LaGaylia Frazier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LaGaylia Frazier or just LaGaylia which is her artist name, is an American singer, who moved to and settled in Sweden. She was born in 1962 in Florida, USA. She is the daughter of musician Hal Frazier.
During her childhood years, she was an infant prodigy in the art of piano, and everything looked set for a lifetime career within the world of piano concertos, until her music theacher suggested she'd try vocal training. In fact, LaGaylia did not begin singing until she entered the University of Miami as an academic major student in voice and musical theatre. She studied classical voice, jazz music, music theory and composition. At the university she obtained roles in numerous productions such as Cabaret, The Wiz, Gypsy and The Mikado. She became member of the music group Bandera who got a Florida radio hit with the song Voodoo. The band toured around Europe. While still living in USA she played at clubs in Florida with her own R&B band. LaGaylia was a house artist at the renowned Coconut in Fort Lauderdale.
It is soul, funk and jazz music that is closest to her heart. LaGaylia was a personal find by ex-manager Eliot Weisman who has said he felt like "hitting the lottery" when discovering LaGaylia. Weisman made her perform, among other engagements, in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. In 1994 she was engaged as a singer in the 45 million dollar Warner Bros. production with Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone, the action movie The Specialist, performing two songs, one of them hitting number two on Billboard's dance chart - the remix Shower me with Love. She has also worked with stars like Whitney Houston and Jennifer Lopez.
In 1999 her new manager, Marie Schröder, discovered her on the music scene in Florida. She did a few trips to Sweden, fell in love with a guy from Sundsvall and soon decided to move to Sweden permanently, which she did in March 2001. She now lives in Stockholm. In the meantime she performed at Robert Wells' Rhapsody in Rock tour during the summer of 2000, something she repeated in the autumn of 2001 and 2002. In 2003 she did Anita in West Side Story at the Malmö Opera and Music Theatre. But despite the phenomenal critic reviews she received and an attractive 2004 offer to do Carmen at the same opera house, she turned down the offer, pointing out her heart is connected with live singing, where she plays the very part of herself. Thus, in 2004, LaGaylia performed at the Stockholm Jazz Festival, and since she has been requested to attend major jazz festivals all across Scandinavia with her funk & soul band during 2005.
Contents |
[edit] Melodifestivalen
Twice she has participated in the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. In Melodifestivalen 2004 she performed the happy disco tune It's In The Stars, while her Melodifestivalen 2005 entry was the soulful power-ballad Nothing At All. She didn't reach the final any year, but she was as close as could be in 2005, finishing 11th, only 1,127 televotes from reaching the final (she got more than 53,000 votes that evening).
[edit] Debut album
Partly due to her two Melodifestivalen participations, LaGaylia signed a record deal with Lionheart International. Before the album release, she had already released two singles with this record company. Finally, on January 24, 2007, LaGaylia released her debut album, called Uncovered, on her own independent label called That Black Girl.
[edit] Said about LaGaylia
- The one who distinguished herself the most was the American soul singer LaGaylia Frazier. With such a powerful voice one immediately has to make comparisons with one of the greatest in her genre – Aretha Franklin. I believe we will hear a lot of LaGaylia in the near future.
- VLT, July 15, 2000 (Rhapsody in Rock)
- … all artists musically end up in the background of LaGaylia Frazier. Her voice is like a mix between Shirley Bassey and Tina Turner. This is soul!
- Västerbottens-Kuriren, October 22, 2001
- LaGaylia Frazier sings soul with an incredible intensity and feeling and with a remarkable pitch. The girl is a coming Super Star in the range of Tina Turner and Whitney Houston.
- Nordvästra Skånes Tidningar, July 19, 2002
- As LaGaylia enters the stage with Putte Wickman and starts off the Chaka Khan version of ”A night in Tunisia”, it’s a serious game – Jesus what a swing! LaGaylia dances back and forth and joins with Putte’s clarinet phrasings and finally completes it all with a yell showing a voice that makes men cry of happiness.
- Arbetarbladet, September 16, 2004 (A tribute to Putte Concert Tour)
