When Corona resident and Riverside Lyric Opera member James Cameron takes the stage for the opera’s next Cotton Club Revue fundraiser, it will be more than an act in support of the arts. Music represents one aspect of his life’s calling.
Cameron, a classically-trained tenor with a broad background singing classical, jazz, gospel and choral music is also a founder and lead chef with Brother 2 Brother Catering, a company he and his brother, Randy officially established in 2010.
Cameron’s love of music and cooking, grounded in the experiences of his youth, have come full circle in combined form; while serving multiple-course meals starring Creole, barbecue, French or gourmet cuisine, he provides a feast for the ears with renditions of classic jazz tunes, often in duet with his wife, Anna Cameron, who is also a singer and opera company member.
“I have always been involved with music performance since high school,” Cameron said. “It was a natural that I would add it to my culinary practice. When I get to sing jazz and cook, I am complete. It is what God put me here to do and I love doing it.”
On Sunday, Aug. 26, Cameron will take a leading role in Riverside Lyric Opera’s Cotton Club Revue, directed by Anna Cameron and involving a band of top jazz industry performing artists. It is the opera company’s eighth such event to raise funds in support of its productions. The revue will be held at 5:30 p.m. at Riverside’s Life Arts Center.
The program will cover many popular jazz standards of the Harlem Renaissance era including “Paper Moon,” “It Don’t Mean a Thing,” and include Cameron’s performance of the toe-tapping crowd-pleaser, “Minnie the Moocher.” The troupe’s repertoire spans hits made famous by such stars as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole and many others.
The cast of musicians will also feature:
• Henry “the Skipper” Franklin on upright bass, an international jazz artist with more than 150 album projects and who has performed around the world with a list of famous acts including the legendary Hugh Masekela, Al Jarreau and Stevie Wonder.
• Pianist Austin Byrd, an award-winning musician, composer and music educator, a jazz studies graduate of the University of North Texas, who has toured with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and collaborated in a production of a jazz standards and rock album available on iTunes.
• Kaitlyn Farley, mezzo-soprano, performer and teaching artist for the McCallum Theatre Education program in Palm Desert and a 2016 Grand Prize Winner of McCallum Theater Institute's Open Call, with recognitions by the LA Spotlight Awards. She is also a recipient of the California Governor’s Medallion of the Arts. Key performance venues include New York City’s Lincoln Center.
Cameron’s musical interests took root during his preschool years under the guidance of his grandmother, Annie May Merriman, while growing up in North Carolina. “She would teach me and my sister hymns to sing at church and Bible meetings,” he said.
His family moved to California when he was around 5 or 6 years old where his Uncle Richard Merriman introduced him to jazz and rhythm and blues. “I got hooked on jazz by age 10 and couldn't get enough of it,” Cameron said.
However, his uncle also emphasized the importance of learning classical music as a foundation for branching out into other genres. “His philosophy was, if you can play the classics like Bach and Mozart; the other stuff will come easy. That has always stayed with me,” Cameron said.
Cameron has performed and recorded with various groups including jazz, rhythm and blues and classical ensembles under direction of John Ross while attending Rubidoux High School and Riverside Community College. He toured and recorded with men’s vocal group, the Polished Pipes, currently participates in musical theater and in Riverside Lyric Opera productions, and performs with his wife for various events and private functions. “One of my highlights was when my wife, Cookie [Anna] and I had the honor to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York with the Riverside Community College Chamber Choir,” he said. “It was quite an experience.”
While Cameron’s love of music extends across many genres, the music of the Harlem Renaissance, the era of the famed Cotton Club, holds a special place in his heart.
“The Cotton Club and the Harlem Renaissance was a special time for Black Americans,” said Cameron. “It was a chance to express our thoughts and feeling through the arts.
It touched so many lives that it changed the world. The Swing Kids in Hitler's Germany got hooked, and even when the music was banned, the kids would sneak out to find places to dance to this jazz music,” he said.
“We made this jazz music, and it has taught the world how to live and be accepting to all who want to groove. There is no right or wrong way, just be on time and groove, baby.”
Tickets for Cotton Club Revue are VIP $50; general admission $25; seniors age 65 and over, $20; children under 12, $10. Group tickets of 10 or more, $20 each, order by phone. The Life Arts Center is located at 3485 University Ave., Riverside.