AFRIKKANITHA

Afrikkanitha is one of the biggest promises in Afro Jazz. A sweet and talented woman from Luanda, Angola, she's written 33 songs. Her single Kebrandoo and her rich album Ainda Sonha are a mix of soul, jazz, rock, funk, bantu afro, in English, French, Portuguese and also in some African dialects. She's the first Angolan with the courage to pass all the frontiers; produced by husband Simmons Massini, also a big surprise for the producers world! Coming soon the album "Weza" certainly surprises afro jazz music lovers!

Afrikkanitha was born Eunice Quipuco Piedade José in Angola in 1974. From the age of 4, those close to her noticed her artistic leanings while she was singing along to Madonna and Whitney Houston. When she was 5 years old, she had an accident which atrophied her right eye and gave her a squint. This marked her out from the rest and caused her to be teased and left alone. So she sought refuge in music and religion. During her teenage years, she enjoyed writing, especially poetry.

At 15, a friend introduced her to the cultural set. She took guitar and singing lessons but rapidly focused on singing. In 1991, at a lecture, she met the Brazilian Sergio Ricardo, one of the great singers Elis Regina appointed composers. Afrikkanitha went on stage for the first time and sang two songs. Sergio Ricardo asked her up for the first, and she sang the second with the pianist Joao Oliveira, who later became her mentor, playing variations by Tom Jobim, Djavan and other standards with her.

She joined the group Vozes Negras and sang massemba songs and African music from other countries as well as American standards. She studied voice with a teacher who put her in a Methodist church choir for several months. In a completely different register, she joined the band N’Sex Love and explored R&B, soul and jazz styles.

After visiting South Africa, she emigrated to France where worked with Ray Lema and sang in Frank Okoa’s choir in Grenoble. Once she got to Paris, besides working with different bands and singing 60’s and 70’s soul, jazz remained her true passion. In 2007, she recorded a single Kebrandoo silencio ("break the silence") followed by her debut album Weza, which combines jazz with African rhythms. It was produced by her husband Simmons Massini.

Three years later, she recorded a second album Ainda sonho ("I’m still dreaming") with the talented producers Etienne Mbappé, Cheikh Tidiane Seck, Julien Agazar and Moreira Chonguiça from Mozambique. More experimental, this album is a clever fusion between rhythms the young woman knows well from her continent and ones for which she has a natural ear; gospel, jazz, and bossa nova. Most of the lyrics are in Portuguese.

In 2011, she was featured on the CD of the Portuguese fado singer "Carlos do Carmos e amigos".

[Source]

Afrikkanitha is the publisher of Kanitha Magazine that was first published in 2010. She a member of Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. and is enrolled in the Music Program at Florida Memorial University in Miami Lakes.