Goodbye 2011......

.....and good riddance? From talking to the majority of my friends and indeed family, 2011 has been an incredibly challenging year which most of us are glad to see the back of! It always saddens me to hear and/or say things like this myself. I try to view every year as a gift with new horizons and opportunities. By the time I'd reached July in a state of absolute mental and physical exhaustion, I'd had enough, and that was before the enforced incarceration due to various pregnancy complications! However saying all that, there have been some rather brilliant musical highlights which I thought I'd share with you.

One of my favourite highlights was the photo shoot John (Milton - long suffering friend and photographer/designer) and I completed at the Roman Baths, in Bath, earlier in the year. We came out with some stunning images for the new album and felt truly honoured to be able to photograph in such a beautiful location. I'd spent the previous months researching Roman fashion and finding the props to re create an image from the Villa d'Arianna in Stabia, near Pompeii and I'm so pleased with the results. The album won't be out until later in 2012 (gives me a chance to have a baby, get it mixed, mastered, oh and write a book!!!) but I thought I'd post one of the images up here so you can get a taste of what's to come in 2012. It's all change, in a by good way!

I was also lucky enough to go back and play the first ever unplugged modern day singer/songwriter gig at the Baths in April and to be able to film it. That footage is now up on You Tube if you haven't seen it already and features a couple of tracks from the forthcoming album, all be it acoustically. The acoustics at the Bath, despite the pouring rain, were amazing, I've never had such good sound!

From late May to July the band and I start work on the songs for the album, running through ideas and initial arrangements. We also had a chance to run through our set for Guilfest which was an incredibly fun gig. It was so nice to be back after a long break and the crowd was great.

Then it was 14 days straight in the studio for the new album with some of the most talented musicians I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Luckily they were also good at helping me retain my sanity, especially when I discovered I was expecting baby #2!! It was an exhausting, but very productive time, and I got to work with Patch Hannan, the drummer from one of my all time favourite bands 'The Sundays'!

Pregnancy complications meant that from the end of July I've been on enforced rest, but in retrospect, it's actually been good to have a bit of a break and to go back over what we recorded in July. In December I was able, with a little help, to make a few days back in the studio to review and do some more recording which has been fantastic. Jez and I have revamped quite a few songs and it's sounding better than ever. We also welcomed the wonderful Jali Fily Cissokho in to the studio to put some Kora on a few tracks. All very good stuff.

So with a pretty eventual year over, what's next? Baby #2 should be making an appearance in March so they'll be a little settling down time, but 2012 will see the new album finished, mixed and mastered, ready to unleash on the world late September, early October. The artwork is ready and I'm in the middle of writing the book to accompany it while trying to rest. There will of course also be a tour, but a very different kind of tour....I shall leave you with that thought....Here's to 2012!

Anna x

An inspirational meeting......

Hi all,

I thought I'd share this with you about the recording session with Jali Fily Cissokho last week. It was a wonderful and inspirational experience and I can't wait for you to hear the tracks we've worked on together! A huge thank you to Fily and his manager Chris for taking the time to be part of these recordings. There should, fingers crossed, be some live shows coming up together mid 2012. :)

Anna x


www.kaira-arts.co.uk

Thanks to Anna and Jezz skyline studios. An inspirational meeting. I listened to Fily working on Anna's tracks in Oxford. He had changed to the traditional tuning Tomora and Silaba.. Afterwards he played and sang a beautiful track FILY SUSSO YA DE YA DE KA that he had composed as a small boy age 6 whilst jamming with his family. "I haven't played this track for years. Anna has taken me back to when I was a small boy in Senegal" Fily said. "I was surprised to hear it being played on the local radio one day in Casamance. Apparently my Uncle had had seen me singing and dancing to my new composition and loved it so much that he had gone to record it at our local radio station. The track was very popular. Uncle playing it on the kora at localceremonies. On one occasion he called me to come and dance and sing the track with him. I was very happy at this young age as the local people gave me money for my performance! I'm working on a new traditional CD and it's as if this track is saying don't leave me. I think I will now claim the track back and work on it again.." The recording session also inspired me to play Kelefaba . My first traditional melody and song that my father the late Jali Kemo Cissokho taught me to play. It seemed to fuse perfectly with Anna's western compostion." We are looking forward to 2012 with great thanks to Anna and her beautiful compositions~ More cultural exchange to come! Chris Lord

Jali Fily Cissokho

This week we had the wonderful Fily in session down at Skyline studios. What an amazing session and what a lovely guy! I felt very blessed at having such a talented musician being part of this project. It was also lovely to hear how some of the songs reminded him on the songs he first played on the Kora with his father. Be prepared to see him on stage with us at some point in the future, in the mean time here he is getting ready to 'do his thing.
A huge thank you to Fily and his manager Chris for taking the time to come down and play for us!

Is very pleased to announce......

Jali Fily Cissokho, The world renowned virtuoso Kora player and singer from Ziguinchor, Southern Senegal, will be heading to Skyline Studios this week to play on the new album! I'm so excited about this, he's a phenomenal musician and I can't wait to hear some of his beautiful playing and singing on the tracks we have lined up. It's all shaping up so well, this is one very proud lady! :)

Check out this video of him on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG9gfE9XAUg&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Anna x

Album update

Morning all,

After a five month break, this week sees a return to recording and finally finishing the new album! Jez and I hope to get all the recording side of things completed by the end of January, before I get incarcerated in a certain Guildford hospital for the rest of this pregnancy from hell!

As you know things have been very difficult, and I won't bore you with all the many and varied complications, but I've managed to get some of the sickess under control. Sadly though I'm still not well enough to get back on stage yet. On a postive note I'm very pleased to announce that as well as Patch from The Sundays, we have a couple more special guests 'guesting' on the album. I'm very excited and will reveal all once everything is confirmed. Fingers crossed I can get through this last bit!

After the recording is finished Jez will be locking himself away and mixing everything while I have this baby! Plans are then to go to mastering, once we've lived with the mixes for a bit, and then, a video for the title track 'River Man', providing all is well! :)

It's been a long journey so far but one that will be well worth it in the end, the recordings are my best to date, as is the concept and artwork. I'm truly proud of everything we've achieved so far and couldn't have done it without yours, the musicians, family and friends support. Roll on September 2012!

Anna x