Tonina returns to the stage after intense period of recharging, reflecting

Jun. 24--Singer and bassist Tonina took some time to recharge during the coronavirus pandemic, working on her physical and mental health and making the most of not being busy.

She was also staving off depression. "It's been a process, for sure," she says. "Sometimes depression wants to keep you down, and she's ugly as hell. Some days, my day was my bed. A lot of people are going through this."

But then the streets came calling. Tonina joined demonstrators around the world who were marching against police brutality and other injustices targeting Black people.

"I had to channel my anger on these streets," Tonina says, "for the ancestors who literally fought so hard for us to be here and be 'free-ish' since 1865. Their legacy lives within us."

Tonina (Tonina Saputo), attended Kirkwood High School and graduated in 2017 from Berklee College of Music. Her mother is Sicilian; her father is Black and was hosed down by police after he returned from the Vietnam War. She'd heard many other stories of brutality involving family members.

"The best way to honor that is reflecting their fight and struggle through marching, writing about it in song and putting these people on blast who aren't doing the good work," she says. "This is so deep for people like us."

Tonina, who marched in 2017 when a former St. Louis police officer was acquitted of murder, says she's never been a part of a movement as big as this one.

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Now, she's also headed back to the stage for the first time in months. She performs Saturday at the Pageant and Tuesday at the Sheldon Concert Hall & Art Galleries; both shows will be livestreamed.

She's looking forward to performing with her band again. She has played a couple of virtual mini-sets recently, but those weren't with a band.

Her upcoming shows at the Pageant and the Sheldon will be performed to empty houses.

"Oh my God -- this is the most awkward thing ever," she says. "After the songs, the silence will be so uncomfortable. It's an adjustment. But I'm looking forward to playing with my band, and it's going to be interesting hearing how we sound."

Tonina's band, which will join her at the Pageant, includes Ian Lubar (guitar), Kekeli Dawes (drums) and David Gomez (saxophone).

She's dedicating her set to Black lives taken by racism, police brutality and COVID-19. "A lot of the songs are centered on that," she says. "I'll have songs written based on books by Black female authors and songs from great Black artists we've lost recently, like Prince."

This includes everything from Prince's "Nothing Compares to U" to her song "Mercy," based on "A Mercy," by her favorite author, Toni Morrison.

Tonina's Sheldon concert will be more intimate: She'll perform without her band and will accompany herself on bass and guitar, at the request of the event's host, radio personality Lady Edie Bee.

"I feel like she wanted it to be like an Ella Fitzgerald vibe," Tonina says. "When I originally talked to her and Alonzo (Townsend, her manager), Ella Fitzgerald was referenced -- her on an empty stage with a piano (and a spotlight) -- and that's the vibe."

She'll add some standards to the set to fit the vibe, including "Strange Fruit" and of course a few songs by Fitzgerald. It'll be her first time performing a Fitzgerald song live after studying the jazz singer in college.

"I think she's the GOAT (greatest of all time). She's an absolute goddess. She doesn't always get her flowers. It'll be quite refreshing to bring out that material I studied in the past."

Tonina is releasing her music, including new single, "Papaya," through popular hip-hop label EMPIRE, with which she signed in July 2019. She's part of the label's Latin division.

"It's really cool," she says. "I'm super happy so far. They've given us complete artistic control, and I'm super happy about that. Working with them has been a breeze."

Tonina says she has been busy perfecting the music she's making for EMPIRE and will have a new single in the summer or fall, followed by an album.

What The Pageant Livestream Concert Series: Tonina -- When 9 p.m. Saturday -- Where hyfi.com/thepageant -- How much Free -- More info thepageant.com

What RSVP Jazz Supper Club with Tonina, hosted by Lady Edie Bee -- When 8:30 p.m. Tuesday -- Where facebook.com/artstodayezine/events -- How much Free -- More info facebook.com/iamtonina

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