Anjani

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Anjani (disambiguation).

This biographical article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Anjani

Background information
Born	July 10, 1959 (age 48)
Origin	Honolulu, Hawaii
Genre(s)	Jazz, Folk music
Years active	1983—present
Label(s)	Columbia

Anjani Thomas (born 10 July 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist, best known for her work with singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, as well as Carl Anderson, Frank Gambale, and Stanley Clarke. She became a solo artist in 2000.

Anjani was born in Honolulu, Hawaii where she trained in guitar, piano and voice. She attended Berklee College of Music for a year then moved to New York City to a pursue a music career. She performed in jazz clubs before meeting producer John Lissauer, who hired her to provide backup vocals on Leonard Cohen's influential song "Hallelujah" from Various Positions. Anjani went on to tour with Cohen in 1985 as his keyboardist and backup vocalist, and has regularly worked with Cohen ever since, lending her talents to I'm Your Man, The Future, and Dear Heather.

Anjani launched a solo career with Anjani in 2000 followed by The Sacred Names in 2001 – an ode to the Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew names of God. In 2006, Cohen contributed lyrics and production talents to Anjani's music and arrangements for Blue Alert on Columbia Records. The song "Blue Alert" was used in a 2007 Old Navy TV spot.