Occhi Interview: Award-Winning Vocalist, Marsha Bartenetti

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Award-winning vocalist, Marsha Bartenetti is a Smooth Jazz, Great American Songbook & contemporary adult singer, who will cross any genre for a good lyric. Her style ranges from Billie Holiday to Bonnie Raitt, all sung with authenticity and rich, evocative tones.

After having left the music business for many years, Marsha enjoyed a highly successful career as a voice-over/on-camera artist with National credits. She still maintains a successful voice-over career and records audio descriptions for feature films and television.

Marsha’s return to music, with passion and determination, is winning audiences over as she has SRO shows at some of the finest music venues, like Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Jazz Club in Los Angeles and Feinstein’s at the Nikko in San Francisco.

Since returning to the stage in 2014 she has released five studio albums and two singles. In 2022, Marsha released “Marsha Bartenetti Sings McNealy and Kuhns”, a fully orchestrated album of original songs by Jane McNealy and Alice Kuhns. The vinyl LP was released in October 2022. All of Marsha’s music can be found on Amazon, iTunes, Apple Music, and YouTube, and can be heard on Spotify. With enormous pleasure, we had the opportunity to discuss her career and projects.

Thank you for agreeing to catch up with Occhi Magazine. For readers unfamiliar with you and your background, what drew you to a career in the arts?

I have always loved singing and was in my first band in High School. I was living in the San Francisco Bay area in the 60s and the music scene was very exciting! We were all writing and performing in a time of great creative expression and social turbulence. I attended UC Berkeley when war protests were pervasive and part of my college experience. We, as artists, felt compelled to somehow make a difference through our music. When you look back at the hit songs back then you will see the trend of lyrics with deeper meaning than in the 50s with BeBop and what appeared to be a more innocent period. I was performing with my soon-to-be first husband, and we performed together for 11 years. We had steady gigs and worked five to six nights a week.

We were able to make a good living in music and had no Plan B. We performed at the famous Doug Weston’s Troubadour in West Hollywood hoping to be discovered. We wanted to be recording artists and were finally given an opportunity at A&M records. But, as close as we came several times, politics, and other factors kept us from getting to the next level.

Years later, I won Best Vocalist for the International “American Songwriter’s Association Competition” (like American Idol of its time) and was able to record with Motown writers Ken Hirsch (No One in the World – Anita Baker, and Ron Miller (For Once in My Life – Stevie Wonder) Again so excited to be working with these amazing writers – and so hopeful of what could be. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be. But the experience was tremendous (Years later I worked with Ken Hirsch and recorded one of his songs on my Christmas album)

No matter what your level of talent, this is a business of ups and downs and definitely a drop of “destiny” added to it. And perseverance. That’s why I have a phrase that I have had posted to my computer for years. It says:

“Rest. But don’t quit.”

It’s been my mantra and has served me well in the longevity of my career.

Who were your early influencers and how did they impact your career?

Of course, being a child of the sixties, my influences were the likes of Jefferson Airplane, Cream, Paul Butterfield, Jimi Hendrix, Bonnie Raitt, Big Brother and the Holding Company – Janis Joplin, Simon, and Garfunkel…and yes – the Beach Boys.

As I grew in my career and in life, my tastes began to change. I got divorced, and for the first time in my life I was on my own. Starting over. I started listening to singers like Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Chet Baker, and more jazz. Billie really resonated with me on so many levels. Here was a woman who clearly sang through what had been a very difficult life – Being a black woman during a time of segregation, witnessing hangings, having a troubled childhood, and coping with her pain through drugs. You could feel her pain was real through her voice. Yet, she also had a lilt in her voice that expressed such joy in her singing and spirit. You could feel the many layers of emotion – her absolutely authentic voice that drew me in like a moth to a flame. You could hear all the nuances of her emotions through her songs.

I felt I needed to go deeper in excavating my own soul and move my interpretations of a lyric to a deeper, more personal level. And so, it began my new journey as a solo artist. And a journey to “self.” I continue to look for songs with lyrics that resonate with me and that I hope my audience will be able to discover something within themselves as a takeaway.

This is where the magic is – when I do my work at finding the deepest truth to a lyric through my own self-discovery and the end result is a song that an audience member can take into their own personal experience and be moved by it. Then the song just comes through me as a vessel – and is no longer “about me” or my personal experience. It’s the “giveaway.” It is my job and my gift.

An important person in my life was a renowned vocal coach in Oakland, CA, Judy Davis. She was a grand diva and mentor and truly changed my life. Judy coached greats like Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and others, famous and not-so-famous, and was a no-nonsense teacher.

I had taken time away from music after my divorce and upon meeting her she admonished me by saying: “When you are given the gift to sing like you do, you have a responsibility to use it. It is not yours to hold back from others. Now let’s get to work.” And so, we did.

She was one of my “angels” who have come into my life over the years.

I listen to all kinds of music. And through it all, I found at its’ core, was unity. Music is the language of humanity — and we are diverse humankind. In order to reflect our world, music must be represented by all diverse cultures and peoples. At the end of the day, as different as we are, or may seem, we are at the core, very much alike. And hearing from different cultures gives us the opportunity of a greater understanding between us and bring more unity to our world. Music has no judgment. It simply reflects the heart. And the heart speaks in many different tones and languages. And my music is from the heart.

I am a lyric interpreter of many genres. My goal is simply to tell the truth and express what is in my heart through my voice. And let it go.

Which three traits define you?

Persistence, truth, and mindfulness

Please tell us about your latest project

I am recording singles of ’60s/70’s music and reimagining them to make these now “standards” more current. We have recorded 2 of them so far, “Dust in The Wind” by Kansas and “Comin’ Back to Me” by Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane. Our goal is to compile an album of this era of material with a current take. The songs are still relevant in their message today, and I am so excited to bring them to a new audience.

I worked with two co-producers on the “Dust in the Wind” single – Donny Marrow and Stephan Oberhoff. The initial tracks were recorded in Nashville at Ocean Way Studios with Donny and our musicians Kevin Madill -piano/arranger, Marcus Finnie-drums, Danny O’Lannerghty-bass, Pat Bergeson-lead electric guitar, and acoustic guitar. When I returned to Los Angeles, Stephan added strings, more acoustic guitar, and trumpet – and background vocals – and I sang the lead vocals at his studio (The Creation Station) in Pasadena. (NOTE: Stephan has moved his studio to Nashville – The Creation Station East)

Stephan and I then created the video to accompany the recording.

What other projects are in the pipeline?

My latest project was recording an album with songwriters Jane McNealy and Alice Kuhns, “Marsha Bartenetti Sings McNealy and Kuhns”

These songs are lush orchestral arrangements recorded at Capitol Records in Los Angeles, offering classic stylings and lyrics that evoke powerful images of loss and love.

We started recording this project the month before the pandemic lockdown. We finished one of the songs, then had to be VERY creative as we recorded the rest. Coming in back doors to the vocal booth, totally separated from the engineer. Sometimes Jane, who was producing, had to attend the session over zoom with a video screen in the booth and would make comments remotely.

No matter how challenging and radically different it was to execute this way – we did it! And we are so proud of the outcome.

It’s available on all platforms and is now available on vinyl LP.