Riveting vocalist and composer Somi Kakoma, known simply as "Somi," is truly a jazz artist for our globally connected times.
The Midwestern daughter of parents who emigrated from Rwanda and Uganda, she found her musical voice traversing cultural bridges between Africa and the US, weaving Afropop, soul, and jazz into her sumptuous, elegant, deeply grooving body of work. A return to her singer-songwriter roots, the music on her latest release was composed in Lagos, Dakar, Paris, and New York, offering a sonic travelogue that weaves deeply personal storytelling with modern jazz and African sensibilities.
"[Her music is] a party and a history lesson, it's a manifesto and a poem, it's a call to dance and think at once" (PopMatters).
~~~
When Somi was growing up, her mother told her that the rain, ever unpredictable, could be as much a blessing as a challenge. That notion has stayed with the charismatic singer and songwriter all her life and now provides a metaphorical focus for her third album, If The Rains Come First.
(ObliqSound), a stunning collection of self-penned story-based songs, a meditation on opening ourselves up to life's blessings and challenges much in the way that we accept the rain and all that it brings.
The Boston Globe says Somi's new album, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard World Chart, "glistens with the sheen of an almost impossibly perfect cosmopolitanism." Singing in English and three East African languages, Somi's vocal delivery is subtle yet the power she exerts is enormous. Her artistic evolution is indisputable.
Born in Illinois to immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, the African and Jazz legacies are always crucial to her sound. Often compared to the likes of Miriam Makeba, Sarah Vaughn, Cassandra Wilson, and Cesaria Evora, her new album also features the legendary trumpeter Hugh Masekela, a longtime Somi fan and mentor.
JazzTimes magazine describes her live performance as "the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves," Billboard calls it "all elegance and awe...utterly captivating," and Vogue simply calls her voice "superb."
As her career has taken off, Somi's talents have been called upon for collaborations and live performances alongside Bobby McFerrin, Baaba Maal, John Legend, Cassandra Wilson, Mos Def, Paul Simon and Nicholas Payton. Most recently, internationally renowned Israeli artist Idan Raichel featured Somi on his latest platinum-selling album Within My Walls (Cumbancha), on the track "Maisha," which Somi also co-wrote.
While Somi and her band continue to perform at venues in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, the globetrotting chanteuse says, "At the end of the day, I still know who I am and where home is before, during, and after the rain--it's in the music."
"A potent brew from the first sip to the last drop." - NPR's All Things Considered
"Imagine the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves. Such is Somi." - Jazz Times
"Superb singer! A pioneer of a new and promising generation of emerging African artists." - VOGUE Magazine
show less
The Midwestern daughter of parents who emigrated from Rwanda and Uganda, she found her musical voice traversing cultural bridges between Africa and the US, weaving Afropop, soul, and jazz into her sumptuous, elegant, deeply grooving body of work. A return to her singer-songwriter roots, the music on her latest release was composed in Lagos, Dakar, Paris, and New York, offering a sonic travelogue that weaves deeply personal storytelling with modern jazz and African sensibilities.
"[Her music is] a party and a history lesson, it's a manifesto and a poem, it's a call to dance and think at once" (PopMatters).
~~~
When Somi was growing up, her mother told her that the rain, ever unpredictable, could be as much a blessing as a challenge. That notion has stayed with the charismatic singer and songwriter all her life and now provides a metaphorical focus for her third album, If The Rains Come First.
(ObliqSound), a stunning collection of self-penned story-based songs, a meditation on opening ourselves up to life's blessings and challenges much in the way that we accept the rain and all that it brings.
The Boston Globe says Somi's new album, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard World Chart, "glistens with the sheen of an almost impossibly perfect cosmopolitanism." Singing in English and three East African languages, Somi's vocal delivery is subtle yet the power she exerts is enormous. Her artistic evolution is indisputable.
Born in Illinois to immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, the African and Jazz legacies are always crucial to her sound. Often compared to the likes of Miriam Makeba, Sarah Vaughn, Cassandra Wilson, and Cesaria Evora, her new album also features the legendary trumpeter Hugh Masekela, a longtime Somi fan and mentor.
JazzTimes magazine describes her live performance as "the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves," Billboard calls it "all elegance and awe...utterly captivating," and Vogue simply calls her voice "superb."
As her career has taken off, Somi's talents have been called upon for collaborations and live performances alongside Bobby McFerrin, Baaba Maal, John Legend, Cassandra Wilson, Mos Def, Paul Simon and Nicholas Payton. Most recently, internationally renowned Israeli artist Idan Raichel featured Somi on his latest platinum-selling album Within My Walls (Cumbancha), on the track "Maisha," which Somi also co-wrote.
While Somi and her band continue to perform at venues in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, the globetrotting chanteuse says, "At the end of the day, I still know who I am and where home is before, during, and after the rain--it's in the music."
"A potent brew from the first sip to the last drop." - NPR's All Things Considered
"Imagine the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves. Such is Somi." - Jazz Times
"Superb singer! A pioneer of a new and promising generation of emerging African artists." - VOGUE Magazine
Riveting vocalist and composer Somi Kakoma, known simply as "Somi," is truly a jazz artist for our globally connected times.
The Midwestern daughter of parents who emigrated from Rwanda and Uganda, she found her musical voice traversing cultural bridges between Africa and the US, weaving Afropop, soul, and jazz into her sumptuous, elegant, deeply grooving body of work. A return to her singer-songwriter roots, the music on her latest release was composed in Lagos, Dakar, Paris, and New York, offering a sonic travelogue that weaves deeply personal storytelling with modern jazz and African sensibilities.
"[Her music is] a party and a history lesson, it's a manifesto and a poem, it's a call to dance and think at once" (PopMatters).
~~~
When Somi was growing up, her mother told her that the rain, ever unpredictable, could be as much a blessing as a challenge. That notion has stayed with the charismatic singer and songwriter all her life and now provides a metaphorical focus for her third album, If The Rains Come First.
(ObliqSound), a stunning collection of self-penned story-based songs, a meditation on opening ourselves up to life's blessings and challenges much in the way that we accept the rain and all that it brings.
The Boston Globe says Somi's new album, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard World Chart, "glistens with the sheen of an almost impossibly perfect cosmopolitanism." Singing in English and three East African languages, Somi's vocal delivery is subtle yet the power she exerts is enormous. Her artistic evolution is indisputable.
Born in Illinois to immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, the African and Jazz legacies are always crucial to her sound. Often compared to the likes of Miriam Makeba, Sarah Vaughn, Cassandra Wilson, and Cesaria Evora, her new album also features the legendary trumpeter Hugh Masekela, a longtime Somi fan and mentor.
JazzTimes magazine describes her live performance as "the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves," Billboard calls it "all elegance and awe...utterly captivating," and Vogue simply calls her voice "superb."
As her career has taken off, Somi's talents have been called upon for collaborations and live performances alongside Bobby McFerrin, Baaba Maal, John Legend, Cassandra Wilson, Mos Def, Paul Simon and Nicholas Payton. Most recently, internationally renowned Israeli artist Idan Raichel featured Somi on his latest platinum-selling album Within My Walls (Cumbancha), on the track "Maisha," which Somi also co-wrote.
While Somi and her band continue to perform at venues in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, the globetrotting chanteuse says, "At the end of the day, I still know who I am and where home is before, during, and after the rain--it's in the music."
"A potent brew from the first sip to the last drop." - NPR's All Things Considered
"Imagine the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves. Such is Somi." - Jazz Times
"Superb singer! A pioneer of a new and promising generation of emerging African artists." - VOGUE Magazine
read more
The Midwestern daughter of parents who emigrated from Rwanda and Uganda, she found her musical voice traversing cultural bridges between Africa and the US, weaving Afropop, soul, and jazz into her sumptuous, elegant, deeply grooving body of work. A return to her singer-songwriter roots, the music on her latest release was composed in Lagos, Dakar, Paris, and New York, offering a sonic travelogue that weaves deeply personal storytelling with modern jazz and African sensibilities.
"[Her music is] a party and a history lesson, it's a manifesto and a poem, it's a call to dance and think at once" (PopMatters).
~~~
When Somi was growing up, her mother told her that the rain, ever unpredictable, could be as much a blessing as a challenge. That notion has stayed with the charismatic singer and songwriter all her life and now provides a metaphorical focus for her third album, If The Rains Come First.
(ObliqSound), a stunning collection of self-penned story-based songs, a meditation on opening ourselves up to life's blessings and challenges much in the way that we accept the rain and all that it brings.
The Boston Globe says Somi's new album, which debuted at #2 on the Billboard World Chart, "glistens with the sheen of an almost impossibly perfect cosmopolitanism." Singing in English and three East African languages, Somi's vocal delivery is subtle yet the power she exerts is enormous. Her artistic evolution is indisputable.
Born in Illinois to immigrants from Rwanda and Uganda, the African and Jazz legacies are always crucial to her sound. Often compared to the likes of Miriam Makeba, Sarah Vaughn, Cassandra Wilson, and Cesaria Evora, her new album also features the legendary trumpeter Hugh Masekela, a longtime Somi fan and mentor.
JazzTimes magazine describes her live performance as "the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves," Billboard calls it "all elegance and awe...utterly captivating," and Vogue simply calls her voice "superb."
As her career has taken off, Somi's talents have been called upon for collaborations and live performances alongside Bobby McFerrin, Baaba Maal, John Legend, Cassandra Wilson, Mos Def, Paul Simon and Nicholas Payton. Most recently, internationally renowned Israeli artist Idan Raichel featured Somi on his latest platinum-selling album Within My Walls (Cumbancha), on the track "Maisha," which Somi also co-wrote.
While Somi and her band continue to perform at venues in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, the globetrotting chanteuse says, "At the end of the day, I still know who I am and where home is before, during, and after the rain--it's in the music."
"A potent brew from the first sip to the last drop." - NPR's All Things Considered
"Imagine the earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves. Such is Somi." - Jazz Times
"Superb singer! A pioneer of a new and promising generation of emerging African artists." - VOGUE Magazine
show less
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