New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Plan A Media) Following her critically acclaimed 2011 Motéma
Music debut, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, jazz vocalist-songwriter and lyrical innovator, Rondi Charleston is busy with a slate of new projects. Now putting the final touches on a highly anticipated new collection of songs, SIGNS OF LIFE is due for release in early 2013 on Motéma.
Charleston will showcase new songs from the upcoming album, a wonderfully creative mix of original compositions mined from her own remarkable life experience and re-imagined jazz standards, during a special one-night-only Live performance on Thursday,
September 27thatJoe's Pub, one of New York City's most intimate venues. This performance follows her 2011 sold-out show there.
"In this world full of difficult situations and constant challenges to our very existence, I've been actively looking for uplifting signs of life that we can all relate to -- things that give us insight and inspiration," Charleston said. "We're excited for the opportunity to give our amazing audience a sneak peak at this new material."
Rondi's All-Star Band for the Joe's Pub gig will include
Brandon McCune on piano, Ed
Howard on bass, Clarence Penn on drums, Mayra Casales on percussion and guitarist/Musical Director, Dave Stryker.
Additionally, "The Cave Knows," a new song Charleston crafted with Fred Hersch, dubbed by Vanity Fair"the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the last decade..." was created for and inspired by the remarkable story of hope, determination and survival told in the new documentary film NO PLACE ON EARTH. A riveting true story of 38 Ukrainian Jews who survived World War II by living in underground caves for 18 months, the film premiered at the prestigious TorontoInternational Film Festivalon
September 10th.
"The Cave Knows" is a haunting song reflecting the determination, struggle, and triumph of these heroic survivors -- taking the listener through the experience -- from tears of sorrow to cheers of joy.
A native of Chicago's Hyde Park, Charleston grew up in a home filled with music -- her father was an English professor and jazz enthusiast, while her mother sang and taught voice. She met legendary composer and bandleader Duke Ellington at age six and always knew instinctively that music would be a major part of her life. After graduating Juilliard with a BM and MM in music, she studied journalism at NYU, going on to work as a producer with
Diane Sawyer atABC's PrimeTime Live, contributing to stories that won her Emmy and Peabody Awards.
Charleston's training as a journalist strengthened her storytelling skills, something her audiences and critics continue to connect with enthusiastically. Praised by Hot HouseMagazine for "the most memorable new songs to come from a jazz singer since Abbey Lincoln," she has integrated her journalistic and musical skills and emerged as a gifted storyteller of indelibly poignant and authentic themes drawn from her own real life experiences, which reverberate with a wide and diverse audience. Downbeat Magazine raves, "Rondi Charleston is one of those rare artists for whom a song's meaning is as important as its melody. Her personal, thought-provoking, original songs slow the heartbeat and raise the mental senses with a documentarian's acuity."
