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Leela James

What sets the acclaimed R&B and soul singer-songwriter, Leela James apart is her fearless approach to music. “The best artists stay true to who they are, no matter the scale,” she believes. These values have allowed Leela to remain a consistent figure in R&B with a discography of quality soul music spanning over a decade. Her latest project, an adverturous powerful, rock tinged EP with rock/funk trio The Truth, was titled "Are You Ready". Leela’s music is a constant reminder of what it is to be human – to love, to regret and to dream. Her successful career first began when she burst onto the scene in 2006 with her debut album, "A Change is Gonna Come". She has since collaborated with the best producers, toured successfully across the US and Europe with some of the biggest names in R&B, performed on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and PBS Country's Salute to Ray Charles.  Leela also performed her emotional ballad, Fall For You, on the ABC hit show, “Dancing with the Stars,” and starred on TV One’s “R&B Divas: Los Angeles.”

Leela’s talent is undeniable among her peers in the industry, and her music continues to resonate with core fans today. This songbird has earned countless spots on the Billboard charts, including a #1 spot on the Urban Adult Contemporary Chart with the hit single, “Don’t Want You Back,” in 2018.  Leela’s classic albums have also earned nominations for “Outstanding New Artist” at the NAACP Image Awards (2008), and “Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist” at the Soul Train Music Awards (2008), finally winning a Soul Train Centric Award in 2017. The soul singer has always had a natural ability to communicate a mixture of emotions with the husky and bluesy tone of her voice and was nicknamed “Baby Etta,” after Etta James while growing up as a child in Los Angeles.  In 2012 Leela released, "Loving You More...In the Spirit of Etta James", an album in homage to her idol. Leela’s other musical influences range from soul to funk, and jazz, including legends like Chaka Khan and Al Green. The songstress continues to rock crowds performing an array of classics and new hits like Music and Set Me Free.  Leela is currently completing her next release, scheduled for April 2021.   When she is not touring, Leela resides with her family in Houston, TX.  

Band

Jairus "JMo" Mozee -Musical Director

Grammy Award Winning Producer, Multi-Instrumentalist, Artist

Instagram: @jmothegreat JairusMozee.com

Jairus Mozee is a 33 year old Grammy Award Winning Producer, Multi-Instrumentalist, and Artist based out of Long Beach, California. His guitar talents have led him to perform with many talented artists in the industry such as: Prince, Fantasia, Neyo, Redman, Lil Wayne, Janet Jackson, and Lalah Hathaway to name a few! His songwriting and production skills have led him to work with artists Like: Anderson Paak, Anthony Hamilton, Earth Wind and Fire, Kali Ucis, Kendrick Lamar, Bj The Chicago Kid, Boney James, Robin Thicke, Eric Benet, Jill Scott and many others! 

Ethan Farmer-BASS

also known as "EBASSMAN", is an American bassist, and played on the releases of Grammy Award-winning artists including Aretha Franklin (Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics), Sean Combs (Press Play) and Janet Jackson (Live in Hawaii), among other artists, in addition to touring with The Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block.   He's also worked with Babyface, Destiny’s Child, Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Lionel Richie, Nicole Scherzinger, Patti LaBelle and Rock N Roll Hall inductee Chip Shearin in the Avengers, in addition to others, on numerous studio sessions and tour dates. In addition, he has released a solo album, Wine & Strings and Wine & Strings 2.0, a followup to the original album and includes elements of jazz, rock, funk, and soul.  He was also a member of the house band of Rock the Cradle, an MTV reality show that featured the children of pop, rock and R&B stars.

Brian Collier-DRUMS

Born in Oakland California, Brian Collier began playing drums at the age of 4. From then to now many artists, shows and records have his drumming on them. He is a 4x Grammy Winning drummer, beginning with Carlos Santana " Shaman cd " in 2002 and Lalah Hathaway " Live cd " in 2015.. that won 2 Grammys for 2 songs and another for Best r&b performance live record.  He is also the drummer on a current 2020 Grammy nominated song  with Ledisi. 

He's been honored to have worked and toured with such artist as Lionel Richie , Lauryn Hill, Marcus Miller, Ledisi, Tony Toni Tone, Too Short, Dave Chapelle, Sheila E.,  Lucy Pearl,  Sheila E. , Rachelle Farrell, Booker T, Chester Thompson and Confunkshun , just to name a few.

Currently working with the iconic Eddie Murphy , as Musical Director and drummer..    " The Groove Is The Priority "

Dominique Xavier Taplin

Born in Oakland, California and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Dominique Xavier Taplin attended Putnam City West High School graduating class 2010. While there, he played football all 4yrs of school while also participating in STUCO and Band (marching, concert, symphonic and jazz). He went on to play football on scholarship while studying Classical Piano and Audio Engineering Post-Production at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma. After college, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Music Perfomance and Production. He quickly became a highly sought after musician and has performed and recorded with many accomplished artists. A few of the artists include: Prince, Max De Castro, Teedra Moses, Ellis Hall, Ghost Note, Judith Hill, Daley, Snoh Aalegra, Queen Latifah, and Toto. He was one of Prince's last keyboard players before he passed away. Currently, He plays and tours with ToTo, Ghost Note, Daley, and Snoh Aalegra

AW Studio Sessions is made possible with support from Citizens Bank and the Blues Foundation.