Jhelisa
Music has always been at the roots of the Anderson family tree. Mississippi-born Jhelisa Anderson grew up singing in church, and with her father on the piano and organ, the family would tour throughout America’s South performing in churches and gospel events where she was stood on a chair so the audiences could see the little girl with the big voice. The Anderson family made their first record when Jhelisa was just 5 years old.
At the age of sixteen, Jhelisa travelled to London, where she joined The Soul Family Sensation releasing the critically acclaimed ‘New Wave’ album on One Little Indian Records. She went on to join labelmates, The Shamen, recording two top ten hit singles for their 1993 double platinum album, ‘Boss Drum’ earning a BPI award before collaborating with Björk on her album ‘Debut'. Jhelisa became a stalwart of London’s 1990’s music scene.
Though much of her previous work had portrayed her as a diva, Jhelisa developed into an accomplished solo artist, singing, writing and producing. In 1995 she released her debut recording, Galactica Rush on Dorado Records who had afforded her creative freedom. A hauntingly beautiful album with shadings of soul and jazz with electronic flourishes featuring Greg Osby on saxophone, it received widespread critical acclaim spawning the hit ‘Friendly Pressure’ remixed, re-released and bootlegged to the max. In 1997, Jhelisa released her follow-up, Language Electric. An altogether darker album, it established her as an outrageously gifted vocalist, a formidable songwriter and an eccentric musical maverick.
Live, Jhelisa has toured with the likes of James Brown, The Roots, Herbie Hancock, Nitin Sawhney and Sting, and has recorded with Bryan Ferry as well as Massive Attack on their 2010 album, ‘Heligoland’, while Chaka Khan has recorded her song ‘Death Of A Soul Diva’. Besides her musical activities, Jhelisa was featured (both acting and singing), in the Italian film The Protagonist starring British actress Tilda Swinton.
In 2004, following her travels through Africa and Brazil taking inspiration from their rich musical cultures, Jhelisa moved to New Orleans to record her third solo album, A Primitive Guide To Being There. Whilst there she was the subject of a documentary ‘One Week With Jhelisa’ and held a weekly residency performing the music of Nina Simone - showcasing another aspect of her broad musical background. It was during the recording of this album that the largest hurricane in recorded history struck New Orleans. She evacuated the city and moved closer to family in Atlanta. She regrouped, rebuilt, completed her album and began the next stage in her career.
Initially recorded as a side project, Jhelisa reconnected with Dorado Records in 2021 to release her esoteric sonic experimentation concept album, 7 Keys Vol I & II recording vocals in her home studio.
Released on June 15th 2022 on Dorado Records, Jhelisa’s remarkable new project, Oxygen is a breath-taking, expansive, unapologetic 11-minute opus taken from her forthcoming album, Wild Orbits, but is very much a stand-alone piece. The sound is an exciting sonic assault underpinned by a masterful band that includes Greg Osby, whose piercing sax brings an intensity that takes the track to another level.
‘Oxygen’ is, as Jhelisa admits, “my outpouring of growth; my influences, perceptions, my angles and transitions that began with surviving Hurricane Katrina in 2005, to navigating the hyper-polarised fragments of American politics over the decades”. ‘Oxygen’ has breathed life into these once suffocating event so that she now looks back with a broader eye and is able to observe, as she says, “clarity through the chaos”
Through the course of four solo albums, Jhelisa has journeyed through soul, trip hop, jazz, avant-garde, gospel, modal jazz and sonic experimentation, underpinned by her glorious, deeply seductive voice, remarkable in its intensity and spiritual force. She’s a true original, always exploring new ground, producing thrillingly daring music.
