I’ve mentioned the DVD One Week With Jhelisa - Rediscovering America last week. In the meantime I had the pleasure to see this 52 minutes of footage and it’s highly recommendable for every Jhelisa fan. Markus Bader and Jan Hagenkötter filmed Jhelisa while she was in New Orleans in the spring of 2005 working on a new album. So there’s a lot of local colour, which is now unfortunately lost forever since the New Orleans shown here doesn’t exist anymore, to be soaked up on this DVD.
Jhelisa talks openly about her past. How she growed up in the USA in Jackson, Mississippi, and in Lousiville, Kentucky, with her parents, how she was bribed with candy by her father to start singing with her family, how she worked for Motown and Capitol Records in the 80s in LA (as a receptionist and telephone operator). And how she finally went to London and became the singer of Soul Family Sensation’s I Don’t Even Know If I Should Call You Baby on the One Little Indian imprint. The rest is like one says history when Jhelisa released Galactica Rush on Dorado and the hit Friendly Pressure. Jhelisa talks in detail about her records Galactica Rush, Language Electric and Galactica Moods and her work with Courtney Pine on Trying Times.
Generally Jhelisa seems to be very down to earth. For example getting acknowledgement from Chaka Khan meant so much more to her than any Grammy award. And Chaka also covered a song by Jhelisa, which unfortunately hasn’t been released yet, but Jhelisa has a CD of Chaka’s version of Death Of A Soul Diva.
Naturally Jhelisa talks about her new album and songs like Hunger In A World Of Plenty or Freedom’s Land. You can watch Jhelisa putting together the latter in a recording session. From what can be heard on this DVD her album Discovery Of Amazing will be one of the musical highlights 2006.
It’s interesting to find out how much traveling the world has changes Jhelisa’s view on the USA. She even talks about being some kind of brainwashed while she lived there.
One Week With Jhelisa is very interesting footage about a highly original artist which will certainly appeal to you even if you’re not a die-hard Jhelisa fan. I wish there would be more documentations like this about musicians who dare to be different and defy musical borders.
(below are a few stills from the DVD)

One Week With Jhelisa was released by Infracom November 1st, 2005.

For more infos visit infracom.de (the DVD is available online only) and read Jhelisa’s thought about the hurricane Katrina.