Aysha | Stay With Me
Aysha – Stay With Me
(Advance review – EP to be released Aug. 24th, 2010)
As the music industry is synching more with the digital age, many promising musicians are packaging their musical wares on Myspace, Facebook and whatever cost effective methods they can take advantage of. While pursuing a solo career, Aysha took full advantage of those avenues while investing time to become a savvy businesswoman and well-rounded artist. Her constantly active personality absolutely fits her namesake (Aysha is African for life). Though she did not have the luxury of growing up in a musical family, she found a way to breakthrough to the professional rankings. Her humble beginnings began with the cover band Destination, which had a faithful local following in her hometown of Santa Barbara, California. Then she joined the self-contained vocal quintet Girls In The Mix, who had in hand in writing all their material and choreographing their stage shows. One of their career highlights was opening for several well-known urban hitmakers including Roger Troutman & Zapp. Yet the talent scouts that scoped GITM’s shows noticed something specifically special in Aysha.
Ina very eventful decade for Aysha between 1999 & 2009, it was shear determination and her regular gigs throughout the greater Los Angeles area that garnered her a nomination for Jazz Artist of the Year at the 2009 Los Angeles Music Awards. And there were plenty of learning curves on the long solo road; developing a thick through bad business lessons learned, researching on the internet whom she would collaborate with and probing musicians on how to effectively produce her own music. After learning all the aspects of recording herself, Aysha released her debut Love Is a Rock in 2006. Several tracks – “Honey,” “Is This Just a Dream” and the Atlantic Starr 1991 R&B top twenty-five hit, “Send For Me” – were spotlighted on adult urban contemporary internet radio. Several independent music magazines and non-internet radio outlets also zeroed in on this sultry R&B/jazz singer/songwriter, who has drawn comparisons to Chante Moore, Toni Braxton and Sade (whom Aysha considers her biggest influence). Representing the true independent music star,Aysha still balances a ‘day’ job while perfecting her music and business tools. As the CEO of KLW Records, which released her 2006 debut and her new EP – Stay With Me, she now mentors future independent artists to equip themselves in knowing the ropes of the business they call show.
On Stay With Me, Aysha once again shapes her soothing alto voice into familiar old-school adult urban contemporary territory with songs about mature love. The disc is all too short at five tracks plus three radio edits. Both guest saxophonists – contemporary jazz giants Everette Harp and Gerald Albright – pull more than their weight; Harp lending soft soulfulfinesse on the title track and Albright tearing it up every which way on the Latin-spiced, “Dreamin.’ “Keep on Loving Me” might as well be a tribute to Sade with its ethereal tones and jazzy harmonies. A reprise from Love Is a Rock, the smooth groove driven “Is This Just a Dream,” is vocally hypnotizing from the get go. Only “I Remember Your Love” lacks the musical luster of Stay With Me’s other four tracks.
While Stay With Me does not stretch beyond a typical R&B/jazz project, Aysha’s sharp vocal phrasing and the supporting musicians serve up a pleasurable listening experience. Like Love Is a Rock, several like-minded adult urban radio stations are embracing Stay With Me for justified reason. And despite the economic hard times that frustrate the music industry in several areas, even four years between releases for gifted talents such as Aysha, who is full of musical life in everything she sings, is still too long a waiting period.
Peggy Oliver
The Urban Music Scene
Visit www.ayshamusic.com for pre-order, bio & much more!