Cassondra James
©Ryan Hulvat 2019
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No newcomer to the world of entertainment, Cassondra's colorful career includes stints as a background singer for some of music’s most contemporary, award-winning artists like classically-trained pianist and singer Alicia Keyes, R&B jazz artist Ledisi, jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, organ virtuoso Cory Henry, singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera, gospel singer Kim Burrell, and Broadway actor-singer-Netflix film producer Tituss Burgess. Today, Cassondra James is prepared to take her place center stage, introducing the release of her debut EP titled PIECES, a compilation of self-penned songs co-produced by Cassondra and producer Solomon Dorsey. The EP, released on her independent label Just James, is available on all digital platforms. PIECES is a collection of expressive compositions that peel through Cassondra's life experience. It is a colorful and sometimes tearful journey blended in eclectic music genres that include world music, pop, country, jazz and the blues. It is, as she describes, “a musical collage”. On each song throughout PIECES, Cassondra orchestrates melodic grooves with soprano prowess, using her voice as a musical instrument and affective technology. An admitted “country-girl at heart” from the little town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, she was raised by her Pennsylvania Dutch mother and African American father, both ministers at her father's church. It was in church where she began singing and playing musical instruments. But, as she explains, “I've always been surrounded by musicians, so whether or not I was in formal training and study, I was cutting my teeth in collaboration with singers and instrumentalists in and around the New York metropolitan area." In 2017 Cassondra made her Broadway debut as an original story teller and flutist in the Tony-award winning revival of the Broadway musical “Once On This Island,” and was later cast in the lead role as Erzulie, the Goddess of Love. She continued as Erzulie on the First National Tour of Once on This Island until the onset of the global Coronavirus pandemic. From one stage to the next, on a high note or in character, her music and her story will pull you into all the pieces of her journey. |
©Ryan Hulvat 2019
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