Written by Brett Glisson. Header courtesy of Alex Duben (@sketch_mage_art).

“Can I get a light chord, please?”

Endea Owens’s voice floats through the Metal Building at Trustees Garden, silencing the pre-show murmur. She is rocking a multi-colored square patterned dress and a giant conch shell necklace.

“Of course you can, Endea,” trumpeter Kris Johnson calls back, kicking off the evening with a soft note. Saxophonist Louis Fouché follows suit, with Corbin Bernhard on piano and Christopher Beck lightly tapping the hi-hats on drums.

“Hello, Savannah,” Endea says, her bright white smile shining in the spotlight as the audience cheers. With more than 400 eyes on her, she’s calm and focused as her fingers pluck away at the bass strings.

““We’re gonna have a good time tonight.”                                                 

Endea is a bassist from Detroit, Michigan, who records and composes her own music. She’s been mentored by jazz icons including Marcus Belgrave, Rodney Whitaker, and Jon Carter.

I discovered Endea Owens and the Cookout through NPR’s Tiny Desk, and when I found out they were coming to the Savannah Music Festival, I marked my calendar.

Over the years, she’s toured and performed with superstars such as Wynton Marsalis, Diana Ross, and Jon Batiste, solidifying her presence in today’s jazz scene.

“It’s not the pale moon that excites me, that thrills and delights me, oh no,” she sings.

Her voice slips seamlessly between song and speech. “Can I have a little more reverb? Just a teeny bit more.” Part of her charm is how she blends melody with conversation. “It’s the nearness of you,” she finishes the lyric.

I close my eyes and allow the music to flow through me. My stomach twists and turns like I’m on a rollercoaster, and my heart seems to pump more blood than usual.

“Let’s get some emotional music in here,” Endea says. “This next one’s called the ‘Pursuit of Happiness.’”

She sings of gratitude for life and all the things we take for granted. The lighting shifts from pink hues with hints of fuchsia, to white, then green, yellow, and orange, mirroring the journey of the song. I feel like I’m flying and falling at the same time, yet safe in the arms of Endea Owens.

I look around me and notice there’s not a single smartphone in sight. Every person in this room is living in the moment. Maybe they know the sound just won’t be the same through a device. Not even Spotify will come close after tonight.

After graduating from the Julliard School in 2018 with a degree in Jazz Studies, she joined The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as a member of the house band, Stay Human. Since then, she’s earned an Emmy, a Grammy, and a George Foster Peabody Award.

But it’s clear that what matters most to her is the positive energy she brings to a room.

“Joy is an act of resistance!” she proclaims. “This is ‘Resistance’ and we hope you enjoy.”

Her energy is infectious. There’s no doubt she’s confident and comfortable in her own skin. Maybe it’s the wine, but I find myself feeling lighter and more at ease, as if everything is going to be okay.

“Through it all, I’m gonna choose to be happy,” she says in between the music. “In life, if something don’t feel good, I don’t want it.”

Her face contorts with the rhythm. The sound cuts out, but she keeps playing. The raw, unplugged bass makes for a more natural experience, and I can feel the vibrations in my chest.

I’m on top of the world right now, and I’m not even the one performing. Dopamine is coursing through my veins. This must be the power of Endea Owens.

Offstage, Endea has a deep passion for giving back. In 2020, she founded the Community Cookout, a non-profit organization born during the Covid-19 pandemic to bring meals and music to underserved neighborhoods in New York City, her home base now.

So far, she’s helped feed nearly 3,000 New Yorkers and hosted more than a dozen free concerts. She’s also taught music to students across the United States, South America, and Europe. To her, music is more than artistic expression; it’s an act of service that has the power to change the world.

“We gotta take care of one another,” she says as the song comes to an end. “That’s what life is all about.”

After just two hours in her presence, I feel like part of the family. The intimacy of the venue brought a sense of closeness that a grand concert hall couldn’t replicate.

“We’ve got one more for you, Savannah,” she says. “This composer makes me feel like I can go on another day. And that composer is me.”

The chic industrial room is filled one final time with the sounds of every instrument on stage. Jazz has always been my favorite genre of music, but somehow I love it even more after tonight.

“It does not matter where you come from,” Endea says. “All that matters is that you believe in yourself.”