YolanDa Brown
Overview
- MOBO Award Winner
- Can play as a solo performer or with a full band
- Can play a massive range of genres from jazz to pop
- Great stage presence
Price Range
Prices range from £1000 to £5000
About
... take a jug of Jazz, two teaspoons of Soul and a twist of RnB... then add a cup full of Gospel, a sprinkle of Reggae and a pinch of Latin... served with Raw Emotion... -- There you have the YolanDa Brown sound.
Saxophonist YolanDa Brown is considered by many to be one of a kind. To hear YolanDa play music is to know her!
Now filling a corner of the market to provide great entertainment, strong playing, refreshing writing and also bringing the saxophone to a wider audience. She is the only young, female, solo instrumentalist to be at the forefront of the UK music scene. From very early musical beginnings she has come to make the Tenor and Soprano Saxophones her very own.
YolanDa Brown expresses her innermost feelings through her music and writing and in so doing, never fails to rise to the next level with each performance. A belief in the open truth of music has seen her develop a wide genre vocabulary and songbook, backed by an undeniably awesome performance talent. Always in evidence is her raw emotion which as become synonymous with the YolanDa Brown sound.
Born and raised in London, YolanDa Brown has grown up surrounded by an eclectic mix of music, the influences of which can be heard in every breath she plays and in every note she writes. She references Jazz, Afro-Jazz, Gospel, Reggae, Salsa, Hip-hop, R&B, with consummate ease, even going back to Mento throughout her performances, but her style and phrasing always remains her own. With such a musically diverse DNA to her soul, is it any wonder that YolanDa Brown touches so many people through the voice of her music!
In conjunction with her music, YolanDa Brown has completed a Masters in Management Science, as well as a Masters in Social Research Methods and is currently studying for her PhD at the University of Kent. She also fronted a TV talk show on a Sky Channel. YolanDa Brown has performed in numerous venues including: London's Jazz Cafe, Cafe de Paris, St. Martin in the Fields, Smollensky's on the Strand, Mermaid Theatre, Cargo, Proud Galleries, 100 Club, Cadogan Hall, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, The Broadway Theatre and Hackney Empire. A worldwide performer, she has also played for the High Commission in Jamaica, Jazz venues in Miami, the Frankfurt Auto Show, the Rotterdam Carnival and the IslaVuelta festival in Spain, to name but a few.
YolanDa Brown has worked with artists ranging from Soul sensation Mica Paris, legendary Courtney Pine, MOBO Awards Best Album Singer Terri Walker to Mercury Music Prize Saxophonist Soweto Kinch, Chicago Star Brenda Edwards, Jamaican Jazz legends Sonny Bradshaw and Ernest Ranglin, Jazz Calypso Legend Russ Henderson MBE, Queen of Lovers Rock Janet Kay and US Soul Legend Alexander O'Neal, MOBO Award Best Hip Hop Artist Sway, MC Bashy, as well as UK Soul Singers Omar, Mica Paris and Nate James to name a few...
The release of YolanDa Brown's debut EP, entitled "Finding My Voice" and her sold out debut concert at the Mermaid Theatre London in July 2007, were both met with rave reviews from press and her ever growing fan base. On Saturday 8th December 2007 saw her second solo show at London's Cadogan Hall - this show at a venue twice the capacity of her debut concert was also sold out.
In response to overwhelming popular demand, YolanDa Brown returned to London's Jazz Cafe to hold her forth and fifth, sold-out, solo concerts on February 14 and February 15 Valentines weekend, following another sold-out solo concert at Cadogan Hall with Mica Paris, Nate James and Sway. Previously and to celebrate her 2nd EP release "A Step Closer", she performed to a sold-out crowd at London's Pigalle Club in August 2008. To rave reviews, she also completed a UK Tour at the end of 2008 as Special Guest with the super-group The Temptations and a UK Tour with Errol Brown throughout February 2009 - his farewell tour.
One of the UK's rising stars, 2009 is going to be at titanic year for as many people have come to realise the uniqueness of the artist that is YolanDa Brown.
** 2008 MOBO Best Jazz Winner and Urban Music Award Nominee in Best Jazz category **
Where are they based?
This act is based in London but regularly performs all across the UK.
Sample Set List
Originals:
11 o' clock
Story
Jazz (other standards available on request):
Misty
Cry Me A River
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Autumn Leaves
Fly Me To The Moon
Lil Darlin
Summertime
My Funny Valentine
Round Midnight
My One And Only Love
I'm In The Mood For Love
What A Difference
RnB/Hip-Hop (other charts hits available on request):
Ribbon In The Sky
Alicia Keys - If I Ain't Got You
Robin Thicke - Lost Without You
John Legend - Used to Love You
Jagged Edge - I Promise
Luther Vandross - So Amazing
Justin Timberlake - My Love
Neyo - So Sick
Mary J Blige - Without You
Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girl
R Kelly - Happy People
The Roots and Erykah Badu - You Got Me
Gospel:
Speak To My Heart
There Is No One Like You
Total Praise
Kirk Whalum - Thy Kingdom
Latin:
Besame Mucho
Dos Gardenias
The Girl From Ipanema
La Bamba
Reggae:
Drop Lead Riddim
Bob Marley - One Love
Bob Marley - Waiting in Vain
Afro Jazz:
Fela Kuti - Lady
Sweet Mother
Today O
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This profile was compiled by +Freakster
