Four world-class Bay Area jazz vocalists will trace the evolution of black music, from its roots in Negro spirituals to contemporary, chart-topping rhythm and blues, in “Sepia: Music of the Black Diaspora,” happening Feb. 11 at the Fillmore District jazz club, Yoshi’s.    

“I consider these women mentors,” says singer Frankye Kelly of her accomplished stage-mates for the evening, Faye Carol, Denise Perrier and Lady Mem’fis. “I admire them so much, as people and as artists. So, to be able to share a stage with them is really an honor.”
   

Kelly is also excited to be playing a show in the Fillmore District, a historical center of jazz culture. Though the neighborhood jazz joints once frequented by the likes of Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong were all gone by the time Kelly arrived in the Bay Area in the 1980s, she says the region still boasted a strong jazz scene at that time.
   

“There was still a lot happening on Broadway, and at clubs down on Divisadero,” she explains. “But that didn’t last much longer.”
   

In the 1990s, rising rents forced many of the City’s smaller live music venues to close, and artists like Kelly suddenly found themselves without places to play.

“But things are picking up lately,” she says. “Yoshi’s opening is very exciting, for instance.”
   

Kelly credits the recent upswing to a renewed interest in jazz and blues among 20- and 30-somethings.
   

“When I play overseas, there are a lot of young people at the shows. Now, I’m watching that shift happen here [in the United States], too,” she explains. “I think that’s wonderful. I think young people are finally realizing how valuable jazz is, and how much a part of our history it is.”
   

Kelly also believes that young people, particularly young musicians, are inspired by the jazz genre’s rules-breaking tendencies, and appreciate the room that this allows for spreading wings. After all, that’s what first attracted her to jazz.
   

“The only thing you really have to do is try to stay in key,” she jokes. “It’s improvisational music. You’re encouraged to take a song and make it your own. So, a song sounds and feels different every time I perform it.”
   

When Kelly was starting out, it was important to her to shape a unique sound for herself. So, rather than emulating her favorite vocalists, she studied the freeform jazz style of trumpet player and composer Miles Davis instead.
   

“His music is free, and very emotional,” she explains. “I didn’t just like the way his music sounded. I liked the way it made me feel, too. It had a spirit.”
   

Kelly’s quest for spirit eventually also led her to Nichiren Buddhism, the same sect of Buddhism studied by fellow music-makers Herbie Hancock and Tina Turner. Nichiren advocates peace through education and culture.
   

“Music, and art in general, is a good way of reaching people,” Kelly says. “It’s a peaceful and effective way of communicating a message, whatever that message is.”
   

The message that she and her musical partners wish to communicate on February 11 is one of celebration.    

“We’re celebrating what African-Americans have contributed to the music world, which is a lot,” Kelly explains.

“And, because the four of us have our unique styles, we’re all bringing that message our own way. It’s really going to be a special night.”