Lindsay Marie Morris

Growing up in Messina, Sicily, greatly impacted Massachusetts-based jazz singer, pianist, and composer Daniela Schächter. Drawing from her experiences within a musical family and the Mediterranean views of her former home, her music has led her to prestigious jazz festivals and renowned venues, from the Hollywood Bowl to the Kennedy Center. Along the way, she has collaborated with acclaimed artists and won several awards for her contributions to jazz music. 

 

Daniela and I recently chatted about her musical influences, her decision to pursue jazz as a career, her role as an associate professor at Berklee College of Music, and more.

How did your experiences in Sicily shape your career?

I had a musical family. My father was a piano player. He didn't turn that into a career, but he played all the time, and my mom sang. So, I grew up with music around my house, and my brother, Davide, is a jazz guitar player. So I started studies in classical music, took lessons, graduated from the conservatory, and then started teaching and playing. I did lots of different jobs: accompanying singers, working for the Philharmonic Academy, and playing ballet pieces. Then, I started playing with rock bands and jazz groups. That was really fun. I had lots of friends and lots of concerts; it was beautiful.

There is lots of jazz still going on in Sicily; it's really a land full of talents. I was there until I was 28, when I moved to the U.S. I thought I would stay for six months, but then I decided to stay longer. 

 

What inspired you to pursue jazz?

That's probably because of my mother's influence. She listened to lots of Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, and all the great singers of the jazz era. She would take me to a little jazz club back in the day, and she would go there and sing with other musicians.

I loved listening, and then I took lessons in jazz piano. My brother started playing in little jazz groups, so there was a lot of jazz in the house.

I felt that jazz was closer to my soul in a sense and harmonically closer to the classical composers that I felt very attracted to.

 

When I was in Sicily, I was actually doing lots of different styles. But then, when I moved to the U.S., I just decided to marry the jazz world. I didn't really continue with rock groups. I still love lots of the music that I played, but I just don't play it anymore.

 

Which musicians or composers have the biggest influence on your work?

Well, classical, definitely Ravel and Debussy and also Bartók and Stravinsky. So lots of contemporary composers. But of course, I also love Rachmaninoff and Chopin. For jazz, I have lots as well. So, from Gershwin to more contemporary stuff. Of course, I love Sarah Vaughan and Mel Tormé; those vocalists are very dear to me. But, of course, great pianists like Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans. They really made an impression, and probably, they're still in my sound.

 

From where else do you draw inspiration?

I am inspired by lots of different things. First of all, nature. My second album is dedicated to the colors of the Mediterranean Sea, so it's called I Colori Del Mare. And that is my favorite album that I recorded because it really brings me back to all the colors of Sicily, the sea, and the beauty of nature.

 

Nature is definitely my main inspiration, and everything related to the sea because I grew up in Messina, which is surrounded by sea. 

 

 

You've won several awards. Which is most meaningful?

I think of the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition because that was the first. That was really promoting women and women in jazz. It was very competitive, and I felt that everybody really deserved it as much as I did. Everybody was really good, and I didn't really feel that I was going to get it, so it was a great joy when that happened. I was really happy that the judges found something a little bit different and something special in me. Pianists Geri Allen and Billy Taylor were among the judges, jazz legends for whom I have so much respect. Sadly, they are not with us anymore.  

 

You're an associate professor at the Berklee College of Music. What do you enjoy about your role?

I enjoy it when I have foreign students who come to me and need guidance. Most of them are super talented, but they need guidance in finding themselves in a place they don't know, which is new to them. I love helping them get used to a new environment and explaining my experience because I went to Berklee College of Music myself. So, I can totally understand what they go through, how they process things, and how overwhelming the whole system can be. 

 

How do you see your music evolving?

My music is going to evolve with my own person, evolving and finding more balance. I often go to Italy because I want to keep the connection. I want to remind myself who I am, what I love, and where I'm coming from. I want my daughter to feel the same. She actually feels Italian, which is something that makes me really happy. 

 

I want to find a balance between my professional life overseas and my professional life here. Since I have a 7-year-old daughter, she took a lot of energy, and I couldn't commit to several engagements. Between that and the pandemic, I've not really been performing as much as I love to. So, I would like to find myself performing more often, especially in my own country. 

 

What do you hope to deliver to your audiences through your music?

What I try to communicate is images of, for example, nature. So, the way I see it, and in many of my compositions, I describe a lake, pond, or leaves that fall. And I would like my audience to feel the way I feel.

 

I also write lyrics, and sometimes, the message is easier to understand through words. Writing more songs with lyrics will also help me in that sense. I love to write wordlessly, but at the same time, I have a few songs with lyrics, and I would like to continue with that and even include more lyrics in my pieces. 

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to my newsletter for more content and updates!

Wood has fascinated Noemi Schembri since adolescence, about the same time she picked up playing the guitar. Her interests collided, sparking a curiosity about how the wooden instrument was built.

Inspired, the San Cataldo, Sicily native, moved to Canada, where she studied under the guidance of renowned Master Luthier Sergei De Jonge. Noemi had the opportunity to learn modern building techniques for both steel-string and classical guitars.

It was a new way of looking at her favorite instrument, which inspired her, after her apprenticeship, to return to Italy, where she opened her first workshop in Solighetto. She has since moved production to a larger space in Susegana, where she builds guitars entirely based on customer needs: desired sound, wood choice, ergonomics, playability, and aesthetics. 

 
Noemi shared with me her journey and approach to lutherie, materials she uses, challenges she's faced, and more.

What inspired you to pursue guitar-building?

It was mainly the combination of my love for wood and woodworking and the fact that I started playing the guitar when I was 11. Over time, thanks to scholarly studies based on wood—from secondary school to university—my curiosity about how guitars are built and who builds them grew inside me.

 

 

How did your time studying under Master Luthier Sergei De Jonge influence your approach to luthierie?

My time with Sergei De Jonge left a fundamental imprint on me. I had no experience and no references, and his open approach to guitar-making is what I still follow today while building my guitars: trying different ways and learning from my results.

 

How has your experience working in both North America and Italy impacted your guitar-making?

Steel-string guitars have deep roots in American culture, and classical guitars have ties to Italian culture. I naturally started exhibiting in both places, lately more often in the U.S.A. Now, my market is 90% in the U.S.A. with steel strings only and 10% in Europe with mainly classical guitars.

 

My goal is to bring classical guitars to the U.S., learn their needs from the classical guitar player's perspective, and respond to them.

 

Tell us about your workshop. You recently moved to a larger space.

It was time to move to a bigger one and have proper spaces dedicated to the building process and to the customers who come and try my guitars. It took me a couple of years to find the one I liked, so even if it was bigger than what I was looking for, I decided to keep it and have extra space for the future. You never know!

 

Can you describe the most challenging parts of building a guitar by hand and how you overcome them?

Well, in the beginning, you think that steps like bending sizes, carving the neck, and routing the dovetail joint are the most challenging, but the more you build, the more you learn how to realize those physical parts and the more you focus on the main thing: the sound! Making a guitar sound as you "hear" it in your mind is the most challenging part, and while working on it, at the same time, you are building your personal sound, the sound that players will identify as their sound.

 

 

What materials do you use?

The only material is wood, except for the strings, tuners, nut, and saddle.

 

I use different wood species, grain directions, and ways to cut every piece of wood according to its function. Sometimes, I work with wood species that I have never used before, and in that case, I have to learn how to work with them.

 

Can you share a challenging request?

It wasn't a customer request but a challenge that I gave myself: building the smallest body guitar I have, with the brightest sound wood I had at that time for the back and sides, adding a cutaway (which means taking off air volume from inside the guitar box), and achieving a big warm sound as if it was coming out of a big body guitar with a warm tone wood.

 

I was very happy with the result and even happier seeing people's reactions when they realized how small the guitar was!

 

What do you hope people will take away when they purchase one of your guitars?

Inspiration, wider explorations of the field, and joy while playing it!

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to my newsletter for more content and updates!