Six-year-old jazz singer Sophie
Fatu charmed the nation singing Frank Sinatra classics on national television
and her videos have amassed over 150 million views. She cheekily called “Mr.
Simon” (Cowell) her favorite judge when she became the youngest contestant ever
on “America’s Got Talent”; she told Ellen DeGeneres secrets on the host’s
top-rated daytime show before crooning “Fly Me To The Moon”; and she teasingly
asked Steve Harvey what happened to his hair on “Little Big Shots” prior to
belting out “My Way.” Now the bubbly chanteuse is working on her debut
recording, a six-song set of selections from the Great American Songbook sung
by her biggest influences: Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nina Simone and Michael Bublé.
Sophie’s “Love is…” EP is slated for September release.
Sophie is an effervescent spark, a joyous entertainer with a
bluesy jazz voice who exemplifies “born to sing” and “an old soul in a young
body.” Even her mother, award-winning classical music pianist and vocalist
Victoria Fatu, describes her middle child as “a male crooner in a little girl’s
body. Her style and delivery are more patterned after male singers than any of
the female vocal legends like Nina Simone or Ella Fitzgerald.”
On the surface, Sophie’s desire to sing is simple: “I want
to sing to make people happy.” But the maturity of her underlying mission has
meaning and significance far beyond her years. “I sing Sinatra because I don’t
want people to forget him or this music. I want to travel the world to share
this music, to sing these great songs and keep his legacy alive.”
Sophie excitedly elected to sing “(Love is) The Tender Trap”
because it fits her sassy and brassy style. The lyrics are about love in a
mocking way with a sense of humor, which is more apropos for someone so young. Culling
a slow, romantic ballad from Sinatra’s catalogue, “All The Way” spoke to the
Fatus the most because of its beauty. Representative of who Sophie is as a
performer, “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head” is a statement song for her. She
sings it to open her live performances because she literally blooms while
singing it. A signature Simone tune, Sophie feels more drawn to Bublé’s version
of “Feeling Good” and she dreams of singing it with him one day. “High Hopes”
is being completely restyled into a big band number, resisting the obvious
cutesy, adorable nature of the song. The jazzy-bluesy production will be
strong, explosive, disjointed, creative and unique. Sung by Sinatra and Frankie
Lymon, the impish and audacious “Goody Goody” is challenging vocally, requiring
plenty of slow vibrato for which Sophie rises to the occasion.
In addition to making the record this summer, Sophie is
currently shooting her feature film debut, an action thriller scheduled to
arrive in movie theaters in 2020.
The “Love is…” EP contains the following songs:
“(Love is) The Tender Trap”
“All The Way”
“Ain’t That A Kick in the Head”
“Feeling Good”
“High Hopes”
“Goody Goody”
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