look what they left me, and my mom would be so thrilled if she could have stayed here long enough to hear some of this music. She would have loved it. She would have loved this project even more than the unforgettable project. Yeah. Tavis my heart went out to you. I was so just broken when i heard about your mothers passing a year ago now. Yeah, yeah. Tavis just over a year ago. Yeah, itll be tavis just a year in july. July 9th, yeah. Tavis eightynine. Yeah. Tavis yet i thought, as sad as i was, i celebrated the fact that she had a long lovely tavis lovely life. Rich, very full life, and looked good doing it the whole time. Tavis absolutely, mmhmm. My mom looked good. She really did. Her humor got a little more funny as she got older, which i thought was kind of interesting. Even as she was in the process of leaving, she still had some funny things to say. I really thank god that i had the opportunity to spend that time with her, because i was traveling when this happened. They told me about it when i was in istanbul or something crazy, and she asked for me. She said, wheres sweetie . Whens she coming . They said she wouldnt get dressed until she heard i was coming. Otherwise, she was in her pajamas the whole time. I thought that was so sweet. Tavis speaking of being in istanbul, how are you again, you look good and you said you feel good. How are you making decisions, not just about projects now in terms of instudio stuff, but how are you making decisions about where you tour, how you tour, when you tour . Hows that all working out . Yeah, this project has really put everyone out of their comfort zone, okay . Were really testing the waters on this one. Tavis has your band learned this stuff yet . Yeah. They love it. They are having a ball. One of my piano players actually also works for Arturo Sandoval. Tavis oh, oh. laughter yeah, so tavis he has the biggest pipe. Oh, he is fabulous. Tavis his pipes are unintelligible . Ill see him in a few weeks. But hes also on this record. Actually, hes on one of the bonus tracks. But arturo is beyond. But we are really kind of feeling our way, and thank goodness for the Latin Department of latin universal, that they have jumped in and really kind of directing us as to where do we go, where we go, how we go, where we need to be, what we need to be doing, even right down to whats the single going to be or the first few songs. So theyre really giving us a lot of direction, and thats important, because im clueless. I have no idea. Tavis i said arturo has, he has, like, the biggest horn unintelligible . Oh, and the biggest heart. Tavis big heart too. unintelligible tavis great guy, great guy. To your point now about the Latin Department helping you navigate this journey, what have you learned so far, what are you learning not that you havent been around the world anyway, but now youre singing stuff in their language. Right. Tavis what are you learning about that audiences appreciation for the music . Well, we havent had a chance yet to perform this tavis so you havent done it yet. To, like, mostly latino or spanish audiences. Tavis oh, okay. So the bands learned it, but you aint done it yet. Well, weve performed them live, but here in the u. S. , where not necessarily my audiences its an american audience. Tavis so let me jump in right quick before i come to that, then. How is the american audience responding to natalie cole en espanol . I am telling you, their response is first like gasps , because i kind of set it up. I go, i just finished recording a spanish record, and they go, oh. Tavis wow. Then i say, i just want you to check this out. So ill do, like, quizas, quizas, and they all know that. We all know that one, so that kind of breaks them in a little bit. Then i come with acercate mas with dad, and they go, oh, cool. Then i do another song, and i think they like it. I think they like it, i really do. Tavis are you excited, scared, intimidated, you fill in the blank, for the opportunity to do this in front of a spanish audience in a country that speaks spanish . All the above. All the above. Tavis yeah. I really am. Its like i said, im out of my comfort zone. When i first walked into the studio with rudy, the first couple of days, i was like, what have i done . What have i done . But something about it just felt right, and he had some of his friends come in and listen, and they were like man, its great. And one of the things i think that we did right is that we did not go with music that nobody was familiar with. These are all latin traditional, authentic, back in the day, your parents parents tavis standards, yeah. Stuff, and so when they hear and radio is telling us that they havent played this kind of music in so long because its always been the, you know. As a matter of fact, theyre saying that latin music is starting to get so americanized that, okay, i thought that was interesting. Tavis thats the problem that everybody in the world makes. Yeah. Tavis they all want to be americanized. They all want to, yeah. Tavis thats the last thing the world needs, is more of us. I know. laughter tavis everybody wants to its like but its not necessarily good stuff. Tavis yeah, i got it. Its just the american pop, rap, whatever, but its not necessarily really good. A nice compliment from the president of latin universal, jesus lopez, was that this is what we need to hear again. We need to remind ourselves of how beautiful this music is. So its not unlike what we did with unforgettable. Tavis you said something a moment ago and i know what you meant by it, but i want to just press you on it a little bit to get more out of you on this, and that is this notion at this stage in your career, at this stage in your life, at this age of your life, on the one hand, you admitted that youre out of your comfort zone. On the other hand, you said, but it feels so good. It does. Tavis i raise that to ask you to say more about that, because theres so many people, for a variety of reasons, whatever theyre called in your profession or lifes task is, we dont want to be pushed out of our comfort zones. Right. Tavis but in that, you have found a certain joy, i take it. Absolutely. I was talking to a few other artists. I went to a convention of radio people. I hadnt been in 30 years, probably, and it was so great to meet some of the deejays that used to play, still playing my music. But unintelligible was there, from, you know, the winner of american idol. Tavis sure, absolutely. I was telling him about it, and he was like, really . He said, i would be scared to death to do Something Like that. I said, youre an artist. You dont have to keep doing the same thing over and over. You can explore. Thats what an artist does. I said, you might actually enjoy it. Michael bolton was there, he sang a couple of things in spanish. So it really just depends on where you want to go. I just think that its boring to do the same thing over and over again and call yourself an artist. Tavis see, i agree that that is ostensibly what an artist ought to have the liberty and the freedom and the agency to do, to explore. And sometimes it works, and sometimes it might not work. Tavis but, well, sometimes it doesnt work because your fans wont let you do it. This is true. Tavis how have you navigated this career . But i, because i started off crazy. I started off laughter tavis you started out with this will be. Come on, that wasnt crazy. That was a hit, that one. And then i went to good morning, heartache, and then i went to Something Else. So i always, i never wanted to be that. I think that my fans have gotten okay with that. Tavis used to that. Yeah. Tavis yeah. Since i mentioned this will be, which i was just listening to yesterday on my ipod, when you hear that stuff from you sing it, of course, but when you are in your car or wherever and you hear it on the radio from way back when, what does it amazing. Tavis yeah, what is it yeah. Its still amazing to me. I can remember standing in the studio; i remember when i first heard the song from Chuck Jackson and marvin, and how we all just jumped up in the air because we knew this was going to be a great song. Oh, gosh, and how much fun i still have recording that song. What a great thing to happen for a singer, just to have that one song, and everyone thought it was aretha at first, and aretha actually did it at carnegie hall, and thats really my song. Yeah. Tavis tell me how your family, your sisters and brother, hows everybody doing . My sisters, my twin sisters are delightful, theyre wonderful. My son is great. My whole family is doing really, really well. Uncle freddies good, still working like a crazy person. Hes not going to stop until he actually falls over on the stage. Thats how its going to happen. Tavis yeah. Thats how it works, yeah. laughter yeah, thats it. And probably me too. We just love what we do, and were very, very blessed. Tavis you said something now im going to go back and get, because i think youre probably my sense is, knowing you as i do, that youre probably right about that. I dont see you stopping. You dont see yourself stopping . Yeah. Oh, no. As long as this stays like the way it has been, im good. Tavis are you i know youre thankful for it, but are you amazed by that, are you impressed by that, that your chops have held up through all of this . Well thats what i was saying about this spanish record, is that im more impressed with me singing spanish than i am in english. My voice has this little lilt to it, and its just got this little and im like, wow, and it still sounds young and vibrant. I was like, david foster even said to me, he said, i cant believe that you still sound so good, because i was even listening to some of my peers, who, ooh. I dont know what that is, i dont know if its because they dont sing enough or they just kind of lost their whatever. I dont know what it is. They lost the mojo. I dont know. Tavis that top register is hard to hit, though, for a lot of people. Still, absolutely. Tavis still, yeah. Did you like this enough to do another one . Absolutely. You can bet on it. Absolutely. Not only that, but its going to be really interesting to do another one with some original latin music thats actually been written for me. Tavis right, for you, mmhmm. Then its going to be like, oof, wow. But what are we getting ourselves into here . I dont know. But it just feels right. Im excited. As soon as i start doing the music on stage, i really do feel like im transported someplace else. Its great. Tavis i was thinking its hard i guess this probably isnt true for everybody, and he would probably agree with this but its hard to imagine certain artists ever going wrong with david foster. David is just i know. But david is picky. Tavis yeah, that he is. He can basically envision whats going to happen before he makes that commitment. Thats why i love him. We think alike. Hes picky, hes detailed, hes anal, he knows what he likes. He doesnt like to fail. Im with you. Tavis speaking of david, pbs just went through its pledge period. You know he just got a star on the sidewalk too, yeah. Tavis i saw that. Congratulations, david, on the star. Yes. Tavis congratulations. Speaking of david foster, pbs just went through its recent pledge period, and i dont care how many times i flip channels and i saw it on, i went back to watch it again, and that is david foster with Andrea Bocelli in portofino. Did you see any of this . No, i didnt see it. Tavis oh my god, it was amazing. I can only imagine. Tavis first of all, yeah, but you got Andrea Bocelli oh, i have worked with andrea probably at least halfadozen times already. He even asked me to do a show with him, a concert, and i was not able to make it. But hes divine, and i think that david is a great buffer, because i think that andrea, who is the ultimate artist, can be difficult. But david is kind of like the buffer. Whenever im with andrea, dave is there, so i can kind of mess a little bit with andrea, and now weve gotten comfortable enough that we have that kind of rapport with each other. Its just great, and god bless him, and god bless david for being okay with me having that beautiful song, besame mucho, on my record, yeah. Tavis its those classical guys. I know. Tavis im just being funny. laughter he can hold a note longer than anybody, and he revels in that. laughter tavis yes, that he can do. That he can do. Yes he can. Tavis the new project from natalie cole is called natalie cole en espanol. Its the first one, but not the last one. Andreas on here, her daddys on here, Arturo Sandoval is on here on a bonus track. Its a great project, and congratulations. Thank you. Tavis good to have you back. Thank you. Tavis all right. Thats our show for tonight. Thanks for watching. As always, keep the faith. For more information on todays show, visit tavis smiley join me next time for an interview with actress eva mendes. J there is a saying that dr. King had that said there is always the right time to do the right thing. I try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. We know that we are only halfway to completely eliminating hunger and we have work to do. Walmart committed 2 billion to fighting hunger in the u. S. As we work together, we can stamp hunger out. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Be more. Be more. Pbs. N. Scott momaday since time immemorial, the people of the region now known as the Northern Rockies shaped a very different existence from todays way of life. Woman that was a landscape that was known, and it was a profoundly important landscape. Man because we were just a part of that land, we werent created superior over the environment and animals. Woman i think it has very little to do with boundaries