China Moses

China Moses

China Moses in Cannes,2012
Background information
Born (1978-01-09) January 9, 1978
Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres Jazz, RnB, Soul, pop
Occupation(s) Singer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1995–present
Labels Blue Note, EMI, UMG
Website www.chinamoses.com

China Moses [1] (born January 9, 1978 in Los Angeles) is an American singer and television host. She lives in Paris.

Life and career

China Moses is the daughter of Dee Dee Bridgewater and director Gilbert Moses. Exceptionally gifted, she released her first single Time (1996) at the age of 18 along with her first video directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. This success was followed by three albums: “China” (1997), “On Tourne en Rond” (2000) and “Good Lovin” (2004), turning her into a force to be reckoned with on the French R’ n’ B scene. Her albums saw her work with Swedish hip hop label Breaking Bread as well as renowned names like DJ Mehdi, Diam’s, Karriem Riggins, Guru, Anthony Marshall and sound engineer Bob Power.

She has appeared on music channels such as: MCM (1999-2001) and MTV France (2004-2011). In 2011 she joined the team for the 8th season of French TV show Le Grand Journal on Canal+ which she left in July 2012. From October 2011 to December 2012 she has been presenting Jazz Radio’s Made in China a daily program which aired from 7 to 8pm. In a bid to manage her activities as an entertainer, China launched her own production company in 2008 called MadeInChina Productions.

China Moses and Raphaël Lemonnier, one of Camille’s backing singers, created a show called “Gardenias For Dinah”, a tribute to their mutual idol Dinah Washington. She was the inspiration for the album “This One’s For Dinah“ which was released in 2009 by Blue Note.

After their worldwide tour (including Europe, India, Lebanon, Canada and Japan) China Moses and Lemonnier's latest opus was a tribute to the great blues and jazz female singers that have inspired her or been influenced by her. “Crazy Blues” was released in 2012 (MadeInChina Productions/Decca/UMG).

In 2013, she became the French group bringing electricity to customers (ERDF)'s music expert consultant. She hosted the documentary "Soul Power" as part of the summer series "Summer of Soul" on Arte.

Further to her participation to "So in love" by André Manoukian in 2010 (Blue Note France/EMI), China Moses presents from fall 2013 a new show piano-voice based with this singular TV personality. The show re-visits torch songs such as Don't let me be misunderstood, Lullaby of Birdland and I've got you under my skin. Additionally, she performs in "Cafe Society Swing", a show written and produced by Alex Webb (musician) and that revives the good times of the legendary 1940s New York nightclub, Cafe Society, which promoted racial equality and progressive causes and where Strange Fruit was performed for the first time by Billie Holiday.

She co-presented and sang at the first International Jazz Day in Paris at the Unesco in 2012 and performed numerous times for US Unesco. She initiated a documentary on the first and second International Jazz Day in Paris.In 2013, she was invited to participate in the Young Leaders Program of the French American Foundation.

On several occasions, she shared the stage with her mother Dee Dee Bridgewater, accompanied by orchestras such as the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg and the WDR Big Band.

Discography

Albums

"Crazy Blues", a project that features China as both vocalist and producer, was conceived as a tribute to some of the Great Dames of Blues and Soul whose careers have fascinated China over the years. They include Dinah Washington and some of her precursors and peers: Mamie Smith, Helen Humes, Lil Green, Ma Rainey, as well as stars like Esther Phillips, Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, Etta James, Ann Peebles and Donna Summer. To avoid unflattering comparisons China Moses and Raphaël Lemonnier decided to exploit the resources provided by their own personal journeys marked by discovery, musical encounters and passion without worrying too much about labels or being confined by specific genres. Therefore, the songs veer from the originals with an innovative twist on composition and arrangements by Raphaël Lemonnier – who sometimes incorporates a Wurlitzer piano. As well as utilizing the skills of musicians experienced in this type of exercise, they added horn orchestrations by Francois Biensan to bring a breath of fresh air to Why Don’t You Do Right, a classic by Lil Green with a version by Peggy Lee; Crazy Blues by Mamie Smith which kick-started the trend for blues singers, Cherry Wine, the duo with Sly Johnson, originally sung by a young Esther Phillips, and Donna Summer’s song Hot Stuff. With the same spirit in mind, You’re Crying is performed on this album using a string section – arranged by Jean-Claude Ghrenassia – that does not appear in Dinah Washington’s version. Other songs on this album include the Work Song by Nina Simone; Closing Time, a duo with Hugh Coltman, who also wrote the words put to music by Raphaël, a song concerning the atmosphere of a bar at the end of the night and The Mailman The Butcher and Me, an original composition by China, Raphaël and Alex Webb (musician) dedicated to different men evoked in the blues scene such as the doctor in Dr Feelgood, the dentist in Long John Blues and the TV repair man in T.V. Is The Thing This Year. A rhythm section backs the performances of a range of soloists. China Moses performed Resolution Blues by Dinah Washington, You’re Crying (embellished by an exquisite solo by Luigi Grasso), Etta James’s I Just Wanna Make Love To You and Just Say I Love Him by Nina Simone with a trombone intro played by Bastien Ballaz. Along with these album songs, other songs have been recorded specifically for stage performances such as: Kitchen Man by Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues, Today I Sing The Blues by Helen Humes and Aretha Franklin and Love Me Or Leave Me sung so memorably by Billie Holiday. ‘We have been on tour to India, Japan and Montreal,’ China has said ‘We opened for on B.B. King and Dionne Warwick. Our stage performances are organized like a show. I love to tell stories, I see myself as a jazz storyteller and I like to make sure that people smile in between songs.’

Compilation albums and sidewoman

Music Videos

Voice over

Acting

References

  1. ↑ "China Moses - Bringing back the good times". RFID JOURNAL. Retrieved 2014-08-25.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, August 31, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.