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Preview, buy, and download the song "Before the Well Dries." from the album Before the Well Dries - EP for $0.99.

Formerly a friend, Joanna Majoko is now just a highly respected professional acquaintance of mine. I’ll explain that whole situation in a little while, but first I want to share the story of I met Ms. Majoko, and then more importantly, tell you about her music.

This past March, my good friend Lee Pearson (a.k.a. Force of Nature on drums) was in Toronto for a gig with Chris Botti at Roy Thomson Hall. Our mutual friend and classmate at MSM, Michael Olatuja, is the bassist in that band, so he was also in town for the gig. Afterwards, I met Lee & Michael in the lobby, and Ms. Majoko (a friend and bandmate of Michael's) was also there, as she was one of Michael’s guests in the audience for the concert. We all went out to eat at a nearby restaurant, and it came up that Joanna was a singer. Now, I had JUST finished writing a new song that I was very excited about, and I needed to find the right singer to record it. I knew a tonne of amazing singers from my time in NYC, but because of the nature of this song, I had to hire a Canadian to sing it. I asked Ms. Majoko (not Joanna, still keeping it professional) if she was Canadian, and she confirmed she was. I asked her if she had a business card, which she promptly provided me with. While the three of them chatted, I pulled up Ms. Majoko’s website on my phone, and then played one of her YouTube videos as I held the phone up to my ear. I’ll be honest, the nature of that song I wrote, I really just needed someone with a pleasant voice who could sing in tune. She most definitely checked those boxes, so I put down the phone, and asked her about her vocal range, and if she felt comfortable ovredubbing three part harmony. When she confirmed her range and comfort singing the harmonies were what I needed for the recording, I offered her the gig. I’d found my singer. Awesome! After the hang, it was late, so I offered to drive Lee & Michael to their hotel, and offered Ms. Majoko a ride home, mostly because it’s out of the way by transit at that hour, but also because I wanted to discuss the recording with her. We had a good chat about the song, and about music in general, and I was starting to get even more excited about the project.

When I finally got home (I think it was 1 am?), I went back to her YouTube channel to hear more of her music. But then…I heard the short, soulful excerpt of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas on her Facebook Music page, and started to realize how I’d lucked out and accidentally hired this ridiculously amazing musician. I had trouble sleeping that night, thinking about how great this recording was going to sound. I started going to some of her gigs around Toronto to get a better idea of her voice, to finish up the arrangements of the song we were recording, and I heard even more musicality and stylistic versatility. I was planning a concert to premiere that song I’d written, and was originally going to hire a classical singer to sing a different arrangement of the song that I was planning to write because, I figured it would be easier at this venue that didn’t have an in-house audio setup for vocalists. After hearing more of what Ms. Majoko can do, I realised I’d found a singer I could write an entire concert’s worth of arrangements around. And then, well, this is why Ms. Majoko and I aren’t friends anymore...

SO, THAT ENTIRE TIME, Ms. Majoko's duo project Marienda [with her equally badass guitarist/vocal friend Jocelyn Gould] had this incredible EP out on iTunes, Spotify, etc, BUT SHE NEVER TOLD ME. I had to find it myself on her Facebook Page a few weeks after we met. A couple great arrangements of standards and at least one amazing original composition. (I’m not sure if the fourth tune is also an original, we’re not friends anymore, you’ll have to ask Ms. Majoko).

That one confirmed amazing original composition is the title track of Before the Well Dries, and the song I’m posting today. I really loved the vocal performances, harmonies, and grooves the first time I heard it, but then realised how much I loved the poetry and message of the lyrics when I listened again. My being deprived of enjoying this high level of musicianship for weeks is what makes Ms. Majoko’s betrayal sting so much. Maybe I’ll forgive her and we can be friends again some day, I don’t know. #smh

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/before-the-well-dries/1191386109?i=1191386182&app=itunes

https://open.spotify.com/track/2D3o4phwb37dxHcxxBHjdz

http://www.joannamajokomusic.com/

#songsbyfriends #marienda #joanna majoko #jazz #vocals #before the well dries #winnipeg #toronto #canadian music

@joanna.majoko.music and @jocelyn_gould release: #Marienda the debut single 11.25.2016 in #Toronto. We could not be more proud and honoured to know Joanna and the amazing work she does on a daily. Congratulations to these amazing women and very gifted musicians. Please support! #BlackGirlMagic (at Toronto, Ontario)

#toronto #marienda #blackgirlmagic