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Leee John

“I started thinking about doing my first solo album ten years ago, and even then I really wanted it to be a Jazz record. Over the years, I’ve written certain songs that felt were right for a jazz-flavoured album but I just didn’t feel that I was ready, either vocally or experience-wise...” So speaks Leee John, world-renowned recording artist and performer best known as the lead singer for Imagination, the internationally popular pop, dance and soul team whose sales of CDs, albums, singles, videos and DVDs now exceeds some twenty-million copies, starting with the double gold LPs “Body Talk” and “In The Heat Of The Night” and encompassing the classic hits “Just An Illusion,” “Music And Lights” and “Changes.”

Time has passed and, with a slew of recent credits that include a starring role in the popular 2003 ITV show, “Reborn In The USA,” Leee John �" who has written songs for such artists as MOBO winner Pete Hunnigale, Maxi Priest, Alison Limerick and Ultimate Chaos among others, and has worked with top producers and musicians including Frankie Knuckles, Arthur Baker, Nick Martinelli, David Morales, Tony Humphries and Mike Pickering - has deemed himself ready for that first all-important solo set. The result is the brilliantly-crafted “Feel My Soul,” released on Candid Records. “I wanted to be with a label that understood the kind of music I’m doing with this album, a company that understood my musical direction and didn’t require me to compromise…”

Recorded entirely in Rochfort, France (the location for the 1967 Gene Kelly cult movie, “Les Demoiselles de Rochfort”) with the co-production team of Eric Debegue, Francois Gaucher and arrangements by Leee, “Feel My Soul” is truly a musical tour-de-force featuring Leee’s highly-expressive reading of classic standards such as Billie Holiday’s haunting “Strange Fruit,” “Embraceable You,” and Cole Porter’s “Someone To Watch Over Me,” along with exciting original material including the standout opening cut, “Sensuality,” the cool’n’hip “Jazzmatazz,” “Now Is The Time (C’est Le Moment)” and “Thin Line.”

Released on Candid Records, the musical home for such quality artists as Jamie McCallum, “Feel My Soul” is Leee John’s most personal and intimate work, revealing a new level of vocal artistry and competence long-known to music industry insiders but only recently being given full reign. “The truth is that I’ve always had an affinity for Jazz and there’s a jazzy influence in my music. You can even hear it on early Imagination records. On the first Imagination album, I’m scatting on the song “Tell Me Do You Want My Love.” All the people who’ve grown with me over the years won’t be surprised at the kind of album I chose to make as my first solo record.”

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