Singer, Songwriter, Cellist, Pianist, R & B/jazz/folk/soul artist and even dance performance creator. The descriptive list of Ayanna Witter-Johnson's abilities, and her versatility, seems to be endless. In 2011 Ayanna became the only non-American, to win a highly respected competition held in Harlem, New York City - Amateur Night Live At The Apollo. She was a nominee for Best Jazz Act at the MOBO awards in 2012 and has gone on to co-orchestrate for the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Ayanna is set to release a new EP titled 'Black Panther', and has recently been featured on Radio 1's review show. Currently on a world tour with composer Anoushka Shankar, she kindly took the time to answer a few of my questions.
- Ayanna, tell us a little bit about yourself?
I'm a singer, songwriter, cellist and pianist. I spend most of my time
performing my original material to live audiences and I love every
second of it!
- We briefly met back in 2011 while you were supporting Natty on a UK tour. What have you been up to since?
I
have since supported the incredible Roberto Fonseca on a UK tour,
orchestrated for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Urban artists Devlin,
Skepta, Ms. Dynamite and Fazer on a project called 'Urban Classic' that
was part of the Olympics, recorded a second EP soon to be released, had a
song previewed by Edith Bowman on the Radio 1 Review Show, written over
65 songs, travelled to Thailand, the U.S., and various countries in
Europe and created two music and contemporary dance performances.
- You're soon off on tour again with Anoushka Shankar. Can you tell us a bit about the tour and how it came about?
Anoushka
has just released a new album 'Traces of You' featuring Norah Jones and
she was looking for someone to sing what Norah does on the album and to
play piano and possibly another instrument. A friend told her about me,
she checked out my YouTube videos then asked me to audience for her
personally A Capella. We are doing some dates in Europe then touring the
U.S., Canada and India!
- Your live performance is brilliant. With the use of a cow bell foot pedal and tapping on the Cello. What was it that drew you to play the Cello as apposed to any other instrument? And how did the inclusion of both the pedal and tapping happen?
Because
I was a pretty good classical pianist by the time I got to secondary
school, when they offered us the opportunity to study an instrument,
they said that I could learn a new instrument. My Mum didn't want me to
strain my neck muscles playing a woodwind or brass instrument and she
didn't fancy having loud drums in the house so the only family left was
the string family. I decided that the double bass was too big and that
my hands were too big for the violin so the cello seemed like a perfect
fit!
- When I saw you live, I glanced around at the audience and there were people looking on completely captivated. Do you ever get nervous knowing that all eyes are on you?
No, not
really. There's a feeling of excitement in my stomach but I mainly
focus on sharing the best of me with the audience and concentrate on
being present in the moment.
- You have a song called 'Ain't I a Woman?' Based around a speech given by women's rights activist Sojourner Truth at a Convention back in 1851. What was it about the speech that inspired you to create a song about it?
I
was actually leading a 13 week workshop all about the life of Sojourner
Truth. Helping them to explore her story through music, poetry and
drama and they asked me to create something too. Looking through her
life, I felt that her speech embodied so much of what she stood for and
that it was still as relevant today as it was then. So it seemed
completely apt to turn it into a song.
- What are your opinions about the representation of women within the music industry currently? And what do you think needs to change?
There
really is a diverse representation of women from Bjork to Rihanna so
it's hard to generalise. There is a great deal of over sexualisation in
the commercial industry and I do think that the extend to which that is
portrayed given the number of young girls engaging with the music, needs
to be considered a lot more carefully.
- Music has the ability to reach and connect people from different backgrounds and cultures. What's your view on the strength of music's possibilities?
It
truly is limitless! There is no inherent hierarchy in music and so it
must be made available to as many people as possible to enjoy. From
opera to dancehall! It accesses the heart and enables conversation to
happen regardless of language. It can be both healing and destructive
and so the power of music transcends a pervading intellectual nature of a
lot of communication today.
- You were part of a genuine musical competition in the states - Amateur Night Live at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, NYC. And congratulations for winning! But I'd really like to know your personal view on 'The X Factor'?
It's
an entertainment show! It's not for everyone and most certainly not the
only route to survival and success in the music industry.
- And lastly, do you have any special plans for 2014 and what would you say to people who are thinking about checking your material out?
For more details about Ayanna Witter-Johnson check out her website
www.ayannamusic.com
With thanks to Ayanna Witter-Johnson
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