Jhelisa

It is rare when I find a soul artist whose material makes little to no flaws, but Jhelisa Anderson is one of them. The first time I heard her I didn't even know it was her, as I first heard her as a semi-anonymous vocalist with the techno frontiersmen The Shamen, namely on their big splash statesite, Boss Drum. *

Her own work is notably removed from the acid-house dance music of the Shamen, and I discovered her outright in the early 90s on one of the Dorado label compilations of which I am almost sure it was either the song Friendly Pressure or Sally's Knockin' At Your Door.

In any event the woman clearly draws from both her family tree (daddy is James Brown band stalwart Bobby Byrd), and the various soul movements from the acid-jazz/neo-soul camps, as well as delta blues, rare groove and folk. She has a new album out, that wa almost washed out with Hurricane Katrina, and she is touring. Go...see...her. If you can't, here are some video clips and links to give you an idea:

This first one is very impressive, as I loved the jungle electronica of Inner City Life when I first heard it by Goldie (one of the first jungle/drum n bass singles I ever picked up), and here it is fully reworked into a jazz invocation, with the Re:Jazz collective;



The next is simple, links to her myspace presence, and her new album EPK and miscellaneous info.

* of note, she has also done session work with big stars like Bryan Ferry and Bjork. And for you trivial pursuit people, she is the sister of Carleen Anderson, who sang on the seminal Young Disciples album Road to Freedom and briefly did a stint with the Brand New Heavies, as well as solo and session work. Both are the daughters of vocalist Vicki Anderson and James Brown band stalwart Bobby Byrd.