Laila Plamondon’s unforgettable jazz numbers and Christmas songs left Rumana Fouzia Choudhury star struck
Photograph by Sakib Muhtasim
A vision in her red dress, matching red lipstick and shoulder length black hair, Laila arrived at the New York Cabaret in the Red Shift Coffee Lounge, along with her family, an hour and half early for her live performance. She spoke in hushed tones punctuated at times with thoughtful pauses or girlish laughter. She is not your cookie-cutter singer, “If all I had to do is write papers on psychology,” pondered this Fulbright Scholar and Smith alumnus, “I would do that for fun.”
Presently the associate director of product solutions at Uncommon Schools, in New York City, Laila speaks passionately about developing educational technology for public schools in low income areas and closing the achievement gap by “giving these kids an opportunity to not only go to college but make it through college.” She switches to Bangla to explain that this is something Bangladeshis understand very well, that “without education you are not going to go anywhere.”
While it would have been very easy for her to use work as an excuse to give up singing, Laila finds herself saying yes enthusiastically to any opportunity to perform live. However, when inquired about her intentions to perhaps transition into a career in music, she had a surprising answer,“While I love to perform and sing,” she then explained, “I don’t like the life of a musician.” Upon inquiring further, she said, “I love going to work at the same time and getting out and having that balance in my life. I don’t enjoy staying up late. So going out at 2am to jam with people I don’t know and coming back at 4am by myself is a nightmare for me and that is not what I think is fun or sustainable.”
When asked what it is about jazz that she loves so much, Laila reflected on her Third Culture background, and the Third Culture phenomenon on which she has done much research, she answered, “The improvisation, the experimentation and play that happens in jazz transcends nationality and gender. It is a genre that allows for more communication, more cultural understanding than others.” With each song Laila sang, the audience concluded with resounding applause and all too soon, the show came to an end. All we can do now, is wait for this
time next year, when Laila will be back with more jazz and Christmas cheer.