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Kosi
She cites Abbey Lincoln and Nina Simone as her main influencers, and has been compared to Tracy Chapman, India Arie, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith. However, despite her comparisons and influences, everything about Kosi, from her nappy hair to her sometimes bare feet, from her occasionally jarring lyrics to her now-she's-sweet-now-she's-screaming dramatic interpretations, radiates authenticity. "I am not creating anything," she says, "nor am I deconstructing anything. I am neither an iconoclast nor a follower. I am simply myself, and that is enough." She's more than enough. You definitely want to hear this girl sing... if you can handle it.
Kosi is currently the lead vocalist of straight-ahead jazz group Sweet Blue Fire and indie rock group The Goddess Lakshmi.
I Know Who I Am, Kosi's fourth and latest album, is a concept album telling the story of guilt, absolution, love, and self-actualization through original jazz and negro spirituals. Along with Kosi's first two albums, Pictures of Us and One More Cup of Coffee, each of which is comprised of eight of Kosi's original songs and two jazz standards, and her third album, Ghosts Appearing through the Sound, which is a tribute to Abbey Lincoln, it is available for purchase or download on Amazon, CDBaby, Bandcamp, and on her website: kosi-sings.com.
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A Conversation with Kosi
by UDEiGWE
On her new album, Stranger in Every Town, vocalist Kosi draws from her experience traveling alone across the US as a singer/songwriter. This albums features Kosi on vocals, Satish Robertson on trumpet, Brendon Biagi on tenor saxophone, Jason Marshall on baritone saxophone, Jeremy Aaron on violin, Jeff Young on guitar, John Lander on piano, Leo Smith on bass, Jarrett Walser on drums, Jimmy Lopez on percussions, Crystal Rhoney on background vocals, and Joe Davi on stomps and claps. ...
Continue ReadingKosi: I Know Who I Am
by James Nadal
With a resolute commitment to her art, singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer Kosi (Akosua Gyebi) has recently released various acclaimed records, culminating with a superb tribute to Abbey Lincoln, Ghosts Appearing through the Sound in 2015. The aptly titled I Know Who I Am is a personal odyssey through love, guilt, and absolution, leading to self-acceptance and validation, expressed with a voice that flows impeccably from jazz to spirituals, that never wanders far from the blues. Accompanied by the musicians that have ...
Continue ReadingKosi: Ghosts Appearing Through The Sound
by Tyran Grillo
Abbey Lincoln (1930-2010) was a singer, actress, civil rights activist, writer, and artist. As one of jazz's truest storytellers, she painted from a stylistic palette that was as traditional as it was her own. After a string of albums in the late 1950s and early 1960s, she shunned the politics of the music industry to pursue a film career, only to return to her first love a decade later, more determined than ever to strengthen the import of her message. ...
Continue ReadingKosi at The Way Station
by Tyran Grillo
Kosi The Way Station Brooklyn, NY June 24, 2015 Kosi has devalued the phrase “unsung hero" by being a valuable heroine of song. The New York-based singer-songwriter has dropped three albums so far in her fiercely independent career. Between the intimate guitar-accompanied One More Cup of Coffee and her full band follow-up Pictures of Us, she had already described a lifetime's worth of ups and downs for the self-reflective listener. In anticipation of her latest ...
Continue ReadingKosi: Ghosts Appearing Through The Sound
by Roger Farbey
This is the third album by New York City based vocalist and songwriter Kosi (neé Akosua Gyebi). Ghosts Appearing Through The Sound is a tribute to one of Kosi's main influences, Abbey Lincoln, her other chief influence being Nina Simone. All ten tracks have a connection with Lincoln being either wholly or co-written by her.“Learning How To Listen" is a delicate ballad, showcasing Kosi's plaintively soulful voice accompanied just by guitar -and benefits from an excellent solo from ...
Continue ReadingKosi: Pictures of Us
by Tyran Grillo
Following her solo debut, One More Cup of Coffee, New York singer Kosi surrounds herself with a full band, armed with a fresh set of originals (plus a couple of standards), ready to take on the world. Whereas that first album featured only guitar and voice, now we encounter trumpet, bass, drums, and tenor saxophone from musicians that understand exactly the mood she wants to create. Despite the larger roster, the overall feeling is open, free, and easy. That said, ...
Continue ReadingKosi: Pictures of Us
by Roger Farbey
“Wild is the Wind" opens with a graceful flugelhorn solo by Angeleisha “Trumpetess" Rodgers, a welcome change of tack for a vocal-based album with the singularly-named Kosi only entering three minutes into the number. “I Already Know" continues the slow ballad tempo of the opener, but with the added benefit of a magnetic hook line of the repeated angst-ridden title, at once moving and extremely effective. “Brianna," a soulful ballad, is both musically and lyrically haunting. In Duke ...
Continue ReadingSpirit Of Abbey Lincoln Invoked Through Up And Coming Jazz Singer's Theatrical Tribute And New Album Release
Source:
Akosua Gyebi
For two weekends in March, up and coming jazz singer-songwriter Kosi, accompanied by a four-piece band of world class musicians (Brendon Biagi, Aron Marchak, Christopher Hall, and Isaiah Pierce), will be performing a tribute to recently departed jazz icon Abbey Lincoln at the WOW Cafe Theater in New York City. This tribute, called Ghosts Appearing through the Sound, will feature original interpretations of the musical compositions, lyrics, and poetry of Abbey Lincoln, in addition to some more contemporary compositions to ...
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From jazz to blues to neo-soul: it’s all there, pre-tapped and ready to be
heard, but with such freshness of vision that it could be from no other singer.
This is Kosi’s strength, a raw yet elegant presentation that explodes with
originality… — Tyron
Grillo for ECM reviews
Photos
Music
Guilty
From: I Know Who I AmBy Kosi
Morning After Blues
From: I Know Who I AmBy Kosi
Pictures of Us
From: Pictures of UsBy Kosi
Hoboken Blues
From: Pictures of UsBy Kosi
Autumn in New York
From: One More Cup of CoffeeBy Kosi
Karen
From: One More Cup of CoffeeBy Kosi
Videos
Kosi
Location: New York City
Instrument: Vocals
Born: November 4, 1985
