Avery Dey Interview: Imaani

AD:  Hi and thank you for taking the time to speak with me.

Imaani: No, thank you. 

AD:  So I know you’re busy...we’ll jump right into it.  Are you currently working on a new CD?

Imaani: Yes, my album is finished and it’s called “Standing Tall” and hopefully you’ll have it soon…in the next couple of months.

AD:  Awesome, because I really love your voice and Incognito is one of my favorite groups so…

Imaani:  Thank you, bless you.  They are family! That is my music family right there! I’m a guest member now.  Since I had my son I can’t do the full time touring thing, but I just did the 35^th anniversary London show that was about 3 weeks ago.  That was pretty cool and I’ve written a song for the new album that I’m pretty excited about. I’ve been on ten albums and this is the first time that I’ve written a song.

AD:  So that means that’s going to be a hit. (Both of us laughing)

AD:  So you’ve just finished your new project. Prior to that have you been touring?

Imaani:  I have done a few London shows here and there but I’m getting myself ready. I have the MusicConnex show coming up and I’m excited about that.  I’m going to meet some artists from your side of the water; that’s going to be fun.  I’m also trying to gear things towards pushing my album as soon as it hits.  I do house music as well so there’s always something for me.  I love the fact that I can combine all these kinds of music.

AD:  That’s awesome, that’s versatility.

AD:  I have to tell you that I am amazed at the variety of music that is embraced in the UK.  Within the States we seem to …not be as versatile.

Imaani:  No, no…I understand you guys know what you want and you stick with it.  For me…as long as it’s soulful, and soulful to me is all kinds of music.  You have soulful rock, soulful house…you’ve got soul R&B, there’s just so much of it.  I don’t want to be pigeonholed into one particular genre.  As long as it’s good, that’s what I’m interested in.

AD: Yes, absolutely!

Imaani:  For me it’s a way of reaching more audience and at the end of the day; that’s what it’s all about.  I just want to sing and be heard, that’s what I love. With the House project for instance, I am going out to South Africa next month. I have a pretty cool following over there and it’s been brilliant.

AD:  In addition to Incognito, whom else have you worked with?

Imaani:  A band called Reel People.  They are a great band, great sound.  I’ve been with the band about four years.  I’m also doing some background for Chaka Khan when she comes over here.  We’ve just done two stints and we’ve got one coming up; this is as part of Incognito…lucky me that I get the call for those nice gigs. So she is coming back over next month and I’ll be doing more dates with her.

AD:  WOW…Chaka Khan…I’m speechless…I’m impressed.

Imaani:  See that’s what I mean when I say I am blessed.  At this moment in time I am extremely blessed.

AD:  With your new project coming, I am not sure if you can answer this but can you say whom you’ve worked with on this project?

Imaani:  I haven’t worked with anyone famous.  I have been trying to find a unique sound that is Imaani and I think I’ve found it.  I am working with a producer named Kevin Leo and he and I together are a force!  We feel powerful together.  We just hooked up and wrote some songs, then we thought, “Hang on, we’ve got something here” so we went on and finished it [the album]. I have my own nucleus of a band.  I’ve had a band for years now so we brought all my boys in and had them play.  It’s got a live kind of sound to it but I warn you it’s not quite Incog.  It’s kind of left of Incog but we made sure it’s got memorable songs.  It’s the sort of thing that when you hear it you will be singing it as you’re walking away.  Hopefully you guys will enjoy it when it comes.

AD:  Ok, new is good and I like that.

AD:  Since this is your baby, what kind of sound would you say it is?  What should we expect?

Imaani:  See, this is the hard part.  This is what I’m struggling with; but my album encompasses some Afro rhythms, a slick edge of Rock on one of the tracks.  It’s soulful but it isn’t soul. Can I say that?  It isn’t straight up and down soul.  There are some soul tracks on there but it encompasses a few different angles of my personality. (We laugh)

AD:  That’s good though.

Imaani:  So soulful but not straight out soul, does that make sense?

AD: Absolutely.  Now I can’t wait…I’m curious now.

Imaani:  Excellent, I’ve got you right where I want you now Avery.  (We both laugh)

AD:  In addition to Incognito are there other artists that you have or would like to work with?

Imaani:  Oh my word, right now Snarky Puppy all day long.  Obviously with the Lalah (Hathaway) stuff you’re just blown away.  Speaking of Lalah…one of these days I love to be honored enough to work with her; she is stunning. 

AD:  Yes, every time she comes to the area we HAVE to see her.  We love her to death.

Imaani:  See as a vocalist you aspire to that level of greatness.  I’ve been very lucky in my career to be around great artists but you aspire to that kind of vocal prowess.  I would love to be in her presence.  There are a lot of British artists that I absolutely love and adore to but I’ve been following Lalah since I was a little girl and she’s phenomenal. 

AD:  Who have been your influences from the beginning until now?

Imaani:  Lalah is absolutely one of them.  I remember trying to copy “Baby, Baby Don’t Cry” when I first started out.  I think it’s the first song I knew all of the lyrics to.  Jocelyn Brown, I credit her with giving me my start because I was invited to a party at her house and when I met her she was like, “Come on baby girl you sing” and then she said, “Alright, you’re in.” (We laugh)  So I did some recording at her place way back in my early days.  I appeared in an old video of hers, as a shadow dancing behind a screen.  That was my entry into the business.  It was a video called “She Got Soul”.  She is a great influence both vocally and as a person.  There are a lot of old soul, male artists that I’ve always adored…Al Green, of course Stevie and Marvin.  You can’t deny those influences, we all have them as soul singers.  I tell you who else is an absolute favorite of mine,  Ms. Gladys Knight.  It’s old soul, it’s the way you deliver.  I really appreciate where music is now but credit where it’s due, you have to go back.

AD:  That’s great and I can relate to that.  So tell me about MusicConnex. How did that come about?

Imaani:  There’s a friend of mine, Paul Richards, rang me up one day and said “Listen, there’s a guy named John Mansfield who works for MusicConnex.  He likes what you do, give him a call.”  We (John and I) had a long conversation on the phone about the business and my music and we got on straight away. He said “Listen, there’s this gig and I’d love to have you on it.”  When he explained to me the principle behind it, which is getting artists from around the world to come together and get the soul back to the people.  It’s about artist promotion and it’s not really about selling the tickets as much as promoting the artists, the music and putting us as far across the world as possible.  I couldn’t resist that!

AD:  I love that!

Imaani:  Yes, it’s an infectious project.  So, I agreed to be part of it.  I am grateful and it’s going to be fun.  I’m doing the 28^th of September at the Jazz Café in London.  I’m really looking forward to that.

AD:  Well this is great, I know that you are extremely busy and thank you so much for giving me this time for the interview.

Imaani:  This was fun, I thought this was going to be a strict interview but here we are just chatting.  This is fun.

AD:  Thank you so much, you are so sweet and we will stay in touch.

Tickets to MusicConnex can be purchased by clicking here