Ledisi

Neo-Soul

Ledisi hails, originally, from New Orleans, but grew up mainly in Oakland. The Pieces of Me Songfacts reports that after self-releasing two albums, Ledisi signed a major record deal with Verve Forecast and released her third album Lost and Found in 2007. The record earned her two Grammy nominations, including one for Best New Artist. In 2009, Ledisi released her fourth album Turn Me Loose , which earned her a couple more Grammy nominations. Ledisi's fifth album, Pieces Of Me, was released on June 14, 2011 debuting at #8 on the Billboard 200, her first entry on the top 10 of the album chart. She and her band are from a new breed of modern soul singers (that fall into the New Organic Soul movement in the U.K.) that do not bow to the formulated 'pop' format that permeates the national charts of the U.K. and the U.S.A. Her mother sang in an R & B band and opened her daughter's ears to classical music, then to jazz and gospel. ‘My mother is an inspiration to me because she was an R & B singer when I was growing up, and I'd watch her perform in the park by our house. I grew up on Earth, Wind and Fire. Tina Turner is my favorite’. As a teenager Ledisi first sang in a friend’s band, but soon realised she'd have to form her own if she was going to get the creative freedom she desired. She formed the group Anibade. The band consisted of: Sundra Manning (keyboards) Cedrickke Dennis (guitar) Nelson Braxton (bass) Wayne Braxton (saxophone) and Tommy Bradford on (drums) ...