The Entertainer

Jason Yates shares musical talent with community - local and national

By KHYBER OSER
Collegian Staff Writer

Jason Yates has worked with musicians Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Kenny Loggins and Anita Baker. He has played piano and sung throughout the United States, Europe and Jamaica, met President Clinton four times and performed at both of his inaugurations.

He has rubbed elbows with Luther Vandross, Quincy Jones, Oprah Winfrey and Patti LaBelle.

Reigning Mr. Black Penn State, Yates is a member of two University choirs, plays piano for a local church's Sunday masses, writes original music and will act out the role of a drag queen in the upcoming Penn State Thespians production of Hair.

And he is only 20 years old.

But even considering everything Yates (junior-musical theatre) has accomplished so far in his life, people who know him well say it is Jason the human being that makes him special. His care and concern for people, his enthusiasm for life and his unique sense of humor triumph over his musical accomplishments.

Yates' humanity radiates from his face. When he laughs, which is almost all the time, his face erupts into a wide smile. It is a sincere and contagious laugh that affects his entire body, celebrating a joy for life and a glowing fascination for everything life has to offer.

"He is honest and committed to people and projects," said Anthony Leach, music director of Essence of Joy, a choir Yates participates in. "He is a bundle of energy and is outstanding in his support of others. He will sing and perform for anyone that asks him, if he has the time."

However, Yates is not constrained by time. From the time he wakes up at 7:30 a.m. to the time he goes to sleep around 2 a.m., his days are nonstop movement. He somehow manages to fulfill all of his responsibilities, even though he often takes on too much.

"It's a blessing that people think enough of me to ask me to do things," Yates said. "The hardest thing for me to learn was that it's okay to say 'no.' I have to have time to eat and to sleep."

No matter how busy he may be, Yates makes time every day to talk to his mother on the phone.

An only child, Yates was 6 months old when his father, a minister and school teacher in Washington, D.C., died of cancer. Yates and his mother developed a strong friendship over the years.

And Yates said his mother is everything to him.

"I couldn't imagine what my world would be without her," he said.

Yates' early years revolved around his mother, church and gospel music. They went to church almost every day and it was there that Yates developed an early affinity for gospel singing and performing.

"I need to perform," Yates said. "I have this desire to be on stage."

At 2 years of age, Yates started singing in a children's choir at the Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church, Washington, D.C. By the time he was 7, Yates was leading songs for the choir, but his musical interests and talents did not surprise his mother.

"He comes from a singing family so I knew once he got started that's where he'd be heading," she said. "Jason has been around music all his life, but he got his start in gospel. I raised him in the church and that's all that he's known."

Being the son of a minister, Yates has religious devotion in his blood. His mother said she thought Jason was going to be a preacher because he would often "play church" by himself, preaching sermons and singing songs to an imaginary congregation. In his actions, Yates' mother said he reminded her of his father.

"At any time when my husband felt the presence of the Lord, he used to 'shout,' which is a holy dance," she said. "When Jason was younger, he used to do the same thing and people would say, 'He "shouts" just like his father.' "

This charged energy manifests itself in Yates' performances, leading him to act on stage in a way he would not act in real life.

"For me to stand there on the stage, shaking, twisting and jumping, I wouldn't normally do," Jason said. "But something comes over me that pushes me in that direction."

In ninth grade, Yates enrolled in the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. After his religiously conservative upbringing, the high school's more liberal atmosphere became an unexpected adjustment for him.

"Going to a school where men came in dresses, in drag, in ninth grade, was very different, but a very opening experience for me," Yates said.

The Ellington school provided an introduction to secular music -- something he had not yet been exposed to -- and spurred his interest in piano. He did not enjoy the first two years of the piano lab he was required to take because he did not want to learn the fundamentals of piano.

But his mother soon bought him a keyboard for Christmas, which motivated Yates to learn songs by ear and write original music.

When Yates was in tenth grade, he got the opportunity to sing backup for Ray Charles at President Clinton's 1992 inauguration. It was a high-pressure experience, Yates said, but it was fun because he had never been around so many famous people before.

Not long after the inauguration, he worked with Stevie Wonder, who Yates said was down-to-earth, fun and relaxing to be around.

"He's a funny man," Yates said. "The first thing I heard him say was he was tired of being chauffeured around, and he wanted someone's car so he could go take a ride because he had his license."

High school came to an end with Yates having worked with Charles, Wonder, Baker and Loggins, but still greater things were yet to come.

In December of 1996, during his sophomore year, Yates recorded a radio version of "Let's Build a Bridge All Across America," the theme song for President Clinton's second inauguration. The song was to be sung at the inauguration by Barbra Streisand.

Plans fell through, however, and Yates was asked to sing the song in her place. He happily agreed. While at an inauguration rehearsal in Washington, D.C., he received a phone call from President Clinton, requesting to hear the song in person. Clinton came to the rehearsal and was pleased with what he heard.

After the rehearsal, Yates returned to the University to find his phone incessantly ringing with reporters hoping to interview him, so he checked into a hotel. The situation was the same when Yates went home to his mother in Washington, D.C., before the inauguration. The University had sent news releases with Yates' home phone number to reporters, so Yates and his mother had to check into a hotel to escape the madness.

Finally, it was time to perform.

"I don't think it was one of my best performances, but under the circumstances it was," Yates said. "My mother said to me, 'You did the best you could and that's all that anyone could ask of you.' "

Yates' mother was proud, but attributed much of his success to the grace of God.

"I was overwhelmed," she said. "I was so joyful and amazed at how the Lord is opening doors for him and using him."

After his performance, Yates was rushed back to the University to sing at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Banquet that night. On campus, many students and faculty had watched the inauguration on television.

"Everyone I knew had a recording of it," he said, adding that he would leave the room whenever people tried to play it in front of him.

He was well known throughout campus. Yates had established himself as a professional musician and consequently began to attract the attention, flattery and scrutiny that goes along with such success.

Atop a bookshelf in Yates' dorm room perch five little monkey statues. Three are posed in "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" hand-gestured positions and the other two are abstract creations in unique poses.

The monkeys serve to remind Yates he does not want to become someone who achieves success and loses his humanity. As success arrives, he said he does not want to put himself on a pedestal or change who he is.

"They're in all kinds of funny positions, but they're still monkeys," Yates said. "I have enough going on without having multiple personalities. I wouldn't be able to keep up."

Yates' friend Keal said Yates has kept his success in prospective.

"In many respects, a lot of people who don't know Jason might think his success has added a little pride to him, but I think it's humbled him," she said.

He is his own worst critic, Keal said, and doesn't try to sell himself or brag about his accomplishments. Instead he uplifts the spirits of people around him with his modesty and sense of humor, she said.

"He can make a joke about the simplest thing," Keal said. "One time we were all over my friend's apartment and we were just sitting around talking after dinner. We must have been talking about food, and Jason burst out into a song about how a sandwich isn't complete without Miracle Whip. He has a song for everything, and he laughs, too, because he knows it's funny."

In addition to the monkeys, Yates' bookcase also holds five bibles and an owl figurine. Each Bible is a different version of the ancient text. Decorated in gold glitter by Yates, one of the bibles bears his name, while the owl is representative of his pursuit for wisdom, Yates said.

On March 27 and 28 in Schwab Auditorium, Yates will don a blonde wig, a dress and heels for a minor role in Hair.

In addition to rehearsing for that production, Yates will continue with his normal routine -- performing in United Soul Ensemble and Essence of Joy, playing piano on Sundays at Albright-Bethune United Methodist Church, Beaver Avenue and Burrowes Road, and, of course, going to class.

"I keep a very detailed calendar of what I have to do and when I have time to do extra stuff," he said. "Being in so many organizations, it's easy to get bogged down. But there's a time and a place for everything."

He is also often asked to play piano and sing at various gatherings. Last month he performed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Banquet, and earlier this month he performed at the Miss Black Penn State Pageant.

"From the time he got here three years ago, no matter when he performs, he electrifies audiences," Leach said. "I think Jason has extraordinary innate music ability. He has a wonderful ear, an outstanding natural vocal talent and a real intuition about how he communicates his musical gift," he said.

When he's not on stage, Yates likes to slide out of the chaos of reality and slip into his own world for a brief stint.

"I close the curtains, I turn the lights out, I turn the TV off. I just sit and relax," he said. "I need to release my day."

As for the future, Yates dreams of a career on Broadway in one of his favorite musicals -- Guys and Dolls or Smokey Joe's Cafe. In fact, he is impatient to graduate and set out on his journey to Broadway, but his ultimate goal in life is to be a role model in everything that he does.

Yates said he would like to work within communities, setting up rehabilitation centers and job placement services. He said he feels it is the responsibility of successful people to give back to the people who have supported them along the way.

His highest intention for his music is that it offers a powerful message to his audience. The music he writes is personal, reflecting life experiences, and his deliverance of music is full of emotional expression.

"I want to create music that influences people to do right," he said, "that empowers people to continue doing right."