Album presentation on May 30
Kaisha Lee tells a compelling story about the road that brought her to the completion of her recently released full-length album, I Heart Reggae. One that started in her hometown, Toronto, where her love for music was nurtured into a compelling force that took her to Jamaica and then to Montreal. She is a trained pianist and an accomplished singer.
In 2011, after working the music circuit in TO and across North America accompanying a number of groups and performers, Kaisha needed a change of atmosphere; she also needed some healing from a debilitating condition.
A year in Jamaica brought the healing and also brought her in contact with many talented musicians and opportunities to explore the music that lived in her.
After she returned home in 2012, Kaisha says she was determined to find an outlet to play her music and sent e-mails and enquiries around the world.
In February that year, she found work at the Devi Lounge in downtown Montreal, playing two or three times per week.
She was there for two months before moving to The Windsor Sports Bar & Grill and to Le Piano Rouge Lounge, gigs that cemented her convictions that Montreal is the place to plant her musical seed.
It wasn’t long before she started to break loose, especially on the reggae scene, opening for top Jamaican artists such as I-Octane and Luciano. Eventually she found herself on the big stage at the 2014 edition of the Montreal International Reggae Festival opening for Etana and endearing herself to a broader audience.
Then came I Heart Reggae, which Kaisha says includes material that was part of her musical explorations in Jamaica. The 17-track album was released last December.
On Saturday, May 30, Montrealers will join Kaisha Lee for the presentation of I Heart Reggae at Les Bobards 4328 Blvd. St. Laurent starting at 10 p.m.
Admission is $10. For more info www.kaishalee.ca or www.iheartreggae.ca.
