East Bay singer hits perfect note in 'Hustle & Flow'

Oakland Tribune, Aug 2, 2005 by Hanna Tamrat, STAFF WRITER

Whether singing the Ninth Symphony or "Change Muh Name," Jennifer Bynum has a voice that stirs emotions.

In her role as a church choir lead singer in "Hustle & Flow," a movie released in Bay Area theaters last week, Bynum makes the pimp- gone-rapper character cry and take a look at his life.

The impact of the Richmond-raised soprano's voice might be fictional in the movie, but it mirrors the awe she created behind the scenes of the movie, which won an audience award at the Sundance Film Festival this year.

Her desire to give an authentic stage performance in her first big-screen movie thinned the line between movie making and script.

"I didn't want to learn anything new, so I prayed," said Bynum, 53, explaining she tried to duplicate in the movie what she does on stage in her regular professional life.

About 15 minutes into the movie, Bynum performs one of her own rearranged Negro spirituals, "Change Muh Name," which marks a turning point in the life of the lead character, portrayed by actor Terrence Howard.

About a year ago, filmmaker Craig Brewer did not have a singer or a song for the pivotal scene of his script.

He wanted someone with a voice to give "chicken skin" to the audience in a couple of minutes, said Mary Unobsky, the movie's music coordinator.

Unobsky had previously heard Bynum, the mother of four, sing in the Nashville and Memphis symphonies and felt she would be the best choice for the scene.

"This is exactly how I put it to (Brewer)," said song writer, Unobsky: "If I were in my casket and (people were) marching me to my final resting place, I would want Jennifer Bynum singing me into the heavens."

Brewer was so overpowered by Bynum's performance when he heard her practice that he had her perform solo at the beginning of the first production meeting for a story of pimps, whores and rappers. He wanted to get the crew off on the right foot, Unobsky said.

Since 1994, Jennifer Bynum (pronounced bye-num) has sung hymns and gospel songs with symphonies across the United States and in China, Russia, Egypt, Japan and Germany, and at recitals.

The international soloist uses her mother's maiden name but she also has performed as Jennifer Bynam Green. She wants to drop the Green since she was divorced in 1997 after 13 years of marriage.

Born in San Francisco, Bynum grew up in the Bay Area, She studied music and performed in different states, including Tennessee.

After the tragedy of losing two of her children to illness and a bitter divorce in between, she moved from Tennessee back to the Bay Area in October to live at her parents' house in Richmond.

Grounded in her religion, Bynum plays the piano on Sundays at a Berkeley Baptist Church.

She started to sing in eighth-grade and has played the piano since age 4, when her father, Elijah Cable, made a point to have her and her seven siblings learn how to play.

"God has given her a gift," said Cable. "I'd like to see her be successful."