Loide Jorge leads a double life. During the day, she is an immigration attorney. By night she is LOIDE (pronounced loy-deh), a scintillating jazz vocalist whose eclectic repertoire reflects her roots. This Thursday, she returns to the site where her first CD, “LOIDE, Live at Bohemian Caverns,” was recorded last year.
“Bohemian Caverns is a great place to perform because it’s intimate and the sound is awesome, perhaps because the walls are round and shaped like a cave,” she said. “Even though the audience is right in your face, it’s not uncomfortable. They’re there to listen. It’s not like places where you have to sing against conversations going on all around the room.”
| ONSTAGE |
| Loide |
| » Where: Bohemian Caverns, 2001 11th St. NW |
| » When: 8 and 10 p.m. Thursday |
| » Info: $15 at instantseats.com, or $18 at door, 202-299-0800 |
Like most singers, she got her start singing in church and was initially trained in classical and choral music.
“I come from a very religious family and grew up with church music, but I listened to all kinds and was eventually drawn to jazz,” she said. “It allows me to incorporate every kind of music in the arena. I especially love the voices of Sarah Vaughn, Miriam Makeba, Barbra Streisand and Leontyne Price.”
Despite her desire to emulate those legends, Loide put practicality ahead of dreams. From California, she headed to Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama as a bio-chemistry major. Her first job in the lab of a children’s hospital proved too isolated for this “people person,” so she went north to Michigan for a law degree.
After living in the north, west and south, she knew her next move was destined to be eastward. She chose Washington and has lived in Takoma Park for eight years.
The music in her album is an intriguing mix of contemporary jazz, melodious love songs, reggae and unique sounds from Africa. “Don’t Forget,” one of her most touching compositions, honors her late father and his wisdom. She sings it in both English and Portuguese.
“It’s becoming more of a natural process to write my songs in both languages,” she said. “Portuguese is easier to rhyme, but the song ‘Fallin’ was a bit challenging in Portuguese because I had to make sure the language flowed out. The process is to first sit down with my guitarist, Mongezi Ntaka. He writes several melodies and we choose one. After we talk out the melody, I then write the lyrics.
“I always look forward to singing at Bohemian Caverns, one of the first places where I performed in Washington. I fell in love with it because it’s such a historic place and the owner welcomes local artists. Because of my shows there, people are slowly getting to know me.”
