tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. a conversation with lawrence brownlee, one of the most celebrated tenors. spirituald out called sketches. we will turn to a conversation with shemekia copeland, whose voice carries on a tradition that goes all the way back to bessie smith. she will close out our show with a song from that project. we have -- we are glad you have joined us. ♪

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. tavis: lawrence brownlee possesses one of those rare operatic voices. singing in those peter school highflying -- those beautiful highflying registers. he is one of the opera world's most sought after singers.

he is about to make his debut in "the magic flute." he first started singing in church. the cd is called "spiritual sketches." this is from the metropolitan opera house in new york city. ♪ ♪

tavis: oh, my. you sounded good, brother. i do not often get a chance to do this, to welcome to this program not just an amazing artist, the one you also went to a great school called indiana university. he pledged a great fraternity. i get a chance to be in this moment for just a second was at indiana university grad and a fellow fraternity brother. this fraternity is all about achievement. >> i consider myself blessed and is great to have gone to indiana, such a good school for music. i had a great experience. tavis: i just saw joshua bell a short time ago. it is a great musical program.

>> i thought it was going to do -- i wanted to be a lawyer. my teacher at undergrad said, why don't you look at graduate schools? he did not want me to go to indiana. the only school that had not addition date left for classical music for voice. i went there and i fell in love with the campus. tavis: how did you end up in music when you are considering law? i guess you could represent yourself in your own negotiations. they seem so distinctly different. be in a place where you can wear suits and you can get a chance to defend yourself. had tofour sisters, i get myself out of pickles.

way, i was involved in music my whole life. people said, i think you have something special. at the end, i said, if this does not work out, i can go back to school into law. music. i did not know what opera was. some people introduced it to me properly. i have friends who are lawyers and i respect what they do. that is not me. tavis: when you were introduced to opera properly, what was it about what you were hearing that you fell in love with? >> the first opera i ever saw, i was in. tavis: that works. >> everybody thinks of the lady

with the horn on her head and you are in the commercial, what is this? when i was talking about being properly introduced, i did not know about sitting in understanding what was going on. in undergrad, i was in an opera he for i saw one. -- before i saw one. seats and i experienced opera. i thought, this is fantastic. growing up insured show, in the i knew who church, they were, but i did not know who the great singers of classical music were. tavis: how did you make the transition? was it a difficult transition? >> the type of music i sing -- more than anything else, i sing

rossini. he wrote for voices that move very well. voicesartists use their in ways, doing runs. my voice lended itself to singing the music of rossini. it was a transition -- your voice is your voice. using the voice correctly and with proper technique is something i learned. my teacher told me i had the natural facility to sing classic music -- classical music. you have easy high notes and the tone of your voice is one that is proper for classical music. voice might have lent itself to singing opera and yet, you had to know that

sometimes the road less traveled, there is a reason for that. it is a difficult road to travel. names ofd a lot of artists that we know and you could've gone that route. >> it was something i felt i was natural in. even in singing in the chorus, you have to learn proper technique. i have had some really good teachers who did not manufacture singing. we all think of opera singers as having these fake voices, but they taught me that singing is a natural extent -- these vague voices, but they taught me that singing is a natural extension. i applied those techniques and found that it was something that felt right for me. people would say, how did you become what you are today? a lot of times, your career finds you.

you find out naturally something you were born to do. when i got into opera and classical music, i felt like, this is something that is right for me. when i go back to church, my parents want to hear me try to sing gospel. it is a part of who i am. earlier, your point you do not have the biggest .oice rossini works for you. does that mean you will not be singing a lot of puccini? >> the natural makeup of who you are is what you do. i am five foot six, i will not play center and the nba either. i do not have that type of voice. felt ino have, gifts i the arena of what i do, it is

proper and it is what i should be singing. a lot of people tell me they covet the interest -- the instrument i have. i am grateful for what i have. tavis: tell me more about your journey. it is obvious to the viewer and to your fans and to your parents -- back to the notion of the road less traveled. this opera route has not ever been easy. stories and scars and they have all been quite successful. it is a different kind of journey. give me a sense of what it has been like for a black male. for the longest time, there have been women you have been successful. -- who have been successful.

fewer men have been successful. myself being a tenor, 95% of the time is the romantic interest. you have a black male playing opposite a caucasian. in all of my years of being on the stage, i have only once been something -- been opposite of someone of color. this is the first time i have ever been cast opposite someone who is african-american. it has not been easy. people told me i probably would not be successful. i am not that tall. i remember early on, i get a competition and there was an agent who i won't mention he said to a friend of mine, there was a guy who came onstage and

he was this tall. said, he came onstage in the first thing i said, what is this guy going to do? why is he even here? he proceeded to say to my friend, he opened his mouth and we were alone away. he will not have a career, sadly. my friend told me that. he did not know that this gentleman and i were friends. i use things like that for motivation. you can say what you want about me, but i will still do what i'm here to do. hard work andgh sacrifice. when i look at the things happening in my career and those people who were naysayers -- this is not me bragging. every major theater in the world , every famous opera diva of the

world today, i have gotten the chance to perform with. it is more to speak to the lessons i have learned by hard work and not feel discrimination is something that deterred me. if i worry about the things i can control, i am in the driver seat. everybody is not going to love you in that is fine. if i can invest in who i am and how i prepare for my work, that is going to give me success at what i do. tavis: lawrence brownlee has a new project out. you will want to add that to your collection as well. i am glad to have you. you stay seated.

congratulations. ♪ grammy nominated shemekia copeland comes by her blues credentials honestly. her latest cd is called 33 and a third. she'll be performing a song called "somebody else's jesus." here,is so great to be thank you for having me. tavis: you are going to perform this little bit later. i love the lyrics on this track. you think of certain blues singers, certainly women. men are guilty of this as well. think of women blues singers and

you think of stuff like, that no good man did me wrong. there is a storyline in it, but your stuff -- >> i am tired of talking about love, man. politics talk about and religion and domestic violence and things that are going on in the world, which is what makes the music contemporary. it is relevant to the times. that is what i want to talk about. tavis: how do you do that without being preachy? how do you do that and make it sound good? >> very clever songwriting. i am so blessed i work with really great songwriters that get the point across, bending it without breaking it. i do not want to be preachy because i am not, but i want to make my point. working with the songwriters i work with, we are able to do

that. i go back to some of my father's music. some of it was written 40 or 50 years ago and it is still relevant to the times. he left me with a lot of music that i can refer back to. tavis: your father impacted your life and your song stylings. is it important for you to take that particular -- you could be singing lyrics that are saying something totally different. you toit important for use the music in that particular way? >> what i put out in the universe is so important for me. after i am long gone and done with this world, i want people to be able to look at my music and no what was going on -- and know what was going on in the 2000 and say, she really talked about what was happening.

it is a history lesson as well as good music. it is always been important to me because for me, i love this music so much. i see the potential of it and i know how great it is. i wanted out there for the rest of the world and i know that in order to do that, i have to do something different. to be false and gross about this music can you evolve and grow -- i have to evolve and grow so this music can evolve and grow. i want to go get some voice lessons so i can learn to sing because i want to grow so that the music can. project, this new is how old you were --

>> now i am 34 and a little bit more. it was a little bit my age and the resolution of lps. it was a clever idea that john had to call it that. tavis: one i first saw this, the first track i was aware of is the one you were doing tonight. i saw the number 33. the crucified jesus at 33. >> i did not think about that. not know what the third part had to do with it. and then we put it out on recycled vinyl. i love i know so much as a kid. i used to buy vinyl. it was my first vinyl album. they did it on recycled final,

which was very -- recycled vinyl, which was very cool. old soul in a an young body. >> thank you for saying i have a young body. tavis: there is some depth to that. >> i feel like i have been here before most all the time. this is not my first rodeo, i always say. i like to think i do life pretty well because i feel good about it. i feel good about my purpose and why i am here. >> how have you found the journey at your age and as a woman? desperately not to complain because there are so many women who came before me that went through a lot of crap so that i could go through less crap.

they went through a lot of crap so i could go through less crap. in any business. if you are a woman in any business, you are a woman in a business. blessed thateally i have a great foundation of people around me that help me to get through it without a bunch of drama. tavis: what do you hope the imprint of your generation will be on this music we call blues? >> i hope we all continue to do , and alwaysused remember the people who came before us. while we are still trying to be original and you are own thing -- and do our own thing and make new music, we want to still remember the people who came before us and the reason why we

do what we do. i think 30 years from now, we will all still be out there and we will still be doing it. -- it has staying power because we are doing it. .avis: the new project she is the queen of the blues. did not need to convince you of that because when you hear her perform you will see what i mean. she's about to perform a song from the record called "somebody else's jesus." her guitarist is arthur nelson. enjoy. thank you for watching. as always, keep the faith. ♪

you say the lord called you earlier one morning telling you to preach so you opened up a big old church in miami beach you got a hot line to heaven and it puts you in control the only thing you're missing now baby forgiveness in your soul it sounds like somebody else's jesus somebody else's jesus sounds like somebody else's jesus sure don't sound like mine ♪ ♪

you say money won't make a man happy or cure anybody of sin so open out that purse and that wallet and since the green stuff in the preacher he's praying so hard for you but miracles take time thank you for your patience and all those nickels and dimes ♪ ♪ it sounds like somebody else's jesus somebody else's jesus sounds like somebody else's jesus sure don't sound like mine ♪ ♪ my jesus won't judge me

if i don't go to church one time and if i don't put money in your plate he's got a love me just fine ♪ voice it sounds so doggone righteous just quivering in prayer and you wave around that big old bible like a shotgun in the air but we are all of us god's children and he loves us as his own so point that finger right back at yourself before you throw the stone it sounds like somebody else's jesus somebody else's jesus

sounds like somebody else's jesus sure don't sound like mine somebody else's jesus somebody else's jesus sounds like somebody else's jesus sounds like somebody else's jesus sounds like somebody else's jesus like mine ♪ sound ♪ [applause] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time foreign next -- for a conversation with scott adams. we will see you then. ♪

>> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs.

next on "kqed newsroom," as democrats gather for their state convention in los angeles, what's ahead for the party? the debate surrounding oakland surveillance center exposes heated concerns over privacy. plus, going with the flow. water recycling as the next frontier in the battle against detro drought. >> recycled water is going to be very important to silicon valley in the future. ♪ good evening, and welme