Best known as the lead singer of the soul supergroup Imagination, the incomparable Leee John returns to Birmingham once again (on Thursday June 6) with a very special intimate live performance at the much love Jamhouse - with special guest support from singing sensation Shiraz.
With three UK Top 10 hits in the early 1980s during a remarkable career spanning over 3 decades and with record sales in excess of over 30 million albums Leee and the group released and successfully had so many amazing classic hits singles and platinum, gold and silver albums such as, ‘Body Talk’, ‘Just An Illusion’, ‘Flashback’, ‘Music and Lights’, ‘Changes’ and many more presenting the perfect Brit Soul/Jazz/Funk songbook and establishing their position as essential 80's crossover hit-makers and an influence for future generations in the music industry.
Even today the story of Imagination’s music continues in the form of a long list of samples, remixes and adaptations by major contemporary stars such as the The Pharcyde, Dimitri from Paris, Destiny’s Child (Complete with Beyoncé) sampled ‘Just An Illusion’ on their 1998 self-titled debut album produced by Wyclef Jean, with Leee himself featured on DJ Dero’s 2005 rendition of the song which was widely played in clubs. Even America superstar Maria Carey recorded “Illusion” on her top ten single “Get Your Number”. Furthermore we see Flashback being sampled by Boards of Canada, Music & Lights by Tiger & Woods. All Night Loving by 88 Keys featuring Kanye West – “a long cry from the early days when we literally had to sleep in a little Citroën car as we toured Europe – which we had to do before ‘blowing up’ in the UK”, he recalls.
“That’s what we, and many others, had to do back then.”
“The sad fact is, though”, he mused, “is that many still have to do it today in large.”
At a time (in the early 1980s) when many in the industry, in the UK, first really started to consider the genre (especially performed by Black acts) as ‘high risks’, together they (Imagination) were at the frontrunners in what was a fast-growing, thriving Brit Funk scene during those heady days alongside the likes of Junior Giscombe, David Grant and Lynx, Loos Ends, Light of the World, Courtney Pine, Jamiroquai, Hi Tension, Central Line and many more.
Today the singer/songwriter, actor and film maker is one of the hardest working men in the industry, touring internationally both as Leee John of Imagination and as Leee John in his ever-popular solo performances showing his continuous diversity across multi genres from the pop stream as well as his more classic presentation in the jazz world, none better reflecting this than with the release of his last critically acclaimed solo album ‘Feel My Soul’.
Having produced and directed 5 documentaries taking him as far away as Zambia , Tunisia, South Africa and France and is currently producing and directing ‘Flashback’ - a film of the history of British Black music for which more than 200 interviews are already in the can, including Beverley Knight, Eddy Grant, Billy Ocean , Maxie jazz of Faithless, Ali Campbell of UB40, Mike Lindup of Level 42, Trevor Nelson, Omar, Geno Washington, Maxie Priest, Sonique, Hamish Stuart of Average White Band, Ruby Turner and many, many more.
A patron of SOS Children’s Villages, a global charity supporting children without parental care and families at risk, he makes regular visits to Zambia, Tunisia, South Africa, Angola and Côte d'Ivoire where emergency work ensures that children and their families coping with conflict and disaster receive immediate lifesaving support, while their psycho-social and reintegration programmes provide the care and skills to rebuild lives.
“As there’s too often too much bureaucracy tied up in many charities, I do that – and ‘Voyage Youth’; who work on encouraging and enlightening underprivileged children in the UK – by myself”, he says.
“I work face-to-face with the people who are suffering”.
His long awaited new album ‘Retropia’ delivers a distinctive combination of soul, funk and jazz with a classic contemporary retro sound from that ‘back in the day’ feel, which creates a very special atmospheric sensitivity with mid-tempo grooves and that unmistakable Leee John vocal sound with those famous Imagination harmonies creating that familiar blend of melody which makes you remember each individual song, taking you on a magical musical adventure into the world of ‘Retropia’.
Supporting from its release the ‘Retropia’ album scores an incredible 2 x Number # 1 songs in the UK Soul Charts with ‘Do It Right Now’ and ‘Make Your Mind Up/Fantasia’ which follows on this summer with a third single release ‘Police & Thieves’ a personnel rendition and homage to the classic and unforgettable anthem originally recorded way back in 1977 by Junior Murvin/Lee Scratch Perry with its poignant message eerily, echoing across to today’s political and social landscape over 40 years on.
Make sure you make the most of Leee at the Jamhous (Thursday June 6) as straight after, he is off to shows in Marseilles, Geneva and Lebanon before finishing off ‘Flashback’ to go out on general release.
