When Music Becomes The Anchor To Your Soul – Happiness Abounds…..
Can we play of game of musical dare? I am not a gambling woman and the recession having played havoc with finances recently, any which way to raise funds is welcomed by yours truly. If you don’t love the music by Ayanna Witter-Johnson, I promise I will buy you lunch for an entire week. Bear in mind my offer does not equate in any measure the talent that is Ayanna.
Let me introduce you to the ethereal musical smooth sound that is Ayanna Witter-Johnson. The taste of the pudding in this instance is the hearing. This 28 year old diva whose interest in music was evoked aged 4 when she started piano lessons and the cello at 13 is testament that in a vast majority of cases, talent is born not made. And boy has she honed her craft and owned it!
Ayanna graduated with a First Class degree at Trinity College of Music, shortly after, she became an Emerging Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre, followed by a Masters scholarship in Composition degree at Manhattan School of Music. It was during her sojourn in NYC that she became the first non-American to win the legendary Amateur Night Live at the Apollo Theatre Competition.
Ayanna lets us share her story through her jazzy, melancholy lyrics, with smooth velvety melodies that borders on the ethereal, add a good dollop of a natural beautiful breathy husky vocal and listen to the delicate smooth harmonies that are evident in her debut EP Black Panther. Influenced musically by the old greats, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald and closer to home her mother who also is a singer, Ayanna shares her story with us and let’s that become the light to encourage us to share ours.
Let the delicate melodies and harmonies of Ayanna move you, and the strength of her music your anchor.
“The pressure at the top end of the music industry means that unless you can master your instrument, sing like an angel and write your own work you’re going to find it hard to reach the top! Ayanna is all these things and more.” - DJ Gilles Peterson.
To watch Ayanna live, visit: http://www.ayannamusic.com/shows/ for dates.