Zahira
Zahira’s songs are harmonic pictures, creating a colorful soundtrack for life. Rise Up (2014) showcases Zahira’s diverse vocals and collaborations with Yami Bolo, Sky Juice (Black Uhuru), Val Douglas (Skatalites), Vince DiLorenzo (Usher, Patti Labelle), Soljie (Gentleman, Soja, Black Uhuru), Sol Rising, Rocker-T, Celso Alberti (Steve Winwood), and other talented musicians and producers. Rise Up features Zahira’s special blend of reggae, soul, and pop backed by world-class musicians, with positive lyrics infused with a playful and uplifting sound.
Zahira is a renaissance woman whose pure, powerful, and resonant voice has received rave reviews from fans and critics worldwide. Zahira can be seen performing in her solo liveelectronic project and with her live band Rising Buffalo Tribe, or as a guest vocalist with Indubious, who also featured Zahira on their track “Root Down” on their album From Zero.
With a style and tone described as a blend of Lauryn Hill, Madonna, and Erykah Badu, this inspirational songstress has created other tracks since Rise Up including “Ascension,” an anthem for revolution beyond genre, “Stand Strong,” a soulful reggae single, and a new roots reggae single with pop appeal, “Mystic One,” featuring Rising Buffalo Tribe.
Born and raised in Canada, Zahira embraced music at a young age and became a gospel choir soprano. When her family moved to the US, she focused on refining her natural talents and realized she was bound for a career in the arts. She studied jazz vocals and performance, and has trained in North Indian classical vocals, sound healing, performance, dance, and West African drumming. Aside from her native English, she writes and performs songs in Hebrew, Sanskrit, Arabic, Spanish, French, Michif (the language of her ancestors the Métis people of the US and Canada, descendants of First Nations women and European fur traders) and indigenous languages to share her message with the world, promoting healing and empowerment in response to assaults on human and environmental rights.
Zahira will be one of the headliners at the upcoming G-Fest: Goddess Rising 2019 in Mt. Shasta Aug. 2-5. Zahiramusic.com
—LLOYD BARDE ([email protected])