Waberi

"I began singing must have been while I was learning to talk, because I don't remember a time when I did not sing. Music and singing is a constant companion to all the memories I have."



A voice emerges as an 'Old Soul' in the evolving world of today's jazz and cross-genre music. Waberi takes center stage with her transcendent voice and intimate song-craft as the promise of a continued grand jazz music legacy.
Waberi's voice resonates in an alter-reality. beautiful, a haunted timbre; that has many likening her to Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln or early Cassandra Wilson. But the comparison is not solely in the sound of her voice, but the legacy she embodies.
Born in Washington D.C., and raised in the last great jazz enclave in Los Angeles, Leimert Park, Waberi has studied and/or played with Pharoah Sanders, Azar Lawrence, Big Black, Nate Morgan, and Bennie Maupin among some; The Great Voice of UGMAA (Union of God's Musicians and Artists' Ascension) with world-renown avant-garde pianist Horace Tapscott - and The GREAT Billy Higgins.
As a songwriter, her lyrics are at once prosaic and deeply poetic in their simple truth. Her lyrical subtext is reflective of diverse story- masters like Marvin Gaye, Phoebe Snow or Sun Ra. Her songs are a shrine for Ancestral remains, sculpted around gently simmering jazz and blues ideals; instruments and voicing's arranged to evoke a visceral response to a song, whether it be an original song or her expression of a classic Jazz standard. And she stays firmly rooted in NOW.
Waberi elegantly weaves language and tone together until you find your truth within it. It"s the meaning of music as her craft. The uniqueness of her ability to improvise melody, communicates an urgent sense of place and texture that translates emotions - often contrary, tangibly, and does it oft times within the same song.
It's her uniqueness that makes Waberi highly sought after as a featured vocalist and collaborator with some of the most innovative and exciting new musicians from multiple genres, and has garnered Waberi a swiftly growing international audience. She is reaching milestones with the international release of her featured single "SUNFLOWERS IN MY GARDEN", on 2009's CD "Love Pt.1" by Build An Ark; a Los Angeles based, highly-acclaimed world music ensemble which includes the inimitable Jazz Vocalist Extraordinaire, Dwight Trible.
Waberi has played prestigious music venues in Los Angeles, New York, Berlin, Paris including the Jazz Bakery, Jazz at Drew Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Harlem Stages, and The Getty Museum, The Paradiso, and Cargo. She performed in New York City's hit event URB ALT Festival in both 2008 and 2009 which featured top artists including V. Jeffery Smith of Family Stand, and Melvin Gibbs. She, along with Build An Ark opened for McCoy Tyner @ UCLA's Royce Hall in November of 2009!
Waberi's voice is an enigma steeped in rich Jazz tradition and her songs are forged by the emotion and struggle of living her words.
And raising her Voice.



".you strive on two levels - you sing of war and warfare and you are at war. with elements unseen and unheard - your only measure is the pleasure you take in witnessing with your voice your heart and your art. Simple." -Jimmy Rage



Build An Ark @ Cargo in London featuring "Sunflowers In My Garden!"



IG Culture & Build An Ark from Beyondjazz on Vimeo.



Tuesday August 18th @ 9:00 pm @ The Grand Star Jazz Club - 943 N Broadway - CHINATOWN, Los Angeles



A "Trunk Party" to benefit our best and brightest entering College! Bring gift cards, donations/$$, and LOVE Vibrations to fill the "TRUNK" with things to make the dorm room like home!



Please come and support this years STELLAR Recipient and help make this innaugural benefit a community tradition every year!



Scenes from the Benefit/Healing Gathering for Nate Morgan, December 26, 2008 @ The World Stage, Leimert Park



EP Cover Europe - November/December 2008