DON’T EXPLAIN
Jacqueline Tabor & Marina Albero
An Award-Winning Musical Conversation
Don’t Explain is our musical conversation honoring the legacies of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. We imagine Eleanor (Holiday) and Eunice (Simone) in dialogue, bringing their songs and stories into conversation with our own experiences.
Through jazz, spoken word, improvisation, and emotional storytelling, we explore trauma, social justice, love, and resilience—and music's transformative power. Our collaboration grew from friendship, creating space for tenderness, defiance, humor, and joy.
Our production premiered at the 2022 Earshot Jazz Festival and received Northwest Concert of the Year honors. It has since grown into a studio recording supported by Seattle’s vibrant creative community, carrying our musical conversation beyond the concert hall. In May 2026, we celebrated our release at Seattle’s Triple Door, performing for a sold-out crowd. With engagements confirmed for 2027, including our return to the Triple Door, we continue to bring audiences into our musical conversation honoring the legacies of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.
When the world shut down in 2020, Jacqueline and Marina turned grief, fear, and uncertainty into something they had to put somewhere. What started as messy, glitchy livestreamed "quarantine sessions" became Don't Explain — a living tribute to Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, two women whose music carried truth through some of the hardest moments in American history. This is a film about music as resistance, music as healing, and music as the safest place to take risks — if you're still brave enough to take them. Don't Explain: The Music of Love is part of the Where We Gather documentary series — short films about the people and places where community happens. Thanks to Kinetic Village we have captured this very special moment.
BEHIND THE MUSIC
New Podcast from Jack Straw Cultural Center
A Preview of Don't Explain
EARSHOT MAGAZINE
EARSHOT MAGAZINE DON'T EXPLAIN ALBUM RELEASE PREVIEW
EARSHOT MAGAZINEDON'T EXPLAIN ALBUM RELEASE PREVIEW
Thank you, NATHAN BLUFORD at Earshot Magazine, for a beautiful preview of our upcoming album release May 20, 2026, at the triple door.
https://online.fliphtml5.com/risyt/Earshot_Jazz_05_2026/#p=1
About "Don't Explain"
Don't Explain is a powerful collaboration between acclaimed vocalist Jacqueline Tabor and renowned pianist Marina Albero, honoring the legacies of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone.
More than a tribute, the production reimagines these two iconic women, referred to as Eleanor (Holiday) and Eunice (Simone), in conversation, exploring themes of trauma, social justice, resilience, and the transformative power of music. Set for album release on May 20, Don’t Explain weaves jazz, spoken word, and emotional storytelling, offering audiences a profoundly moving, one-of-a-kind experience that resonates far beyond the stage. Originally premiered at the 2022 Earshot Jazz Festival, this production won Northwest Concert of the Year and has since evolved into a powerful studio recording, supported by Seattle’s vibrant creative community.
On May 22, 2025, Marina and Jacqueline were interviewed live on KNKX for their studio sessions. Here is a link to the video and the interview:
Don't Explain - KNKX Live Session (2025)
Jacqueline Tabor and Marina Albero find strength in friendship and legendary women of jazz | KNKX Public Radio (KNKX Article and Interview; 2025)
Don't Explain - Jacqueline Tabor & Marina Albero (video; 2025)
Don’t Explain is a heartfelt conversation between the legendary voices of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. Four-time Earshot Jazz Vocalist of the Year Jacqueline Tabor, known as “the Seattle Chanteuse,” along with pianist, vocalist, and writer Marina Albero, brings to life the profound legacies of these jazz greats through a powerful blend of song and storytelling.
Don’t Explain is more than a performance; it is an intimate conversation that resonates with the timeless relevance of these artists’ messages. Audiences are invited to witness the raw emotion and enduring strength that Tabor and Albero bring to the stage, creating an experience that honors the past while speaking to our present day.
In May 2026, the EP Don't Explain will be touring the PNW, Wisconsin and more.