Music: Ledisi

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by Claude Julian | ARCHIVES


Stunner Baby Music turns up the volume on the silky smooth sounds of jazz vocalist Ledisi Anibade Young. Ledisi first name means “to bring forth” or “to come here” in Yoruba. Ledisi grew up in a musical family; her mother sang in a Louisiana R&B band and her stepfather, Joseph Pierce, III, was a drummer in the New Orleans area. Her biological father is soul singer Larry Sanders, although he left the family when she was a baby and did not meet again for nearly three decades.

Ledisi first began performing publicly at age eight with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra. She moved to Oakland, California, where she was nominated for a Shellie award in 1990 for her performance in a production of The Wiz and performed in an extended run with the San Francisco cabaret troupe, Beach Blanket Babylon. She studied opera and piano for five years at University of California Berkeley in their Young Musicians Program. Ledisi formed the group known as Anibade. After unsuccessfully trying to get the group signed to a major label, she formed LeSun Records with Sundra Manning. Along with her group Anibade, Ledisi released an album entitled Take Time. The album gained major airplay from local radio stations. Ledisi released her first album (2000), entitled Soul singer: The Revival. Ledisi and her group toured in 2001, performing various shows. In 2002, Ledisi released her second album, Feeling Orange but Sometimes Blue. The album won her an award for “Outstanding Jazz Album” at the California Music Awards.

Ledisi signed a major record deal (2007) with Verve Forecast and released her third album in August of that year, entitled Lost & Found, which sold almost 217,000 copies and earned her two Grammy nominations, including one for Best New Artist. Ledisi’s third album, Lost & Found, was released. During the time of her hiatus, Ledisi stated that she was unsure of wanting to stay within the music industry. In response, Ledisi wrote the song “Alright” to express her life. “Alright” became the lead single and debuted at #45 on the Billboard Hot R&B chart. The album’s second single, “In The Morning”, debuted at #49 on the Billboard Hot R&B chart. Other songs from the album charted but were not released as singles. “Think of You” charted at #71 on the Hot R&B charts, “Joy” charted at #103 on the Hot R&B charts and #29 on the Adult R&B Airplay.

Ledisi headlined her first tour to promote her album, Pieces of Me. The Pieces of Me Tour played to 22 sold out shows across North America. With this album, Ledisi was nominated for 3 Grammy awards for the Grammy Awards 2012, in the categories Best R&B Album, Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song, for the album and the lead single “Pieces of Me”. Ledisi will release her first book, “Better Than Alright: Finding Peace, Love & Power” on Time Home Entertainment, Inc. in 2012. The book, an innovative collaboration with ESSENCE, is filled with the singer’s personal photos, quotes, lyrics and richly detailed stories of the Grammy nominee’s journey to acceptance of her beauty, talent and power. Her vocal inspiration result in three command performances at the White House at the request of President and First Lady Obama. Ledisi star shines bright in the international world of jazz music.

LEDISI GALLERY

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“Pieces of Me” Ledisi

For more of the soulful Ledisi, Visit
www.ledisi.com/
www.twitter.com/ledisi
www.facebook.com/ledisi

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