TBC introduces… Julie Dexter

Let's go right back to the start. Tell us about the early days growing up in Handsworth in Birmingham. What were your musical influences? You're from Jamaican heritage, right?  

Yeah. Jamaican family. So born and raised in Birmingham. I was born in Handsworth, was there for about four or five years before we moved to what's considered the outskirts.  

The music around the house was basically soul and reggae, I guess, R&B of the time, whether it's Earth, Wind & Fire or Johnny Nash and then you have Desmond Dekker and Bob Marley. My mom listened to everything. She had really, really great taste in music, which was vast.  

But reggae music was the soundtrack of my life, right? We just heard it all the time. If it wasn't at our house, we were at our grandma's or our cousin's house, or we're on the streets, or when you go to a dance or out socialising, it was just a constant. I've always felt like that's just the vein that runs through me, reggae. 

How did the music career start? Was it from church, or did you get into music a little bit later?  

Yes, definitely later. When I was at school, when you start on a recorder, violin, you sing in the choir, you get into it, but you don't necessarily think that's what you're going to do as a career, as something that you're going to make a living doing. By the time I got to college, I also got into acting and performing arts. So I was on the road to being a performer. By the time I finished college, that's when I met Gary Crosby, and he invited me to do a couple of live shows. He then formed Tomorrow's Warriors.  

The original band was me, Daniel Crosby, Jason Yarde, Robert Mitchell and bass player Owen Uwadiae. Later, we were joined by Vidal Montgomery, who plays with Courtney Pine right now. Gary basically put me on the map. Gary gave me an opportunity to sing in public, doing this thing called jazz, which at that time I knew very little about, but I did have a heart for it; it just spoke to me. I remember thinking that singers are supposed to be able to do what Whitney Houston could do. I didn't think of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald or Abbey Lincoln or Nancy Wilson. So once I discovered them, I was like, OK, I might have a shot at this.  

Wow, you were there right at the beginning of Tomorrow's Warriors? So, how did that feel at the time? Because that's kind of now grown into an organisation, a movement that has been hugely influential.  

Well, I knew the greatness of it. I knew the opportunity, the luxury I was being afforded, not just to hang out with them, but actually play with them, be on the same stage, do shows where people pay money. I was out on the road with these guys, doing shows, it's a confidence builder. When you're being embraced like that, you believe in yourself and you work harder to do what it is so you can sustain a career doing that. I've been able to, as well as teaching, been able to make a career doing what I love, which is making music. And that's where it started for me. That's where I was encouraged, embraced, you come off the stage, and these greats are saying, "Man, you did good. That was dope how you did that". Like any little thing, it's like watering flowers, and it helps them bloom and blossom and fly. 

I know I wouldn't be the performer that I am if it wasn't for the encouragement I got in that realm by those guys, international musicians at the end of the day. They may be local to Birmingham or to London, but they've all travelled the world. They're all world-renowned. They have won awards, been knighted, Omar, Courtney Pine, Orphey Robinson, Robert Mitchell, these are cats that have made their mark. Gary Crosby, Janine Irons, these are solid names for a foundation that's not going anywhere. Jazz has remained steadfast, and I'm proud to say I came from that scene.  

In 1999, you made the bold and brave move to up sticks and move from Birmingham to Atlanta. What was the reason for that?   

I don't even know how I really got there. It was very organic. It was not planned. I'll tell the whole story because it's just always how the universe works. So I was doing a performance at the Edinburgh Festival and I was staying in a house with all the poets and performers, you know. I was in my room next to this guy who heard me playing my demo tapes on this cassette player. He just happens to be from New York. These were like the rawest demos of me making music. He says, "Man, man, that's so dope, man. You should come to America, man. They would love that. In fact, we got this music thing at our school. We have funding. You know, we're going to bring you over". I was like, yeah, whatever. So, true to his word, he brings me over to New York, and I do a show at a place called CBGB. This is where The Police first played when they first came to the US. It's a real historic old-school venue.

There just happens to be someone from Atlanta there who's like, "You need to come to the Atlanta Jazz Festival". I went and actually did a show with Loose Ends before I do my own show. I literally fall in love with Atlanta, because Atlanta's like the blackest city other than Africa I've ever been to. I say that, and I mean it in the best possible way, like you get to the airport, everybody working at the airport is black. You come out of the airport, you get an Uber, and a lot of the people who pick you up are black. The neighbourhoods, not just the hoods, I'm talking about the nice houses and people with nice cars, black. Lawyers, doctors, sportspeople, every kind of work and life, black, like everywhere. Whether it's the church, down to the store. Like it just hit me in a way that I had never seen it before. You just feel like you hit the ground running, and I've been here ever since.  

Wow, that's a great story. Love that. Now tell us a bit about your music. Dexterity, Conscious, and Déjà vu. Three very solid albums. What's the common message in those albums? 

For me, as an artist, I try to talk about stuff that's not just relevant to me, but maybe relevant to somebody else's situation. For example, let's say the song "Choices". That can relate to anybody. Every person makes a choice every single day of their life, at least one. Think about the route you're going to drive to work, what you're going to eat, what you're going to say to people, what you're not going to say, the choices are every day, right? So me writing a song about choices was acknowledging every single choice has brought you to where we are right now. Even the choice that us sitting here has been from the choice of me getting a gig at The Bear Club. The connection from choices. Things don't just happen without choices being made, because if you make different choices, it's different results, right? Sometimes we call it regret when you make a choice that's not good, but most of the time, you make your choices based on the knowledge you have at the time. 

Let's talk about 19 July, and we know you've got a series of dates coming up. You're coming home to do these shows. So, tell us a little bit about the show at The Bear Club. What can we expect?  

What I always say to people is to know Julie Dexter is to experience her live. CDs are one aspect of what I do. I wouldn't even call it fifty percent, I'd really call it about ten percent because recordings are basically one moment in time captured on tape. Even if it's different takes put together, once you've put it down and sealed it and said that's the track, and you submit it. It's like watching somebody grow up, and you take one picture of them on Monday, and then next week, they cut their hair. Week after that, they put on weight, week after that, lose weight. My point is you're changing all the time. So for me, the CDs don't ever come close to representing when I'm actually on stage and I'm live and we're having interactions. That's the magic of live music because it’s organic.  

But the beauty of jazz is you never hear the same thing twice, it's the same with me. Even if I sing the same song, there's no way they're going to sound the same, but they're all going to be great, they're all going to be unique.   

You've been doing this for a long time now. What advice could you offer to young musicians, and specifically to young black musicians making their way? 

Do it because you love it, not because you have any other expectations other than the gratification of getting enjoyment out of what you're doing. If you keep doing what you're doing and you don't stop, you always grow, which is good for your artistry, for your music, yourself. The prize is the journey, the prize is your catalogue, the prize is us having this conversation. So, be yourself, I would say, don't try and be the next Beyoncé, be the first you, and aim to be something that's not already out there. Be fearless.  

Julie Dexter joins us on Saturday 19 July 2025