Don’t Explain is our powerful, award-winning collaboration, bringing together acclaimed vocalist Jacqueline Tabor and renowned pianist Marina Albero in a musical conversation honoring the legacies of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. More than a tribute, our production reimagines these two iconic women—Eleanor (Holiday) and Eunice (Simone)—in dialogue, bringing their songs and stories into conversation with our own experiences.
Weaving jazz, spoken word, improvisation, and emotional storytelling, we examine themes of trauma, social justice, love, resilience, and the transformative power of music. Our collaboration grew from friendship, creating space for tenderness, defiance, humor, and joy. Together, we offer audiences a profoundly moving, one-of-a-kind experience that resonates far beyond the stage.
Our production premiered at the 2022 Earshot Jazz Festival and won Northwest Concert of the Year. It has since evolved into a powerful studio recording, supported by Seattle’s vibrant creative community, that carries the intimacy and emotional depth of our live performances into recorded form. On May 20, 2026, we celebrated our release at Seattle’s Triple Door before a sold-out crowd. With engagements confirmed for 2027, including our return to the Triple Door, we'll continue sharing this living conversation with new audiences.
When the world shut down in 2020, we turned to music—and to each other—to give grief, fear, and uncertainty a place to go. What began as messy, glitchy livestreamed “quarantine sessions” grew into Don’t Explain, our musical conversation honoring the legacies of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.
Don’t Explain: The Music of Love takes audiences behind the performance and into the friendship that shaped our collaboration. It is a film about music as resistance, music as healing, and the trust that allows us to take creative risks together.
Part of the Where We Gather documentary series, the film captures the people and places where community takes shape. Our thanks to Kinetic Village for capturing this chapter of our story.
Don't Explain is a powerful collaboration between acclaimed vocalist Jacqueline Tabor and renowned pianist Marina Albero that honors the legacies of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. Recorded live at the Jack Straw Studios as part of an Artist in Residency Grant
EARSHOT MAGAZINEDON'T EXPLAIN ALBUM RELEASE PREVIEW
Thank you, NATHAN BLUFORD at Earshot Magazine, for a beautiful preview of our upcoming album release May 20, 2026, at the triple door.
https://online.fliphtml5.com/risyt/Earshot_Jazz_05_2026/#p=1
