Last year my album for Summer 2020 was Toya Willcox’s COURT OF THE CRIMSON QUEEN.
This year I am unable to limit my selection to one artist. So you get one plus a bonus. Yay! Everyone likes a bonus! LOL .
The first artist has released her first solo album of original material. She is part of the Manchester Soul scene in the UK. Her name is Josephine Oniyama although she shortens it to just Josephine. She was born into a rich broth of Jamaican and Nigerian cultural heritage. Her album PORTRAIT is amazing and beautifully showcases her versatile voice. At times she sounds like Janis Joplin “I Pray That I Move” and Annie Lennox “Original Love” and other shims she has a pop acoustic feel similar to Tracy Chapman. But those are just first impressions. Her music traverses the wonderful and lush soundscapes of country, pop and soul with some jazzy inflections. She has previously released a few singles and was a featured vocalist with UK Jazz trumpeter/composer Matt Hallsal and his Gondwana Orchestra. It will be interesting to watch her career as it moves forward. Enjoy the following three tracks from her debut album PORTRAIT. You may purchase or download via BANDCAMP https://josephineoniyama.bandcamp.com you may also want to check out her website http://josephineoniyama.com
So, let’s get on with the music (some videos may be only viewable on YouTube – but it’s worth it.
Portrait (title track)
WHAT A DAY
https://www.youtube.com/embed/MKrLJ31qRFA
ORIGINAL LOVE
https://www.youtube.com/embed/6jfBewgMSdY
The bonus artist for my summer music playlist is Canadian soul and jazz singer Dominique Fils-Aimé. She was born/raised in Montreal, Canada to Haitian immigrant parents. She recently released her third full-length album. This gal is ambitions and I say that because she jumped out of the gate with thematic trilogy with her first album being the first entry in the trilogy with each album exploring a different area of African-American music. The first album NAMELESS focused on Jazz. The new album THREE LITTLE WORDS is the final installment of the trilogy and is very much a Soul album. The title of the album is so named because each song is titled using only three words.
Her website is https://domiofficial.com/en/ and you may also purchase/download on Bandcamp at https://singwithmi.bandcamp.com
LOVE TAKE OVER
https://www.youtube.com/embed/R4mUkkpNx6U
THREE LITTLE WORDS (title track)
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/9D_8AEjCs08
WHILE WE WAIT
... on being and becoming ... 