Soul Sister Bella Kalolo struts her stuff!

MEDIA RELEASE For immediate release: 23 September 2013

Soul Sister Bella Kalolo struts her stuff!

One of the most velvety voices in New Zealand hits the stage at Expressions on Thursday 17 Oct. Knock out vocalist Bella Kalolo, fresh from a sell-out tour of the USA, brings her fresh mix of soul and funk to Upper Hutt. This is one show not to be missed.

Bella Kalolo grew up with music around her. There was the church choir on Sundays and Bella and her parents sang together as a country-and-western-style duo. Bella recalls singing with her father at 21st birthday parties, funerals and other events from the age of 5. From singing at a young age, Bella developed a love of music and giving to others, along with a keen appreciation of the need to rehearse well to produce the best performance. "Without the upbringing I had, I don't think I'd be doing what I am doing now."

She won a scholarship to Paraguay when she was 17, joining a band there called Dos Tribus, which had Top 10 songs in the South American charts. Returning to New Zealand, she worked in musical theatre, and television, appearing on TV’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’, the lead role in TV2 children’s series, ‘Jandals Away’. She also performed in the immensely popular NZ movie, ‘Sione’s Wedding’, ‘Matariki’ and ‘The Orator’. Bella began focusing on original music in 2008, releasing her first single at the end of that year. Her album debuted in the New Zealand top 40. In 2011, she joined Fat Freddy's Drop on The Road To Opononi Tour, supporting global hip-hop star Mos Def; she has sung for TVNZ's Dancing With The Stars; and has worked with some of New Zealand's music industry heavyweights, including Dave Dobbyn, Don McGlashan and Nathan Haines. She has provided backing vocals with Aaradhna, for Hollie Smith and The Pink Floyd Experience, performed at Party Central for the Rugby World Cup, and at Divas in Paradise, Rarotonga, alongside Ladi6 with Julia Deans.

Bella was named the best female artist at the 2012 Pacific Music Awards. "I was so over the moon to receive that - it was like a community pat on the back. It's not that you go seeking someone else's approval, but it was nice to have that acknowledgement that you're not just doing this until your blood runs dry. It has a purpose; I'm really proud of it."

Bella has recently come back from a six-week tour of the United States with Aaradhna, Katchafire and J-Boog, with 20 gigs booked across the west coast, starting in Los Angeles. No stranger to festivals, Bella has also sung at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2011. Other festivals in which she's performed include the Origins Festival and City of London Festival, along with festival gigs in New York and Boston.

At Expressions, she will perform some of her new material, along with an array of soul standards from other artists.

With the live and super-tight accompaniment of the band, Bella comes across as one of James Brown’s funky divas. It really might be some lost vinyl nugget from the 70s, capturing that feeling with as much authenticity as a retro-soulster like Sharon Jones.
Nick Bollinger, Radio NZ

Espousing a mixture of Aretha Franklin/Jill Scott redolent soul (both classical and modern, yet with a pacific twist) and some rousing stand-up comedy, interspersed with touchingly personal emotional tales, Kalolo ripped through sequences of songs... and threw a few tasty covers into the mix - Martyn Pepperell, Dominion Post

Bella Kalolo and Band

Thursday 17 October 2013

8pm

$30 per ticket

Expressions Arts & Entertainment Centre

www.expressions.org.nz

© Scoop Media