Chezere
Chezere has been compared to everyone from Shirley Bassey and Tina Turner to Lenny Kravitz and Neneh Cherry. French Vogue Magazine once quoted “If Lenny Kravitz and Neneh Cherry had a child, she’d be called “Chezere” and she’d put her parents to shame!” Chezere is one of the few artists who appeals to a complex […]
Chezere has been compared to everyone from Shirley Bassey and Tina Turner to Lenny Kravitz and Neneh Cherry. French Vogue Magazine once quoted "If Lenny Kravitz and Neneh Cherry had a child, she'd be called "Chezere" and she'd put her parents to shame!"
Chezere is one of the few artists who appeals to a complex and varied audience and this is reflected through the diverse musical styles released under her name. One moment she's doing a killer "House" track with the likes of Mark Grant and Roy Davis Jr; then an Acid Jazz scat with UFO and Urban Species; and just when you think you've got her figured out she hits you with a soaring rock vocal with The Mission UK.
Let’s take it back…all the way back: 1990 - 1995
In London, Chezere’s career really kicked off when she was given the opportunity to be the vocalist for Big Audio Dynamites’ second band “Screaming Target”. Screaming Target comprised of punk rock legend, Don Letts, Greg Roberts and Leo Williams, in collaboration with producer and re-mixer Tim Bran.
Not long after her time with Target was over, Chezere would lend her skills as a performer to another London sound, Urban Species.
While many other bands who surfaced in the "acid jazz" explosion of the early 90s suffered a premature demise, Urban Species battled through promoting; Peace, Love and Unity and having fun doing it.
Urban Species are one of the UK's most innovative Black music groups and remain one of UK Raps most successful exports to date.
After opening for Bands such as MC Solaar, Jazzamatazz and the Stereo MCs, Urban Species quickly developed a fierce show and were fast becoming known for their live exploits. It wasn’t long before they were a headline act and would earn the reputation as one best live act around prompting UK newspaper The Guardian to say “if there is a better live act, this reviewer hasn’t seen it."
Chezere toured with Urban Species as their lead vocalist during the promotion of their ground breaking Classic Album “Listen”. Described by Melody Maker as “Possibly the finest Debut of the year” and “The best album Talkin Loud have ever put out” by Sky Mag, the album received universal acclaim and was an immediate success. Commercial chart success came with the hit singles “Spiritual Love” and ”Brother”, firmly confirming their arrival and unprecedented exposure of a UK rap act.
Working with artists like Blues legend Terry Callier and respected UK Rappers MC Mello and Blak Twang, whilst also being in the good company of a roster of talented and up and coming artists such as MJ Cole, Elizabeth Troy, Jeffery Darnell and Imogen Heap, Urban Species enabled doors to be opened for Chezere to embark on her own solo album with Virgin France.
Upfront…and Personal - Chezere : 1995 - 1999
A project three years in the making, 'Upfront...and Personal' was Chezere’s debut album. Not only did it contain every ounce of her funk, soul and rock style within its songs, it also contained a collaboration of her musical black book; which included Derrick McKenzie and Stuart Zender who were the drummer and bass player for Jamiroquai as well as members from Incognito and Galliano.
The experience she gained whilst being a part of both Screaming Target and Urban Species - along with the experiences of working with and for numerous projects – has been the catalyst for her first solo effort, where she toured with acts such as Eagle Eye Cherry, Guy Chadwick, The Roots and Massive Attack.
Lenny Kravitz himself demanded to meet Chezere to let her know that he did not like her music, he loved her music! Lenny was also anxious to have Chezere tour with him for all of his European leg of his tour; unfortunately Chezere had other obligations that she had to fulfill.
Touring 1990 - 1999
Chezere has played some of the biggest festivals in Europe such as Glastonbury, Reading and The Phoenix Festival in England; the Nice Jazz Festival in France and The Roskilde Festival in Denmark, just to name a few, entertaining crowds from the hundreds to the tens of thousands.
•House; did anyone say “Where’s the party at?: 1999 - 2005
House Music is a part of Chezere and has been since the early days so it came as no surprise when Roy Davis Jr. remixed her single “Where Does Your Mind Go?” from “Upfront…and Personal”. The song was an instant club hit.
Then “We Are One” dropped; a collaboration with Ernest St Laurent, making it to the top five in some of the world’s dance charts. Paris couldn’t get enough of her and soon she had Bob Sinclar of Yellow Productions and The Troublemen of KIF Records knocking on her door.
Keeping up the heat, it was on to DJ Mark Grant and the single “Hey You” in Chicago; then she collaborated with Olive Records and brought out her own project “The Core”. You can even get some of her songs from that project as a ring tone!
Collaborations: 1997 - 2011
The Roots asked her to lend her vocals on their Things Fall Apart tour throughout Europe singing their signature song “You Got Me”.
Chezere also teamed up with Japan’s UFO (United Future Organization) to do “Friends (We’ll Be)” on their 3rd Prospective album. The German master re-mixers Jazzanova liked the song so much they decided to add their own magic to it and to this day the song remains popular. You can catch her sultry tones in nearly every lounge and bar that plays cool beats around the world.
In 2006 she joined up and coming soulful rock band Whut4 as the lead vocalist. The project went on for over 2 years and was given the accolade of "Unsigned Artist of the Month" by Keyboard Magazine in October 2007. However, on the brink of the album release the producer decided to withdraw from the project.
In 2009 she connected with Deep House Producer extraordinaire Lars Behrenroth on his Deeper Shades label singing the club hit “The Way You Move”, then she linked up with the powerhouse production tag team of Groove Junkies & DJ Dealer in 2010 with "My Day Has Come".
At the beginning of 2011 Chezere added her sultry tones to the jazzy Hip/Hop laced 'Ladies First, Open Collection' project where she features on the songs "The Way Out" & "Time Is Running Away". Later that year Chezere teamed up again with Chicago Deep House master Mark Grant, adding another definitive staple to her repertoire with the release of the sublime "Planting Trees". It charted number 1 in the UK House Charts.
More recent collaborations include; Drumsound Baseline Smith, The Groove Junkies and Zona....the list is ever expanding.
