IMANI UZURI profile picture

IMANI UZURI

*CDBABY* HER HOLY WATER:A BLACK GIRL'S ROCK OPERA

About Me

[Alicia]Keys and her sisters [...from Lil' Kim to Lauryn Hill, Beyoncé to MeShell Ndegeocello... Jill Scott to Cassandra Wilson, Keyshia Cole to Marsha Ambrosius, IMANI UZURI to Tamar-Kali, Erykah Badu to Alice Smith, Ciara...] remind us that while yes, there will always be blood...our world must must must be aswim in black-and-blue praisesongs, worksongs, torchsongs, naked and gospel truths, romance, reflection, redemption, sunshine, rain, and maybe, Family, a bit more nguzo saba umoja ujima, kuumba kujichagulia.-THE VILLAGE VOICE
"THE SONGS IN [IMANI UZURI's] DEBUT ALBUM 'HER HOLY WATER: A BLACK GIRL'S ROCK OPERA' ARE SOULFUL, PROVOCATIVE AND EMOTIONALLY CHARGED"
- THE NEW YORK POST
"BLACK. GIRL. ROCK. OPERA. THIS DEBUT IS A COMMANDING REPRESENTATION AND REFUTATION OF ALL THOSE CATEGORIES. CHANNELING ELLA FITZGERALD AND EVERYONE'S FAVORITE FILICIDAL MAMA, MEDEA (in the same song, no less), UZURI CREATES A DRAMATIC MUSICAL NARRATIVE WORTHY OF ITS LOFTY TITLE...MR. [FREDDIE]MERCURY WOULD BE PROUD."-OKAYPLAYER-received 4 AFRO HEADS OUT OF 5!!!
"...STATUESQUE IMANI UZURI...MESMERIZED WITH AN ETHERAL SOULFUL ROCK." -THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
"BEAUTIFUL" JOHN LEGEND
"BURSTING WITH ENERGY...DEEP VOCALS AND WIDE RANGING SOUNDS..."
- TRACE MAGAZINE
"THE UNINHIBITED SOUL OF IMANI UZURI IS AN ENDLESS FOUNTAIN OF CREATIVITY."
-FLAVOR PILL NYC
"SOUNDS MAGICAL" MARC MAC (4Hero)
"There is a SOUND between WEEPING and WAILING, SINGING and screaming, SOUL CRYING and caterwauling, RHASODIZING and RETUNING FIRE. PUT YOUR HAND WHERE IT HURTS and THIS SOUND MAY HEAL YOU...THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN HEAR SUCH MUSIC AND NOT BE TRANSFORMED." GREG TATE (excerpt from his liner notes for the album HER HOLY WATER: A BLACK GIRL'S ROCK OPERA)
“[UZURI]… never fails to mesmerize audiences with her narcotic blend of ethereal sounds…” (TIME OUT NEW YORK).
Recently featured as TRACE Magazine's 'Beautiful', ecletic, bohemian IMANI UZURI is one who defies category. She has performed at numerous international venues/festivals including LINCOLN CENTER, CENTRAL PARK SUMMER STAGE, PERFORMA07, London's BARBICAN CENTER, THE BLUE NOTE, JOE'S PUB, Japan's WORLD FESTIVAL OF SACRED MUSIC, SOBs, THE UNITED NATIONS, BLACK LILY FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL, LE LIEU UNIQUE, BAM, NYC CULTUREFEST, THE APOLLO THEATER, THE WHITNEY MUSEUM, Atlanta's NATIONAL BLACK ART'S FESTIVAL, BOWERY BALLROOM, and Morocco's FESTIVAL D'ESSAOUIRA. UZURI's recordings/collaborations include HERBIE HANCOCK, JOHN LEGEND, 4-HERO, TALIB KWELI, SLY and ROBBIE and KING BRITT. Television appeareances include DAVID LETTERMAN performing with PETER GABRIEL and the AFRO-CELT SOUND SYSTEM. UZURI’s stunning debut album ‘HER HOLY WATER: A BLACK GIRL’S ROCK OPERA’ (available on ITUNES) features 18 sweeping and captivating songs. She is currently developing a provocative musical theater piece of the same title based on its music, while incorporating coming-of-age memories from her youth in rural North Carolina, multi-media video montage and anecdotes from her nomadic travels around the world of which she has just completed 2 SOLD OUT performances at the LEGENDARY APOLLO THEATRE! It has also been successfully showcased at Joe's Pub, THE HIP HOP THEATER FESTIVIAL, THE KITCHEN, NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER (NJPAC) and Philadelphia's PAINTED BRIDE.
THANK YOU to EVERYONE for inquiring about my debut album HER HOLY WATER: A BLACK GIRL'S ROCK OPERA! You are so WONDERFUL!!! The album includes 18 sweeping songs featuring some of the "cream of contemporary musicianship" such as VIJAY IYER, MARVIN SEWELL, SWISS CHRIS, MAXIMINA JUSON, KIRK DOUGLAS, TARRAH REYNOLDS, JEANNIE OLIVER, JEREMIAH HOSEA, DANIEL MORENO, THOM LOUBET, BRAD JONES, NIOKA WORKMAN, JULIA KENT, JAMES D. COLEMAN and GRAHAM HAYNES.
The album is NOW AVAILABLE on CDBABY/RHAPSODY/ITUNES and more!!!
A dear friend said to me "pray up! the path broadens ahead..."
I thank you all for your continued support, love and prayers!!!
Love, gratitude, and continuous blessings!!!***xoxo!!! imani uzuri
www.imaniuzuri.com
www.myspace./herholywater I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 2/8/2006
Band Website: imaniuzuri.com
Band Members: I am blessed to be in a community of amazing musicians/collaborators. HER HOLY WATER: A BLACK GIRL'S ROCK OPERA album credits include:

Imani Uzuri-Vocals, Arrangements,Co-Producer
Vijay Iyer - Piano, Keyboard, Arrangements,Co-Producer
Swiss Chris - Drums
Maximina Juson - Electric Bass, Arrangements
Kirk Douglas - Electric Guitar, Arrangements
Marvin Sewell - Acoustic Guitar, Arrangements
Tarrah Reynolds - Violin, String Arrangements
Jeannie Oliver - Viola, String Arrangements
James D. Coleman-Viola
Julia Kent-Cello
Nioka Workman-Cello
Brad Jones-Upright Bass
Graham Haynes-Cornet
Daniel Moreno-Percussion
Thom Loubet - Electric Guitar
Jeremiah Hosea - Electric Bass

Scotty Hard-Engineer/Co-Producer
Peter Karl-Engineer
Michael Fossenkemper-Turtletone Studio-Mastering

ALBUM COVER PHOTOGRAPHY-Larry Link
ALBUM COVER DESIGN-Charlotte Taylor

Influences: INSPIRATIONS AND INFLUENCES: Bjork, Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, 4Hero, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Dianne Reeves, Carleen Anderson, 80's Music, Betty Davis, Om Kalthoum, fragrant incense, Maxayn, Bessie Smith, North Carolina, John Coltrane, Octavia Butler, God, World Music, Nina Simone, healing energy and light, Supertramp, Queen, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Minnie Ripperton, The Clark Sisters, Barbra, Julie Andrews,Carol Burnett, Millie Jackson, Laurie Anderson, Bette Midler, rainy windy days, Marian Makeba, Aung San Su Kyi, beautiful flowers (tulips, lillies, birds of paradise, baby's breath),Virgen De Guadelupe, Latch Drom (The Film), Frida Kahlo, Rigoberta Menchu, Paul Robeson, Sojourner Truth, Mary Pickford, Harriet Tubman, Freedom Fighters, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, Karen Carpenter, Northern California, Alice Coltrane, Grace Jones, tempetuous oceans, Jessye Norman, Julie Taymor, Ntozake Shange, Shirley Horn, Zora Neale Hurston, traveling this beautiful earth, The Green Tara, Malcolm X, Freedom Songs, Roberta Flack, Mary Crow Dog, Mary J. Blige, Sade, delicious food, Mercedes Sosa, Virginia Rodriguez, wind,Mary McCloud Bethune,blood oranges,Black Girls, Sandra Cisneros, Toni Morrison, silence,Betty Carter, 70's classic soft rock, Chavela Vargas, Ray Charles,Tina Turner, Fela Kuti, collard greens, cayenne pepper, okra, pecans, blackeyed peas, lima beans, sweet potatoes and yams, granny, Bayard Rustin, MLK jr, Sarah Vaughan, Assata Shakur, Kathleen Battle, Beverly Sills, Judith Jamison, Dusty Springfield, Wangari Matthai, sun,moon, stars,clouds, love, loss, joy,pain, faith, victory, eternal life, Jesus, sufism, buddhism, islam, mysticism, ancestors, orishas, Donny Hathaway, Judy Blume, Winnie Mandela, the universe, Oumou Sangare, Anne Frank, Hair (The Musical), Simon and Garfunkel, Trance and Sacred Music, family, friends, my world community, the Holy Spirit, my fellow artists, the children in my life/world, meditation and prayer truth,justice,integrity,sweetness,grace,healing,compassion,l ove,freedom, forever, illuminating light and The Sound of Music (The Musical)-the hills are indeed alive!!!
Record Label: HER HOLY WATER MUSIC
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

"Even in the quietest moments"...IMANI UZURI-THE GYPSY DIARIES: the true adventures of a true..

i have been traveling almost non-stop for the past few months (sf, france, kazakhstan, russia (st. petersburg), indiana, russia (sochi), la, hawaii, and now russia again). i am in moscow now. it is c...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:18:00 PST

JOURNIES PAST-TULUM-IMANI UZURI-THE GYPSY DIARIES: the true adventures of a true bohemian nomad

early April 2007TULUM, MEXICO-the bright pink and orange dried flowers fell out of my journal. the colors had faded only slightly since i plucked them almost 3 months ago that lovely spring day in Tul...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:52:00 PST

the love train/black lily/king britt/bboy bbque/afropick-PHILLY IMANI UZURI-THE GYPSY DIARIES..

I was at Philly's BBoy Barbeque. It was my chance to show and prove. the linoleum glistened in the sunlight, backdropped by an amazing colorful mural. taggers were all around, the music was bumpin and...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:32:00 PST

throw it away/Home...IMANI UZURI-THE GYPSY DIAIRES:the true adventures of a true bohemian nomad

The sky was moody and beautiful...I was racing along the highway in a rare car (only one of 10 in the world) towards an exclusive yacht club. My album Her Holy Water: A Black Girl's Rock Opera was bla...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Mon, 11 Jun 2007 07:10:00 PST

THE BOHEMIAN NOMAD SURVIAL GUIDE-IMANI UZURI- THE GYPSY DIARIES: the true adventures...

1. be sure to have a selection of beautiful bags to carry all of your things in- larger bags made from indian or balian fabrics are amazing! also, be sure to get at least one to two smaller pouches f...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Fri, 08 Jun 2007 07:03:00 PST

Eva Cassidy/a field of marigolds-RUSSIA IMANI UZURI-THE GYSPSY DIARIES: the true adventures...

I am devastated. I found this beautiful singer on you tube about 6 weeks ago when i was visiting russia for the first time and was googling versions of "autumn leaves". her voice and spirit captivated...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Mon, 28 May 2007 10:44:00 PST

ALMOST....FAMOUS! LOL!- IMANI UZURI-THE GYPSY DIARIES:the true adve

ALMOST...FAMOUS! LOL!-IMANI UZURI-THE GYPSY DIARIES: the true adventures of a true bohemian nomadIt was 1:00am in the morning. i had just finished a show in moscow and was walking through the lobby le...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Sat, 26 May 2007 03:35:00 PST

CRIMEJAZZ/ANTIBALAS/CUSSING IN RUSSIAN! IMANI UZURI-THE GYPSY DIARIES: the true adventures...

CRIMEJAZZ/ANTIBALAS/CUSSING IN RUSSIAN! IMANI UZURI-THE GYPSY DIARIES: the true adventures of a true bohemian nomadI sit in an armenian restaurant with sounds of russian, french, polish and italian cl...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Fri, 25 May 2007 04:48:00 PST

Our Lament-IMANI UZURI- THE GYPSY DIARIES: the true adventures of a true bohemian nomad

May 18th...i woke up lonely. feelings of displacement have haunted me off and on throughout this trip. isolation swooping in unexpectedly like a sudden downpour. the strange sounds of words i do not u...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Fri, 25 May 2007 07:56:00 PST

Autobahn-GERMANY-IMANI UZURI THE GYPSY DIARIES: the true adventures of a true bohemian nomad

"Old love never dies." This was confirmed when an old lover of years ago picked me up from Amsterdam to drive me to Germany. He lives in a quaint beautiful village named for the fact that a lake runs ...
Posted by IMANI UZURI on Sun, 13 May 2007 07:32:00 PST