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Habaka KFJ
HER VOICE IS PURE AND DEXTEROUS...PEGGY GUGGENHEIM COLLECTION (WORD PRESS)
About Me
2019' BMA (Black Music Award) Award Winner of Best Female Jazz Vocalist Performer for
Las Vegas. Habaka Kfj, American 4 octave international classic BJ&G Vocalist, born in
Nashville, TN and raised in Bloomfield, CT. Coined The Panther Of Cremona, Italy and
famous for her profound contralto voice, strong yet smooth and crystal clear, a voice that
calls to mind the sultriness and class of Cassandra and Nancy Wilson, the sassiness of
Eartha Kitt, the subtleness of Shirley Horn, and even, when necessary, the big vibrato of
Bessie Smith, Etta James and Mahalia Jackson, all wrapped up into one phenomenally
talented woman...
International Blues, Jazz, Gospel recording artist and she also had the opportunity to be
the midday radio host of BlackBerry Jazz Radio Station and now producer of her own new
TV Web Series 8 Track Mind meet, Habaka Kay Foster Jackson.
In December 2016 Habaka released her most personal and soulfully inspired album
produced by Habaka entitled Heritage Blue under the Husky Tone Records label,
featuring amazingly outstanding musicians that includes a stellar performance by James
Boogaloo Bolden (former bandleader on trumpet for B.B. King), Eric Demmer on sax
(formerly with Gatemouth Brown), and James Lamar Boulet on trumpet. This
phenomenal recording is a tour de force collection of Blues and Jazz standards, and
originals rearranged Habaka Style to bring these age-old classics of yesterday into the
21st century. On this brilliant new release of Heritage Blue, Habaka takes her listeners
on a journey from Blues to Jazz, and Soul to Funk from pleasure to pain and everywhere
in between.
Coming from a musically inclined family, to say the least, Habaka got her talents
honestly. Her mother Mary Ann Jackson a renowned Jazz singer, and her father
Melvin Jackson has played the blues with Bobby Blue Bland and today the
legendary B. B. King, so Habaka know's the blues very well. Her very first
recording with the group IZ Army released the LP entitled The Bomb under AMP
Records. Gospel music, also a passion of hers, led her to record her next LP
“Eternal Life under Exodus Records, as lead singer for the group, Burning Bush.
When Habaka is not touring, you can hear her in some of the most Chic Jazz, and Blues
Clubs in Las Vegas and throughout the US. Be sure to check back often to see her
schedule.
Habaka takes her listeners on a journey from Jazz to Blues, from pleasure to pain
and everywhere in between. This is Habaka stepping into her inheritance, coming from
such a rich family legacy, and by vowing to continue to extend that legacy, she is
considered to be one of the last authentic Blues, Jazz voices in her genre today...and why
not? After all, it's her DNA!
My Jazz Story
I love jazz because it's passionate, it tells a story, it makes me cry, it makes me laugh, it puts a pat in my feet, and joy in my heart. It's my heritage, my birthright. I was first exposed to jazz before ever being born, my mother was a dancer and jazz vocalist and she performed her full term of pregnancy with me, so the music is in my blood. My father was a saxophonist for more than 20 years with the legendary B.B. King. I met Dee Dee Bridgewater and Tuck & Patty in Italy and they were amazing, I loved their style's and how they interacted with their audiences and above all after the show they were all equally willing to chat for a moment. The best show I ever attended was Eartha Kitts show in D.C. and she was at the ripe age of 74. I remember thinking what an inspiration! The first jazz record I bought was by Nancy Wilson and that voice I said I wanted to be like her when I grew up. :-) My advice to new listeners: embrace the music, learn to ride the vibes and allow your heart to receive that which is for you, being unafraid of what you might find inside.