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Jazz Weekly Review of Moonstone & Tar Sands!

This week’s Jazz Weekly reviews Leila’s album:

Adu’s vocal tone and style feels like a mix of the social passion and enunciation of a Nina Simone with a dash of the other wordliness of Nico, and it works well on this collection of songs that come across like German cabaret circa Kurt Weill.

George W. Harris’s rich writing style, describes one of the title tracks ‘Moonstone’ as having a ‘prismatic’ pulse with other album aspects as “Bartokian” and “Bohemian.”

The lyrics themselves range from romance to oil extraction adding to the mosaic colors of the album creating a work of art that looks clearer when standing back a few feet. This lady is on to something, both sonically and stylistically, forming a rich and personal language of her own. When’s she touring?

Read full article:

JAZZ WEEKLY: Leila Adu: Moonstone & Tar Sands: Life Matters

 

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Leila Plays LIVING DOLLS Extravaganza

Rubulad Proudly Presents Living Dolls
389 MELROSE ST
BROOKLYN, NY 11237
Saturday, Sept. 30

with live music by:
Skorts
Chico Raro
Fly Ashtray
Leila Adu
The Dirt Whisperers
with your MC Tanya Solomon

and your DJs:
DJ Mojo
Matt Meade

plus:
Visuals by Migraine on Wheels
Doll Art with Daupo
Go-Go by Anna Copa Cabanna
Art Neighborhood Action Figure Workshop
And much, much more

15 beans in advance, before 9:00 pm, or after performances end; 20 beans otherwise. (includes complimentary beverage if you dress as your favorite doll or action figure)

Advance Tix: https://withfriends.co/event/16706835/rubulad_presents_living_dolls

7:30 pm doors, 8:00 pm show.
Address with tix or DM or RSVP to rubulad@outlook.com.
Dress: get dolled up!

https://www.facebook.com/events/3473117966351083/?ref=newsfeed

https://www.facebook.com/rubulad/

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List of Works

“Rain as Blessings Fall,” for orchestra + voice. Listen to ‘Rain as Blessings Fall,’ Orchestra Wellington with Leila Adu from the live broadcast on Radio New Zealand. Listen to the studio re-mastered live broadcast, kindly provided by Radio New Zealand here:

Rain as Blessings Fall_Score

“Asphalt Grandpa” 2016, for cimbalom, voice & electronics, performed by Leila Adu & Nick Tolle

“Asphalt Grandpa” 2016, for cimbalom, voice & electronics, performed by Leila Adu & Nick Tolle

Asphalt Grandpa_Score

“if the stars align…” for string quartet, performed by the Brentano String Quartet

if the stars align… Score

“Alyssum” for string quartet and harp, performed by Mivos String Quartet and Sivan Magen, Ojai Festival 2016,

Full List of Works by Category

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Love Cells Tour and Classical Video Release

After shows in London, Rome, Viterbo, I’m pleased to announce festivals coming up in California at Ojai Music Festival and Carlsbad Music Festival Presents Village Music Walk with New Jersey and Mexico dates TBA. We’ve also got a special release show in New York at LEILA ADU Love Cells Release Show at National Sawdust with O PARADISO & NICO TURNER SOLO.

Here is a new release of a video recorded of Mivos quartet with award-winning harpist, Sivan Magen. Ojai Music Festival will feature some of my classical pieces, including “Alyssum” for string quartet plus harp, being played by the Calder Quartet & ICE‘s Bridget Kibby.

“Alyssum” by Leila Adu — Mivos String Quartet with Sivan Magen (harp) from Leila Adu on Vimeo.

Here are the interviews and performances along the way…

— KCSB Sonic Earspace with Jack Fischer
Full audio of interview on Soundcloud

— WNYC Women’s Voices and Electronics New Sounds with John Schaefer
National Sawdust Show

— WNYC/WQXR’s Q2 Music at 12mins 30secs

— London’s Resonance FM’s on Dexter Bentley’s Hello Goodbye Show interview with Ilia Rogatchevsk and Live recorded session at the Briggs Ware House Location recorded by Alexander Morris 46 mins 20secs

Finally, I’m very grateful to everyone that we’ve reached over a third of our Indiegogo Goal of the Love Cells EP release and expanding the Love Cells tour.

Thanks to everyone for making all this possible. Please contribute to get the music for yourself and share this link to spread the word! Love Cells Release Tour on Indiegogo

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LOVE CELLS EP Release and Tour

Belts and Whistles proudly presents the release of Love Cells, Leila Adu’s partner EP to her recent release Scary Love Monster. Together the pair is collectively known as The LOVE EPs. Scary Love Monster is an EP of global urban and suburban romantic ensnarement, impressionist avant-tronica written and recorded in Rome out of a suitcase and houses in Rome, London, Wellington and New York. With sound worlds of Grimm’s fairytales and Toni Morrison, these dark tales hint at moments of light and love.

Where Scary Love Monster warns of the perils of love in Grimm’s fashion, Love Cells speaks from the mundane 9-5 romantic love to the most abstract forms of love. The title track Love Cells signifies that we are all created out of vibration, light and love: “love yourself, each sacred atom of the world is connected to you.” From the intimate laptop recording moments of a cappella Je T’aime… to afrofuturist The City and the Voodoo Lady, a tribute to the city of New York and Mingus’ The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady… to the perverse post-colonial love of Horror in

Love Cells comes out hot on the heels of the Scary Love Monster EP which has already garnered critical acclaim.

“Scary Love Monster” presents us with six unpredictable tracks (that’s a trendy adjective in these Trumpish days, isn’t it?), fluctuating between pop, weird jazz, dark lyrics and brainy experimentation at times reminiscent of Brian Eno’s early records… —NYC Deli

She’s making music that stands alongside the great work from the likes of PJ Harvey, Arthur Russell, Kate Bush and Bjork. I truly believe that. That’s not to say she sounds like any of them – but it’s that sort of vision, that determination, the willingness to be out on your own and making music that you believe in first and foremost…

You’ll hear some of the best pop melodies too. As it just so happens. But you’ll hear music from the Gamelan and classical worlds, from jazz and the worlds of dance and theatre as much as music.– The Dominion Post

You can now buy LOVE CELLS through all major digital outlets — if you purchase through Indiegogo, you will support the LOVE CELLS EP RELEASE TOUR

Love Cells EP Release Tour on Indiegogo from Leila Adu on Vimeo.

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Love Cells EP — Out May 20

The Love Cells EP is coming out on May 20 on Belts and Whistles. The new EP comes out hot on the heels of the Scary Love Monster EP which has already garnered critical acclaim.

“Scary Love Monster” presents us with six unpredictable tracks (that’s a trendy adjective in these Trumpish days, isn’t it?), fluctuating between pop, weird jazz, dark lyrics and brainy experimentation at times reminiscent of Brian Eno’s early records… —NYC Deli

She’s making music that stands alongside the great work from the likes of PJ Harvey, Arthur Russell, Kate Bush and Bjork. I truly believe that. That’s not to say she sounds like any of them – but it’s that sort of vision, that determination, the willingness to be out on your own and making music that you believe in first and foremost…

You’ll hear some of the best pop melodies too. As it just so happens. But you’ll hear music from the Gamelan and classical worlds, from jazz and the worlds of dance and theatre as much as music.– The Dominion Post

Where Scary Love Monster warns of the perils of love in Grimm’s fashion, Love Cells speaks from the mundane 9-5 romantic love to the most abstract forms of love. The title track Love Cells signifies that we are all created out of vibration, light and love: “love yourself, each sacred atom of the world is connected to you.” From the intimate laptop recording moments of a cappella Je T’aime… to afrofuturist The City and the Voodoo Lady, a tribute to the city of New York and Mingus’ The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady… to the perverse post-colonial love of Horror in Black and White: “Did I bomb your village? Could I set you free?”

Love Cells EP new release on all major digital stores through Belts and Whistles — out May 20

Limited CD reversible edition of Scary Love Monster EP/Love Cells EP and web portal — The Love EPs — out May 20

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“Oriental Finger Trap” New Music Video and Dance Collaboration

The video to Leila Adu’s new single, Oriental Finger Trap’ is a dance film directed by choreographer and performer, Katelyn Halpern. The two recently collaborated as part of K A T E S (Katelyn Halpern and pianist, Kate Campbell), composing music for “Two Voices” with text by Halpern and a score for the Dan Trueman’s new software keyboard instrument, the bitKlavier by Adu. K A T E S will perform “Two Voices” at Switchboard Festival in San Francisco on April 8. “Oriental Finger Trap” is the second video single from Leila Adu’s Scary Love Monster EP, out now on Belts and Whistles.

“Between pop, weird jazz, dark lyrics and brainy experimentation at times reminiscent of Brian Eno’s early records…” — NYC Deli

The Scary Love Monster EP is out now on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Spotify and Bandcamp

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Scary Love Monster EP – OUT NOW

Belts and Whistles proudly presents the release of Scary Love Monster, the brand new EP from Leila Adu. Scary Love Monster is an EP of global urban and suburban romantic ensnarement, impressionist avant- tronica written and recorded in Rome out of a suitcase and houses in Rome, London, Wellington and New York. With sound worlds of Grimm’s fairytales and Toni Morrison, these dark tales hint at moments of light and love.

After four studio releases, this EP is intimate, mostly self-produced, with the help of gear from friends and extra production from London dance producer Alex Morris in London and New Zealand drummer/producer, Riki Gooch and final-mixing in New Zealand. The first video from the EP is Bluebeards and Monsters. NYC Deli‘s New York EP Release Show review says:

Here at The Deli we like to reward unconventinal artists – although unconventionality must be matched by talent – and New Zealand composer/musician/producer Leila Adu definitely belongs to this category. Her new EP “Scary Love Monsters” presents us with six unpredictable tracks (that’s a trendy adjective in these Trumpish days, isn’t it?), fluctuating between pop, weird jazz, dark lyrics and brainy experimentation at times reminiscent of Brian Eno’s early records…

The Scary Love Monster EP is out now on Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Spotify and Bandcamp

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Video Première: Bluebeards and Monsters by NZ film director, Alyx Duncan

Screen Shot 2016-02-08 at 9.00.04 PM

‘Bluebeards and Monsters,’ the single from Leila Adu’s up coming EP, was released with an article on the New Zealand review website, Off The Tracks. The video stars Magnolia Wild and Adu, and was filmed in New Zealand by director, Alyx Duncan, who recently won a shot at the Oscars, with her award-winning film, The Tide Keeper. Watch the full video of ‘Bluebeards and Monsters’ here:

Bluebeards and Monsters from Leila Adu on Vimeo.

Buy, or share, track on Belts & Whistles digi+cassette label on Bandcamp:

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