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Jamila Ford
Hailing from Riverside, California, neo-soul singer/songwriter Jamila Ford, as a journalist from her college newspaper aptly put it, “has nowhere top go but up.” However Ford has garnered local attention for her sizable singing chops and not her humble beginnings. Her slight frame belies her bewitchingly powerful voice and inner strength. She gets your attention. Or more accurately, her smooth mezzo-soprano makes you turn your head and give her a second listen. Drawing influences from Sarah Vaughn to Stevie Wonder to Erykah Badu, she can give you a history of 50 years of American popular music during one of her 45 minute sets, with her sultry voice providing the linchpin.
Ford’s current four-song demo, titled “Fabulous,” is her most ambitious musical venture to date. The infectious groove helped move Ford into new musical territory. With her live band’s loose-limbed arrangements in place, Ford explores sound from the 70’s era that inspired her. The disc easily flows from funk (“Ordinary People” and “Good Things”), to disco (“Don’t Worry”), to classic R&B (“Music”). Ford is currently touring the Southern California area to promote “Fabulous.” She is also currently in pre-production for her first full-length album titled “Doll Face,” which features new original material and reworked arrangements of songs from “Fabulous” and her first EP “Traces of the Day.”
In conjunction with her first full length CD, Jamila is also presently preparing to release an experimental short musical film titled “Doll Face” to film festivals throughout the U.S. The film, based on “Good Things,” the second track from Jamila’s “Fabulous” CD, was written and directed by Pasadena Art Center graduate MJ Park. (Check back soon for clips of the film!)
Ford’s first taste of show business came in 1995 when she was chosen to tour the United States with a show choir. She matured as a singer while studying music at the university of California, Riverside. As a freshman, she sang mezzo-soprano in the Chamber Singers, choral Society, the Jazz Big Band, and the Jazz Combo. She continues her studies of both classical music and jazz during her time at the University.
Ford currently performs throughout the LA metro area, with her own six-piece band, which includes a rhythm section and back up singers, at clubs, coffee houses, festivals.
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