“With past releases 'Final Beginning', 'Possible' and 'Drift' lauded for their uncanny fusion of jazz, soul,beats and twinges of electronica, this genre-less and broad perspective has long been indicative of Shola'soverarching musical vision. What is so striking about Shola's music is the fact that each release representsthe continual evolution of an artist that is committed to the exploration.” - Imran Mirza
Feel through music / Define through words
Eki Shola
Featured on PBS, NPR Tiny Desk Contest, KQED and in 'Best of the Bay Editors’ Pick', Eki Shola’s music transcends genre, as she seamlessly draws from jazz, electronica, and soul music to create a sonic landscape all her own. A vocalist, pianist, and internal medicine physician, Eki Shola uses her music as a conduit for healing. ASCAP Plus winner and selected '23 people to watch in 2023' by the Press Democrat, Eki Shola has shared the stage with Dr. Donald Byrd, Steve Turre and more and and has opened for Habib Koité, Bebel Gilberto, DakhaBrakha, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Lucky Otis, Kitaro and more.
Eki Shola has performed throughout California, Guam, Portugal, London and New York and at venues including Blue Note Napa, Kyotophonie Borderless Music Festival, Railroad Square Music Festival, and more. The five-time NorBay Music awardee recently completed a Japan tour for her 5th solo album, 還 (Kaeru), recorded with local artists, for which she continues to receive global recognition and international airplay.
“(Kaeru). A Japanese verb meaning “to return home,” the album title refl ects that exploration, and it is inJapan where the artist (primarily a singer and keyboardist) has felt most connected to the idea ofhome...blending neo-soul jazz fusion jams with the sound of traditional Japanese and Mongolianinstruments to meditate on these questions of place, movement, and belonging. The music is wild and free,yet, despite the contradiction, somehow stays rooted.” - Ronny Kerr
“On Essential, pain isn’t an exhibition, it’s an equaliser; we’re encouraged not to gawp at Shola’s innerturmoil but to empathise with it, understand it, and act upon it. “A crisis”, she writes, “as excruciating as itmay be to endure, allows an intricate view into the breakdown of structure, systems, and life the way weknow it”. Perhaps good art can be inspired by hardship. But what makes it great isn’t found by wallowing indespair; it lies in our determination to envision better times.” - Sydney Franklyn
Press photos
Eki Shola live at Kyotophonie Borderless Music Festival, Japan
Eki Shola live at Gravenstein Apple Fair, CA
Eki Shola live at Tepemok Cafe, Japan. Photographer: Kazuya Kimura