In 2001, at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, my parents and I saw a singer on one of the outdoor stages who was wailing into a microphone, bent over and bobbing with the beat, and I remember Dad saying something like, "She really has to pee." We listened for a bit, then moved on. Later that night, I bought the compilation CD from the festival and heard a song called "Game" and decided I must have the performer's full CD, so I went back to the stand the next day and bought her full album. Thus began my love for Beady Belle.
I've bought every album since then, and I've heard her music just a couple of times in random places, like the Old Navy in downtown Seattle, where they played a dance remix of one of her songs.
While she's occasionally a bit "out there", and I'm not sure what to think about her sort of new age-y interpretive dance style of moving, I love her almost ethereal groove and jazzy soul sound. Each album has a slightly different flavor, and each time I've listened to a new album, I've initially been a little disappointed but quickly won over. It gets under my skin in a good way.
Collaboration with Jamie Cullum:
Collaboration with India Arie:
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