Pamela Fleming

Pamela Fleming cites her influences as such people as diverse as Jon Anderson, Joni Mitchell, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Dan Fogelberg, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Peter Gabriel, Yes, Sting, Genesis, Seal, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Debussy, Ravel, and Bartók. Considering she is best-known as a trumpet player, and look at the vocalists on that list, the grouping seems even more unique than the infinite diversity of sounds alone would indicate. Fleming's career has been nearly as diverse as the wide variety of muses she cites. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. Relocating to New York City after school, Fleming formed the group Third Wind with Paula M. Kimper (with whom she had attended Eastman). In short order, she also hooked up with a group called Anomy. 1985 would see the beginnings of big things for Fleming. She hooked up with Jenny Hill and Nilda Richards as the horn section for a reggae group called Steppin' Razor. That exposure got the trio picked to play with Burning Spear, for whom Razor had opened. Fleming spent over two years with the group and appeared on three of their albums. With the acclaim that the trio had garnered, they decided to create their own band, Burning Brass. Among her other musical credits are gigs with such musicians as Bonnie Raitt, Buster Poindexter, Cab Calloway, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Palmer, and Patrick Moraz. She also toured with the 1998 Lilith Fair, which afforded her the opportunity to perform nightly with such people as Queen Latifah, Luscious Jackson, the Indigo Girls, and Sarah McLachlan. She also has released a "solo" album entitled Fearless Dreamer. The term solo applies only so well to the album as she is actually playing with her own band that shares their name with the album. Since that album's release, the project has consumed most of her musical energies. ~ Gary Hill