Stax of Soul: Lalah Hathaway

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WHATEVER YOU DO, don't call the music of Lalah Hathaway — daughter of legendary soul singer Donny Hathaway — "jazz."

"Nothing is more frustrating to me than walking into Best Buy and finding my record in the jazz section because it's not a jazz record," Hathaway said emphatically. "Unfortunately, in this country, if you are a soul music artist or if you're black, you kind of fit into one or two categories — and that's hip-hop or not."

Hathaway's fifth studio album, the recently released "Self Portrait," is her first for Stax, the legendary soul label that housed superstar acts like Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and The Staple Singers.

"I'm happy to be associated with soul music," the Los Angeles-based singer said. "It is not the only thing that I, do but it is basically my foundation. Stax Records is such a legendary label and so synonymous with soul music. It was quite an honor to be signed by them."

The newly rejuvenated Stax label is also home to contemporary R&B and jazz artists Angie Stone and Soulive, and Hathaway fits into the mix perfectly. "Self Portrait" is a collection of songs that returns to the roots of R&B — simple rhythm and blues. Like her father, Hathaway's voice is rich and clear, while her songs are both soulful and uplifting.

"Self Portrait" is a personal album for Hathaway, not only because of the introspective songs but also because she co-wrote and co-produced the album in order to "make the record I want to make.

"I don't really see it as control, even though I know that really that's what it ends up being," she said. "But nobody knows the record I want to make better than me."

Hathaway also collaborated with guest artists such as vocalists Rahsaan Patterson and Sandra St. Victor. "[Those are] two people whom I really respect and admire and I'm friends with anyway," she said. "For me, the experience of making a record with my friends is great. It's like the best sleepaway camp ever, and you get to know people in a way that maybe you didn't before.

"I think the experience of putting together a team of people and writing from front to back in a short period of time did contribute to the fact that it feels more like a cohesive body of work," Hathaway said.

Naturally, music has always been a part of Hathaway's life, and she said her upbringing in the Windy City particularly influenced her approach to music.

"I think growing up as a kid in Chicago is absolutely reflected in the music because it's a huge part of who I am. Growing up in the '70s in Chicago and listening to the radio and looking at Lake Michigan is a big part of the fabric of who I am. Being in L.A., not so much, because I came here as an adult and I was already sort of formed. My experiences here absolutely ... contribute to my music and form me as an adult, but I'm a Chicago girl through and through."

Hathaway's mother was also a musician, and her father's body of work has had a significant influence on his daughter's music. But Lalah Hathaway said she doesn't feel burdened by her lineage.

"I don't have a problem with it at all. I don't see it as a shadow; I do see it as a huge beam of light and I think it's a wonderful thing," she said. "I can't think of anybody else I'd rather be associated with because, in my opinion, [my father was] probably the greatest singer that ever lived. ... It just happens to be who I am in the same way that you are your mother's daughter."

And her mother, Hathaway said, was just as influential as her father. "My mom is a singer and just hearing her [when I was] a kid sing along with the gospel records, and her approach — the way she sings ... she never gets that credit for the other half of the DNA that exists in my body."

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Written by Express contributor Katherine Silkaitis

Photos courtesy Wolf Trap