Most Soulful Young Jazz Artist

With a style that's as playful as it is soulful, a repertoire of catchy original tunes, a litany of fun facial expressions, and scat that is all that, Ledisi is our most commanding young local performer. The Orleans-born, Oakland-raised, opera-trained singer has shared the mike with Isaac Hayes, Jai Uttal, Alphabet Soup, and the Marcus Shelby Trio, has enlivened the city's acid jazz scene while performing with Slide 5, and continues to bring down the house with her R&B/ jazz/funk band Anibade. Catch her act at Cafe Du Nord and Rasselas, or watch her work it in Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon, where she has been honing her skills for the past 11 years. In any case, get your hands on a copy of her latest CD, Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue, which gives you a taste of what's to come from this extremely talented soul sister who rightfully inspired a New York Village Voicecritic to ask, "Why the fuck is this Oakland wonder not signed?"