Re-introducing Judi Singh. New doc tells the very Canadian story of a Black-Punjabi jazz sensation
In the ‘60s, Canadians watched her on CBC. Today, she’s trending on TikTok
"Why did Edmonton forget about Judi Singh?" When Baljit Sangra saw that headline appear on her Facebook feed one night, it was too compelling to ignore. But the filmmaker couldn't have guessed what was about to happen next. She was going to discover the subject of her next feature: Have You Heard Judi Singh?
The film has its world premiere Sunday at the Doxa Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver, and it puts a respected Canadian artist back in the spotlight. Judi Singh was never a superstar in her time, but for much of her life, she was a fixture of the Edmonton music scene. The singer was born in Alberta in 1945, the daughter of Black and South Asian pioneers. And by the time she was a teenager, she was already building a career in music, performing on stages around Edmonton, and sneaking into the Yardbird Suite to jam with the boys.
That jazz club, which was co-founded by Singh's cousin Ken Chaney, remains a local institution, and Singh would perform there countless times over the decades. But she was also making moves beyond her hometown. In the 1960s, Singh was lighting up TV screens as a recurring guest on CBC shows, and in the opening of Sangra's doc, she's seen performing on one such program, sparkling in a sleek evening gown as she croons "A Sleepin' Bee."
Here's another CBC performance from that era:
Singh would go on to collaborate with notables including Woody Shaw, Minnie Riperton and her long-time friend, the musician-turned-senator Tommy Banks, and as the doc traces Singh's life and career, it reintroduces the world to her music — recordings which have, incredibly enough, found a second life on social media. One dreamy tune, the David Foster-penned "Up and Down," is a bona fide TikTok trend, and yet, Singh's name is rarely credited in posts.
When Sangra first discovered Singh's music, she couldn't believe it. How had she never heard of this artist before? "Or that name … it's so Indian!" says Sangra, whose past feature documentaries have also captured the stories of South Asian Canadians.
It was 2023 when Sangra began developing the project, and unfortunately, Singh had already passed two years prior. But after connecting with the musician's family, she was able to piece the story together. Singh's daughter, Emily Hughes, is a documentary filmmaker herself. (She won a Gemini Award in 1999 for a film about her dad, the Canadian jazz guitarist Lenny Breau.)
Hughes appears throughout Sangra's doc, as do many more family members and friends, who warmly share their memories. "We were able to paint that picture — like what was Judi like as a child?" says Sangra. Or what was it like at her first gig? "She got to open for Roy Orbison; what was that like?"
Sangra also gained access to archival interviews, and because of those tapes, Singh's voice is very much alive throughout the film, telling her story in her own words. Those recordings allowed Sangra to expand the project into a feature. "You start uncovering little gems," she says, or people go, 'Hey, I have an interview of her way back from the '80s. Maybe you want to check it out."
And then, of course, there's the music. Around 30 of Singh's recordings are featured in the doc, including songs from her Bacharach-esque debut, A Time For Love — an album she recorded in 1970 for the CBC Radio-Canada imprint, which was re-released in 2018. Singh's velvety vocals punctuate major moments: heartbreak and struggle, but also the excitement of chasing her dreams.
The film goes beyond the usual plot points of a music doc, however, and Sangra uses Singh's family history to provide a glimpse of what life was like for Black and South Asian Albertans in the early 1900s. "She's half Punjabi, half Black, and I was really intrigued by the pioneer story," says Sangra. "There was a lot of 'Wow, I should know this," says the director, reflecting on her research for the film.
Singh's father, Sohan Singh Bhullar, was one of the earliest Sikh immigrants to arrive in Alberta, and the singer's mother, Effie Jones, grew up in Amber Valley, a rural community about 170 km north of Edmonton which was settled by African Americans fleeing the U.S.
The couple married in Edmonton in 1926, and would have connected at the Shiloh Baptist Church, which was a social hub for many local people of colour. Sangra first discovered that intriguing detail while reading an Edmonton Heritage Council blog post by Poushali Mitra, and the writer appears in the film during a visit to a local park — a space named after Singh's father.
Mitra's article inspired Sangra to make the film in the first place, and while reading it, she says she saw a reflection of her own family history in Singh's. "When I tell people about the film, they're interested," says Sangra. "Just the South Asian connection especially, because we just never heard a story like that."
"I think it is time that [Singh] gets her spot in the spotlight that she probably never really got," says Sangra.
"As you walk out of the film, you'll know more about this person, this artist," she says. And she also thinks audiences will be inspired to go on a deep dive of their own.
"You'll want to hear more of her music," says Sangra. "You're going to add that to your playlist."
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