Following the debut of her Quarantunes video series with a “live” performance of her single, Sugar, JUNO Award winner, Laila Biali, returns with a visual for her timely track, Revival. Biali bands together with the her musical collaborators in this song that fights for change and a better future.
“I initially wrote it in response to the 2016 US election and the uprisings we saw in support of women’s rights and the climate. Now, mid-pandemic and on the precipice of another critical election, the song takes on new meaning, especially with regards to civil rights. This is the second installment of my ‘Quarantunes’ series, and while we find ourselves at various stages of reopening, it is still impossible to bring together this many musicians into one space to share this music, live,” Biali expands. “So, we have taken to the virtual stage once more, each of us capturing one through-take performance from our respective homes, mixed together by my husband and co-producer, Ben Wittman, with a video compilation by the Brooklyn-based Halla Creative. 17 instrumentalists and singers are featured here representing Toronto, New York City, Vancouver and Halifax. 9 of them performed on my original studio release of Revival, including GRAMMY winner Lisa Fischer, and 8 more joined the fold for this special version.”
For Quarantunes, Biali invited some of the musicians she would ordinarily be on tour with right now to film and record themselves performing at home. Each individual track was then collated into one performance by Biali’s husband and co-producer, Ben Wittman. None of the performances were altered or overdubbed after the fact, and in this way, Biali and her fellow musicians formed a virtual band, on a virtual stage, to brighten these quarantine days. Watch the lead Quarantunes video for Sugar here.
All all-star lineup of musicians joined Laila to create the Quarantunes video for Revival: Laila Biali (vocals, piano); Rich Brown (electric bass); Ben Wittman (drums, tambourine) Alan Ferber (trombone, horn arrangement), William Sperandei (trumpet), John Ellis (tenor sax), Glenn Patscha (organ), Joanna Majoko, Michelle Willis & Adam Thomas, (principal background vocals), Lisa Fischer (ad lib vocals), Venissa Butler, Karen Moses, Jenna Cowans, Nicole Sinclair-Anderson, Kerroy Williams & Chardon Myers (background vocal choir), Laila Biali, Ben Wittman, Joshua Biali-Wittman (handclaps). The track was mixed by Ben Wittman, and video compilation produced by Nick & Steph at Halla Creative.
Biali’s new album, Out of Dust, released on March 27 and was to include 3+ months of global tour dates, covering Canada, the US, and Europe. Because she can no longer bring this music to physical stages around the world, Biali went for the next best thing, which even has its advantages. For example, she wouldn’t typically be able to tour with a group this size; but, this new “virtual reality” enables her to involve a larger circle of musicians and peers based in different cities.
Stay tuned for special tributes to Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell coming out this Fall, and more installments of Laila Biali’s Quarantunes series coming soon!
About Laila Biali:
Multi award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist and CBC Music national radio host Laila Biali has headlined festivals and venues spanning five continents from New York City’s Carnegie Hall to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, and supported international icon Sting. In 2019, Laila’s eponymous release won her a JUNO (Canada’s GRAMMY) for “Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.” The year before that, she was awarded top prize at the Canadian Songwriting Competition in the Jazz category. Laila was also the youngest-ever double winner at Canada’s National Jazz Awards when she was named “SOCAN Composer of the Year” and “Keyboardist of the Year.” She received her first JUNO nomination for Tracing Light (2011), and a spot on DownBeat Magazine’s “Best Albums of the Year” for Live in Concert (2013). In September of 2017, Laila was brought on as the host for CBC Music’s national radio show, Saturday Night Jazz, a weekly show broadcast to listeners across Canada. While Laila continues to earn high honours in the Jazz world, her signature sound transcends genre as she “masterfully mixes jazz and pop, bringing virtuosity and unpredictability to songs that are concise and catchy” (Washington Post). Laila’s highly anticipated album, Out of Dust, which features multiple GRAMMY nominees and winners including Lisa Fisher, Alan Ferber, John Ellis, and Larnell Lewis, released March 27, 2020.
