LOS ANGELES, CA – February 12, 2014 – Laila Biali, the award-winning Canadian jazz pianist, vocalist and songwriter, will bring her signature genre-bending, crowd-sourced concerts to six major cities in her first headlining U.S. tour in March 2014. Biali is known for taking the best of pop, rock, classical and soul, and informing it with her knowledge of jazz, as she weaves together exquisite musical arrangements. Biali’s tour, supported by The Canada Council for the Arts, will feature Adam Thomas on bass and Fred Kennedy on drums. The trio will be joined by guest artists at each stop. After launching the tour on Saturday, March 1, 2014 in Kansas City, MO, Biali will then travel to Los Angeles, CA (3/2/14); Oakland, CA (3/4/14); Denver, CO (3/5/14 & 3/6/14); Washington D.C. (3/7/14 & 3/8/14); and New York City (3/9/14). See more tour details below or online here. To learn more about Laila Biali (pronounced “Lie-lah Bee-aah-lee”), please visit her website at http://www.lailabiali.com.

A unique multi-instrumentalist, Biali’s music has been presented at prestigious venues spanning five continents including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Tokyo’s Cotton Club, Peru’s El Festival Internacional de Lima, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. She has a penchant for unconventional instruments like the glockenspiel, ukulele, and even sitar, morphing the traditional jazz piano trio into something fresh. See this video as an example. Biali has also become known for crowd-sourcing her set lists, inviting fans to submit their song requests – without restrictions on style or category – then selecting several to debut at upcoming shows. Playfully dubbed “requestomatic,” this fan-driven initiative was introduced a year ago and has expanded Biali’s concert repertoire to include songs by Adele, David Bowie, Prince, Randy Newman and many more. Biali describes this process in her Huffington Post blog, “How to Write a Musical Love Letter.”

  Biali’s Live in Concert –
named one of the “Best Albums of 2013” by DownBeat magazine.

An alumna of such internationally renowned artists as Sting, Suzanne Vega, Paula Cole, and Chris Botti, Biali’s diversity is showcased on her most recent release, Live in Concert, which leading jazz magazine DownBeat just named one of the “Best Albums of 2013.” The album was recorded in front of a sold-out audience at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio and spotlights Juno-Award winning saxophonist, Phil Dwyer, alongside a world-class rhythm section featuring bassist George Koller, drummer Larnell Lewis, and percussionist Ben Wittman. It has been in rotation on 73 radio stations across North America.

Praised for her “daring arrangements and passionate vocals,” DownBeat magazine calls Biali a pianistic “tour de force” as she reconstructs songs from the Great American and Canadian songbooks with creativity and conviction. Biali’s live concerts combine her unique covers of classic songs (Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” Leonard Cohen’s “Show Me the Place,” Ron Sexsmith’s “Secret Heart,” and Bruce Cockburn’s “Stolen Land”) with jazz standards (“The Best is Yet to Come,” “Nature Boy,” “I’ll Never Smile Again,” “One Note Samba,” and “Night and Day”), contemporary hits like Frou Frou’s break-out chart-buster, “Let Go,” (Imogen Heap & Guy Sigsworth’s Garden State soundtrack song), and Biali’s own compositions (“À la Poursuite des Marées,” “Human Condition,” and “Still the One”).

Laila Biali U.S. Headlining Tour Calendar:
– Laila Biali on vocals and piano, Adam Thomas on bass, and Fred Kennedy on drums
– Special guest artists will join the trio at each stop along the tour.

Sat. Mar. 1 – Kansas City, MO – American Jazz Museum’s Blue Room
opening show of the Women in Jazz series, featuring vibraphonist Greg Carroll

Sun. Mar. 2 – Los Angeles, CA – Blue Whale
featuring saxophonist Bob Reynolds (best known for his work with John Mayer; Reynolds’ latest album reached #1 on iTunes Jazz

)

Tue. Mar. 4 – Oakland, CA – Piedmont Piano Company
showcasing the talents of Joe Cohen, long-time member of the Bay Area Jazz Mafia, on sax

Wed. Mar. 5 – Denver, CO – Dazzle
in a special double bill with pianist and composer Peter John Stoltzman’s trio which features Greg Garrison on bass and Todd Reid on drums

Thu. Mar. 6 – Denver, CO – University of Colorado
featuring experimental saxophonist John Gunther

Fri. Mar. 7 & Sat. Mar. 8 – Washington, D.C. – Twins Jazz Club
featuring DownBeat rising star, saxophonist Tim Green

Sun. Mar. 9 – New York, NY – SubCulture
featuring another DownBeat rising star, Zach Brock, on violin

For the full calendar of upcoming Laila Biali shows and details, please see: http://www.lailabiali.com/shows

Laila Biali performing “Let Go” written by Imogen Heap and Guy Sigsworth
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBegNpcDGMo

More About Laila Biali –
Her latest studio recording, Tracing Light, received a JUNO nomination for “2011 Best Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.” Biali is also a member of the all female New York-based neo-classical crossover quartet Rose & the Nightingale, whose members tour with Grammy award-winning jazz bassist, cellist and singer Esperanza Spalding. Biali’s accolades include “SOCAN Composer of the Year” and “Keyboardist of the Year” at Canada’s National Jazz Awards.

Upcoming Biali projects include two new albums slated for release in 2014: a pop-oriented co-production with her husband, Ben Wittman, featuring original songs fitted for a vast range of instruments from gospel choir to brass quartet, theremin and circus calliope; and a new jazz project debuting original material co-written with Ron Sexsmith, Paula Cole, Marc Jordan, and other award-winning songwriters. She currently splits her time between New York City and Toronto.

Links –
• Laila Biali Official Site – http://www.lailabiali.com
• Laila Biali Youtube Channel – http://bit.ly/LailaBialiYouTubeVideos
• 2014 Tour Dates – http://www.lailabiali.com/shows
• Laila Biali Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LAILABIALIMUSIC
• Laila Biali Twitter – @lailabiali

For more information, photos, to schedule an interview, or request complimentary tickets, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or
 lynn@greengalactic.com.

“It is the ultimate task given to the musician, whether as a singer or instrumentalist, to create a unique signature or fingerprint that is instantly recognizable as their own. What is surprising and delightful in Laila Biali is that, both as a vocalist and pianist, she accomplishes this with equal aplomb. She is an exciting and unique talent, and I admire her greatly.” – Sting

“**** Her best assets are an ability to sing flexible time, phrase cannily and to stretch her somewhat breathless alto voice across bar lines.” – Downbeat Magazine (Sep. 2013 Live in Concert Review)

Laila Biali in concert at the National Arts Centre in Canada’s national capitol, Ottawa,
performing on glockenspiel, piano, and more (March 2013). Photo courtesy the artist.