Jhelisa Anderson
Jhelisa Anderson is a singer, songwriter and producer who has had critical and commercial success with her own music which covers soul, jazz and music for meditation, and as a vocalist for major artists including Björk, Massive Attack and The Shamen.[1]
Early life
Jhelisa was born in Jackson, Mississipi and grew up Louisville, Kentucky in the USA . Her mother was a vocalist and her father David Anderson Jr, had a gospel radio show and a successful family singing group called Little David Family. Her sister, Pamela, sang with D*Note and Incognito and her cousin Carleen Anderson’s parents, Vicki Anderson and Bobby Byrd, were in James Brown’s band .
Jhelisa had a strict upbringing, ‘raised in Baptist claustrophobia’ according to GQ Magazine.[2] She began singing with Little David Family aged five years old, performing in churches around the southern states of the USA. Her father had an extensive gospel collection but found she her own musical inspiration on pop radio. These included Chaka Khan, Earth, Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder. Her sister Pamela sang with D*Note and Incognito. Her cousin is singer Carleen Anderson and her aunt and step-uncle are Vicki Anderson and Bobby Byrd.
Musical career
In 1981 she moved to LA where she joined all female band Sugahh . She was fired from her job on receptionist at Motown Records when they discovered she was a singer and joined PAL whose ‘Talk We Don’t’ record as which was released in 1983 . After Motown she was hired by Capitol Records/EMI where she met Jeff Buckley, who played guitar in her band and recorded on her early demos. The acknowledgements on Jeff Buckley’s album ’Grace’ contains the phrase ‘I love you Jhelisa A’.
She moved to London in 1987. In 1989 she signed to One Little Indian Records as part of Soul Family Sensation with Johnny Male and Guy Batson and released the critically successful album ‘New Wave’ and hit single ‘I Don’t Even Know If I Should Call You Baby’.
She sung backing vocals on Björk’s international hit album ‘Debut’,[3] stating that she learned her techniques about layering vocals from Chaka Khan, who had earlier called on her for assistance writing and recording. Chaka Khan recorded Jhelisa's song ‘Death Of A Soul Diva’ in 2002.[4]
As vocalist with The Shamen she enjoyed commercial success – their 1992 album Boss Drum reached number three in the UK charts. She appeared on singles ‘Phorever People’ and LSI (Love Sex Intelligence)|‘LSI (Love Sex Intelligence)’ which were top ten hits across Europe.
In 1994 she signed to Dorado Records. The label had been launched in 1992 by classically trained trumpeter Ollie Buckwell and also released music by D*Note, Outside, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, Cleveland Watkiss’ Project 23, The Doris Days, DJ Q and A.P.E.
The label released her first solo album ‘Galactica Rush’ in 1994 which she co-wrote and co-produced with Lee Hamblin and which featured New York jazz saxophonist Greg Osby. Blues and Soul magazine described Galactica Rush as ‘a class act in every sense’ and gave it 9/10. It sold 60,000 copies, according to The Evening Standard.
‘Language Electric’ followed in 1997. In October that year The Evening Standard newspaper described the independent label as ‘London’s most successful dance label’ reporting that it had turned over a million pounds. Music Week 28th Feb 1998 reported that Dorado had signed a pan-European licensing deal with WEA Music to cover back catalogue and new releases.
‘Language Electric’ was listed as an album of the year in Echoes and in THE FACE. The Times described Jhelisa’s singing as ‘simply glorious… a world of lazy beats, where unhurried funk meets cool jazz, a world where evil lurks but where music will help you through’. TimeOut Magazine described her albums as ‘important precursors to more widely acclaimed debuts by D’Angelo and Maxwell’. She told writer Pete Paphides: “I got a lot of praise for Friendly Pressure but no-one mentioned the fact that I wrote most of those songs”. GQ Magazine described her as ‘the cosmic princess of soul’.[2]
Massive Attack called her in for vocals on 2010’s ‘Heligoland’ LP Traveling through 14 countries around the world delivering music, she has opened for live shows by James Brown, Herbie Hancock and Roy Ayers, and toured with Nitin Sawhney.[5]
In the mid-2000s, the singer was living in New Orleans, with a residency at the Hookah Cafe for their weekly Nina Simone tribute.[4] She had previously met Nina Simone at an Eartha Kitt show in LA and exchanged numbers, later driving the singer to hospital after she had twisted her knee.[4]
She had just appeared in the documentary ‘One Week With Jhelisa’ and was part-way through her third album ‘A Primitive Guide to Being There’ when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, causing her to leave the city. She moved closer to family in Atlanta[3] and finished her Nina Simone tribute ‘Sunday in Algiers’ on her on imprint Rentavibe Records.
In 2018 she recorded a collection of meditation music titled ‘7 Keys Vol 1’ , recording vocals at her home studio with audio engineer Spencer Willis and working with engineer/producer, multi-instrumentalist and local legend Martin Kearns at 800 East. ‘7 Keys Vol. 2’ is released on Dorado Records.
Her film and TV work includes ‘Words Like Daggers’ with The Angel (2020), Hawthorne (2009), and The Leech and the Earthworm (2003).
References
- ↑ "Jhelisa Albums and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sanjiv Bhattacharya, GQ magazine, March 1997
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 https://djmag.com/content/solid-gold-how-björks-debut-demonstrated-endless-possibilities-cross-pollination
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 https://www.reverbnation.com/rentavibe/song/4716624-jhelisa
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/11/music-trip-hop-jungle-rave-soul-90s-billie-eilish
External links
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