Chair of the Vocal Department at the LA Music Academy, Jazz singer Kevyn Lettau somehow manages to balance the responsibilities of running that department, teaching her students and continuing to write and record her own music and tour, as well as being the spokesperson for Philippine Airlines, contributing her image and her voice to benefit the international airline. While not everyone can say they are the face and voice for an international airline, Kevyn is very low key about it. She says, "I'm not really a 'spokesperson' per se. I did a commercial for them and if you fly on Philippine Air there is a interview/commercial they play for you with me singing and talking about the airline and stuff. It's not as big a deal as it sounds."

Raised in Berlin, Germany until the age of fifteen, singing has almost always been a major part of her life. At first, Kevyn was a dancer, but soon she discovered that she had a voice. "When I was in grade school, in choir, I realized that I was doing it right while a lot of people around me weren't. I remember thinking, 'God, I think I'm singing in tune here.' I don't know how old I was then, maybe eight or nine or ten. But I didn't really give it much thought beyond that it was kind of a little feather in my very insecure cap. Academically, I was not a good student. Because of my home life I was pretty insecure, a pretty distraught little kid. And that was my one little feather in my cap because I knew when I came to choir that I was not going to be the lamest one." At the age of fifteen, Kevyn's family moved from Berlin to Del Mar, California where her voice and singing began to take center stage. "I was walking down the hallway and kind of singing to myself when this kid stopped me and said, 'Boy, you have a really pretty voice. We've got a jazz band and we've got this audition at a little club called the Fire Pit Inn. Would you come and do this audition with us?' And I thought, 'My God, why not?' So doing that audition and singing with them was the first time I realized, 'Wait a minute. I guess I can do this.' And then we started playing on street corners in Del Mar, California and people would put money in the guitar case and it was some time around there that I realized, 'Wow! They're not my family - so, they're not telling me I'm good because they love me.' And that was how it started."

Along with the teachers and instructors that helped Kevyn develop her talent, two artists in particular played very important roles in her life - Al Jarreau and Sergio Mendes. "Al Jarreau was very, very, very instrumental in my really becoming a singer. I heard an album of his, after I had been singing for maybe a year or so and I was really into singing, totally on fire with singing and really wanted to do it. I really thought at that point, this isn't going to be that hard to do - I don't know where that confidence came from. I went to a concert of his in L.A. and somehow managed to get backstage and handed him an envelope containing a tape of jazz standards I had recorded with a bass player and a picture of me and a letter. And lo and behold, the very next morning he called me up. I was nineteen, I think. He said, 'What a wonderful young talent. I'd love to come hear you sing live.' So, he came down to San Diego on the train (where I was living at the time) to hear me sing. He stayed at my house. This was completely platonic, mind you. Let's specify that. I mean, he's quite a bit older - twenty years, but he comes down on the train, I gave him my bed - he slept with my dog. (laughs) And we talked about music and I played a little piano for him. After that, I came up to L.A. a few times and visited him and he was just so unbelievably encouraging. It was just an amazing thing in my life. And through the years, we would rekindle the friendship, on and off, and then a tour came up - to Germany - and I got to go with my band, as an opening act. For three and a half weeks we played quite a few concerts with them and on several occasions Al invited me to come up and sing with him during his show. And over the years, there would be times where he would come down to this little club I sang in and sit in with me. You know, his career and the kind of music he's done has really inspired me. I mean, he really is a jazz singer. He has this mass appeal from mixing it with R&B and pop and he found a really good fusion. He's an amazing singer and an amazing musician and just has a heart of gold."

"Working with Sergio Mendes was also incredibly important for me. I worked with him on and off for eight years, starting, I think in 1984. And then I stopped and started making my own records and then over the years I've gone back and done a summer tour with him or little things here and there and I've recorded with him on a couple of his records - one of which he won a Grammy for, which was pretty exciting. That was a great experience. We're still really good friends. I call him for advice. And I just worked with him a year ago - I did a couple of things with him. It was a great training ground."

Kevyn recently returned from a tour to Japan and the Philippines this past June, and when asked about life on the road, she responds "It's great, it really is, but it's rough, especially for a singer. You have to be sure to get enough rest, stay out of the air conditioning, and take really good care of your body. Otherwise, it shows, and you know that you're not giving the audience your best. (But) I love to tour. And the main reason is just to get in front of other people and sing. My heart is divided because I really do love to teach, as well. It's a hard balance to maintain because when I'm home I really miss getting out in front of people and only doing music, but on the other hand after I've come back from the road, I realize how much I miss teaching. When you are singing in front of people, you're giving something back, in a way. You have the opportunity to be incredibly generous and give of yourself in a wonderful way. But when I'm working with students, it's a whole other level of giving of myself. In some ways it's much more rewarding because the exchange is so dramatic. What develops between a teacher and a student, if the student is receptive and the chemistry between us is right - I have the potential to change this person's life forever - the way my great teachers did. That's just such an awesome thing to be able to... to give, you know. I see it as passing along the torch."

When asked about what she sees or hears in a new student, Kevyn becomes very effusive, stating, "There are a lot of different things and there are a lot of different levels of potential. Right now I have a whole new crop of kids - twenty singers, and there are a couple that have an enormous amount of raw talent oozing out of them. They don't know what they are doing. They don't know their voices very well. They don't know themselves, yet, very well. Many of them are quite young, so they don't have the life experience to bring to what they're doing. But there is a rawness there that can come from a bunch of different sources. It can come from the God given instrument - that's so free and gorgeous - and they don't even understand what they are doing. It can also come from, and I'm thinking of one girl in particular, from this open spirit and this willingness, and she's so in touch with herself. Yet, she doesn't know her voice very well and she's not a great musician, yet. And the other kind of potential is someone who is already a good musician or an average musician, who understands something about music, understands their voice a little bit, has a good sense of time, has a good sort of instinct for it, but is really closed emotionally. So there's a big potential there, but we need to work on the emotional part of it and opening up, loosening up, getting rid of fear and creating trust - all of that kind of stuff. So there are a lot of different kinds of potential."

And how does she approach those students? Kevyn responds, "If someone has the God given instrument that is just meant for singing, but doesn't know much about music, hasn't experienced life much... I tell them to learn the music, listen, get your heart broken a few times (I wouldn't actually tell them that, but I'd be thinking that.). Just get out there and live a little bit. And study music. And they're ready, you know? For someone who is really willing and has an openness, but doesn't know their voice yet, that well and isn't a great musician yet - I would say, the same thing. Study, imitate, get out there, trust yourself. And for the student that has the musicianship and has been developing the voice already, but is closed emotionally... I would say, 'Let's look at what's going on inside of you. Why are you blocked? Why can't you let this out?' I'd have them do a lot of writing. Psychological stuff. Questions. Trust exercises. Self confidence building things."

Kevyn continues, "One of my teachers told me, 'If you want your voice to change, you have to sing with ideas. You can't just open up your face and sing.' If you want your voice to change and improve, you have to practice with ideas. If want to develop a style, you have to imitate those that came before us. The same way that painters or artists study the artists and painters that came before them. And probably styles that they don't even want to paint - just to learn the technique and have some understanding of it. That is huge advice with singing. And we do a lot of that at the school. They study all different kinds of styles and have to imitate the pioneers, the cornerstones of those styles. And through that you use them almost without thinking about it. You adapt qualities of the great artists. Because, let's face it, there's not that much which is completely original out there. And then we throw all of that away and see what sticks."

Currently, Kevyn is working on her tenth album as a solo artist. A collection of jazz standards performed with a Brazilian flavor, the record is being produced by her husband, Michael Shapiro, a drummer in her band and the Director of Education at the LA Music Academy. On average, the preparation for recording takes only a couple of months. The actual recording of the songs take less than a week, but it's the pre-production that is usually the hardest part. "You have to make sure that everything feels right... everything from the words of the songs to the accompaniment of the band."

Kevyn applies the same attention to detail to her work at the LA Music Academy. Having developed the core curriculum, she has seen the program blossom since birth and was there by its side when it took its first steps into the world. "There's nothing like meeting your students at the beginning of the year, looking them in the eye and seeing their fear, their anxiety, their trepidation and insecurity and willingness to learn; then see them progress and turn into wonderful singers. There are two things that I want my students to leave with. One, know the value of hard work. Nothing comes to you without hard work, and with singing, all hard work is done behind closed doors. And two, have the confidence in yourself that you deserve. Have the confidence to realize that when you're on stage, with hundreds of people and bright lights staring you in the face that it's not about you. It's about sharing what you have in yourself with the people around you, sharing the talent you have with them. In a way, giving something back." Kevyn Lettau continues to "give back" to her students at the LA Music Academy - and "receive back" in turn.