Lyambiko (born Sandy Müller; 1978) is a German

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer. She has released five charting albums in Germany.

Life and work

Lyambiko, whose stage name is the last name of her father, was born in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, and grew up in a musically active family. Her grandfather was already a member of a jazz combo in the 1930s and her father worked as a singer in both the church choir and in jazz and in

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

bands. At the age of 17 Lyambiko founded her first band as a singer (folk, pop, blues) and participated as the youngest participant in a band contest, where she won her first studio recording. After a long musical break, Lyambiko moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1999. As part of the preparation for the entrance exam to the Hochschule für Musik, she received singing and piano lessons and developed a small repertoire of jazz standards. This was followed by the first concerts in Berlin jazz clubs with various lineups and a regular engagement "Lyambiko - Strange Fruit" in a duo with guitar. Lyambiko was given the opportunity to perform at the renowned Berlin jazz club A-Trane in April 2000. From April 2001, the quartet of the same name was named after Lyambiko, with whom she expanded her concert activities to Germany, and later also to neighboring European countries and the United States. In addition to her jazz projects, the singer first worked on a program of African music with a children's and youth choir in 2007. Nationally, "Singer of the Year" Lyambiko won the Echo Jazz 2011 with "Something Like Reality".

Lyambiko (band)

The band of the same name originally consisted of American pianist Marque Lowenthal, Canadian bassist Robin Draganic, German drummer Torsten Zwingenberger, and Lyambiko. They had their first appearance in April 2001 and have been on tour at home and abroad ever since. They play swing,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and

soul jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including sa ...

, including many standards. The first two albums were released by the Hamburg jazz label '' Nagel Heyer Records'', after which they switched to

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

. The album ''Shades of Delight'' reached number 2 on the German jazz charts. The albums ''Lyambiko—''a collection of flattering jazz standards''—''and ''Love… And Then'' were each awarded a jazz award by the German Phonover Association. In February 2007, the album ''Inner Sense was released'', to which Lyambiko contributed two songs of its own for the first time. In addition to two cover versions from pop / rock music, it only contains original compositions. The album ''Saffronia'' is a tribute to

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

. Reviewing ''Shades of Delight'' in July 2004, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' critic Tom Hull said, "She's an Afro-German who sings perfectly nuanced English. They're an eponymous band of determinedly optimistic Übermenschen. Together they demonstrate their taste and smarts many times over."

Discography

* ''Out of This Mood'' (2002) * ''Shades of Delight'' (2003) * ''Lyambiko'' (2005) (GER:

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in jazz);Gold-/Platin-Datenbank des Bundesverbandes Musikindustrie, Abruf vom 3. Juni 2016
/ref> GER #91Lyambiko
on the German Charts * ''Love ... And Then'' (2006) (GER: Gold in jazz); GER #78 * ''Inner Sense'' (2007) (GER: Gold in jazz); GER #89 * ''Saffronia'' (2008) GER #57 * ''Something Like Reality'' (2010) * ''Lyambiko Sings Gershwin'' (2012) GER #78 * ''Muse'' (2015) * ''Love Letters'' (2017) * ''Berlin - New York'' (2019)

References

{{authority control German jazz singers Nagel-Heyer Records artists Sony BMG artists Okeh Records artists