The multi-talented Queen Latifah is switching gears again. It's been three years since she has released an album, and in those years, she's acted in almost a dozen movies, including the box office smash, 'Hairspray.' Now, she's revisiting her first true love -- jazz -- with a new album that hits shelves Tuesday. 'Trav'lin' Light' is a collection of standards from some of the biggest names in jazz, soul, R&B and blues, from Billie Holiday to Smokey Robinson. Queen Latifah sat down with AOL Music to talk about this music venture, as well as to dish the dirt on tabloid turmoil and how Big Bird played a big part in the highlight of her illustrious career.People may not realize that jazz was a big part of your life long before your hip-hop and acting careers. Tell us about your early musical influences.
My father was probably the person who encouraged jazz in my life the most. He played nothing but jazz music, and every time I'd get into the car with him, he'd have [radio station] Jazz 88 playing ... or Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday. It was mostly instrumental jazz -- Wayne Shorter, Weather Report -- that was Pop's forte. He also had a jazz club when I was a kid. And when I started to get a little older and started making my own choices in music -- jazz was there because it was becoming an influence on hip-hop. And I was hanging out with Q-Tip and DJ Mark the 45 King, and they had a lot of jazz records playing. Mark just loved the horn; Q-Tip loved the heavy bass. And I fell in love with Dinah Washington's voice. I loved Sarah Vaughan and, of course, Billie Holiday. I was always fascinated by the inflection in their voices and how they said certain words, like Nancy Wilson's 'Guess Who I Saw Today.' It's a song about how she goes into town and catches her husband having lunch with some other woman. The way it sounds is just so clever.
Elvis Costello,
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