Ledisi: The Grammy nominated R&B and jazz singer talks about her faith

Wednesday 6th August 2008

Tony Cummings reports on the New Orleans-born, California-based R&B singer LEDISI

Ledisi
Ledisi

In 2008 New Orleans-born, California-bred singer Ledisi picked up two Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best R&B Album. Clearly she is a singer on the up, landing interviews on national television and even appearing in films like George Clooney's Leatherheads. What is clear though from her critically acclaimed 'Lost & Found' album is that not only is she a superlative vocalist able to bring neo-soul emotion and cool jazz phraseology to her compositions, she is also a committed Christian. She told journalist Andy Argyrakis, "Everything I do has a spiritual tone to it, but I hope that it can also relate to people in everyday life. I had a girl come up to me once who told me that I saved her life because she had cancer and listened to my CD during chemotherapy. I've had a woman come up to me who just had a baby but didn't have a husband, and she was worried about how she was going to make it, but she'd play 'Alright' and it made her feel better. 'Think Of You' is the first song I ever wrote about God, but the irony is it can work as both an R&B love song and a spiritual song. In concert, people leave crying because they always feel something spiritual from the experience. Everybody tells me, 'It's like church when we go to see you,' and they tell me they feel renewed and inspired when they leave. I'm just being who I am, but everything has to have God in it for me to do it."

Ledisi told Porschia Baker how she first got attracted to music. "I watched my mom perform and that's how I started doing it. We're from New Orleans, Louisiana and she had a band there. That's pretty much how I got the buzz. Listening, around the house, to her and her band and different records, but not really starting out in church. Just being a hippie. I had a Casio keyboard. I wrote a song off that little beat on the Casio, in the '80s when I was little. That's how I began songwriting, and on my piano. We always had a grand piano and some drums in the house: a full set of drums and a bass amp, with a bass. So that was the beginning of the song writing. My first song was 'I Need You'. I was really little. My mom was like, 'Why you write these big songs?' I would mimic opera singers on the radio. Those were my favourites."

By the late '90s Ledisi was singing around the Bay area, playing whatever gigs she could get. She said, "I was performing around [the Bay area] at pretty much everywhere there is to sing-nightclubs, theatres, churches. I was writing with other artists in the area, like my good friend Sundra Manning, who asked, 'Why don't you finally do a record yourself?' So I got money together, paid for studio time and decided to make the 'Soulsinger' record [in 2000]. Before I put it out, I went to a few labels and got some really nice rejection letters. It was before the whole Jill Scott/neo-soul movement, so we decided to put it out ourselves, and the buzz started to get bigger. It was big already in the Bay area, but then the record started to get word of mouth attention. Then we did 'Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue' in 2003, which was a mix of jazz and R&B. As an independent, every dime you make gets put back into making music again. So I wasn't making any money and I was nearly homeless, unsure whether I should continue in the business. It seemed like I was popular enough to be popular, but not enough to get to the next level. Looking back, I think it had to do with some self-esteem [issues] and not getting my spiritual base back in alignment."

To Andy Argyrakis Ledisi expanded what this spiritual realignment actually meant. She said, "During that time I believed more in people than God and myself. I trusted people to take care of everything for me and what I learned was not everyone believes the same dream that you have for yourself. So I felt abandoned and alone until Verve came along. At that point I had to buckle down and pray, 'Am I making the right decision, God?' And sure enough, it was the best decision I've made. From then on I've always prayed, 'Am I on the right path, Lord?' That's how it is for me - everything has to work through my faith. If it's not spiritually correct, then I won't do it. Before, I was blaming everybody else when I really needed to look at myself, really buckle down and wrestle with issues of self. I was told I wasn't skinny or pretty enough, that I had a great voice but had to lose some pounds. When you hear that enough times and it has nothing to do with music, you get tired. So learning to love myself was a big issue and I'm finally in the mode of not worrying about what others think anymore. In this business, everyone analyzes every part of you - your thoughts, your spirituality, your music, the restaurants you go to, the cars you drive, who you're dating. That's why you have to have pillars in your life like loving parents and faith in God."

Ledisi: The Grammy nominated R&B and jazz singer talks about her faith

In 2004, the singer got a phone call which was to change her life. It was from record producer Rex Rideout asking whether she would participate in the Luther Vandross tribute record 'Forever, For Always, For Luther'. Said Ledisi, "I recorded 'My Sensitivity' and I started to be heard because radio stations could finally play me since the song came from a major label. It gave me a lot of popularity, though I still didn't know if I should stay in the business until Verve came along."

Before she recorded 'Lost & Found' Ledisi did considerable soul searching. She said, "[I had to] figure out what kind of record I wanted to make because during that period of time I was again deciding should I stay in the business. I had another explosion. This is a lot: should I sign, should I go, and I was switching around teams and management. There was a lot of stuff going on. That's why it took so long. With each producer I wrote pretty much a record, but it took that long with me getting in alignment and figuring out what kind of record I wanted to make. By the time I was done I was like, 'This is good. I'm happy with this and I belong in the business.'"

She explained the meaning of the title 'Lost & Found': "I kept hearing [that phrase] over and over again in my head. I heard it in 'Amazing Grace', the spiritual song. It says, 'I once was lost, but now I'm found.' I always remember that phrase. It's one of my favourite spirituals. 'Lost & Found' had a lot to do with me being lost in my personal life, not feeling loved, being lost in my spiritual life and being lost musically. Once I was found I started getting in alignment with God, that was my spiritual alignment, and then everything started to come. Personally I'm happier, I feel loved, needed, wanted and in the business, musically, I started feeling I can express all of this and it's okay. You don't have to cover up your craft to make someone else feel happy. You don't have to pretend like you're good enough. You know you're good enough, be good enough. You deserve it. Then finding my father was an instrumental part of the whole thing. He's very spiritual and everyone around me is very spiritual. I have a big faith thing going on and it's really nice: from my Godparents, family to the person who loves me. I'm just happy. I'm very, very in alignment with my music. I'm happy, finally. Once you get in alignment with your faith, what you are as a person, knowing where you're from, what you're deserving of and having that strength to say it. Saying it is one thing, being it is another. All of that coming together is a powerful thing. I've come a long way to say I'm okay with me."

Ledisi has now started work on a new album plus her independent releases are being reissued. She also said she'd love to record a Christmas record. In amongst all this activity the singer has also been looking around for the right church. She said, "I'm pretty much deciding on a church so I can become more active in a community. My travel schedule is super tight and I have a big commitment with that. But every time I'm in one place long enough, I want to continue going to the same church. Right now that's just hard with my schedule, but I will go as often as I can on the road if it's a family church. I'm not really interested in singing in choir, but I like listening to pastors that are realists and talk about things that are really going on. I went to one church where the pastor held up two plates - one was silver and the other was rusty. He was saying how we come to church all rusty, but we hope to leave clean enough to see God's reflection in the plate. I love real examples of faith like that." CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
About Tony Cummings
Tony CummingsTony Cummings is the music editor for Cross Rhythms website and attends Grace Church in Stoke-on-Trent.


 

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