In 2006, 18-year-old LaToya Renea was performing alongside the likes of Charleston jazz greats Quentin Baxter and Quiana Parler. As a pianist and powerhouse vocalist, she brought an eclecticism and gravitas that defied her age.
At that time, the Charleston native had already cut her debut EP, Divertimento, a collection of jazz-soul originals with a slew of scene A-listers, and was set to release it even as she planned to make the time-honored move to New York City to study at The New School for Contemporary Arts.
The following decade and a half did not quite go according to plan, though. Renea ended up bouncing from a few different schools, eventually switching to a music education focus. She worked in charter schools and eventually at the Department of Education while growing a private music tutoring business. At some point, the master copies of her EP were shelved and then lost. Music-making took a backseat to making a living.
“Those years in New York were, to put it nicely, were kind of the Rip-Van-Winkle-phase of my life,” Renea said. “I was kind of sleeping. I was a little afraid of my own shadow.”
A few years ago purely by chance, she rediscovered a master copy of Divertimento that she had recorded in high school. Then in 2019, she had the opportunity to sing with the acclaimed Dal Segño Trio in Mumbai, India. These events catalyzed Renea’s decision to focus on performing. Last year, she was finally able to release her long-lost EP in conjunction with her Masters graduate recital at Queens College. It went live on all streaming platforms last month.
These days, Renea’s staying busy in Charleston as a private music teacher, playing with a number of different Charleston acts including music collective Walnut Street Cafe and soulful eclectic duo 1ØØ FOLD.
Renea is also gearing up to release an archive of about hundred original songs as she solidifies sync licensing for some of her original material for TV and film.
“I want to travel and play music. That’s what I want to do, period,” Renea said. “Going to Mumbai really made that clear. It confirmed a lot for me. It was a no-brainer that I was ready to make the shift.”
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