GRAMMY® Nominee Somi Finds Her Way Home on WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BLOOM?
"The sublime Somi bridges African and Western Jazz... her most poised album yet."
—The New Yorker
GRAMMY®-nominated vocalist and composer Somi has spent much of her career exploring the meaning of home, drawing inspiration from her African heritage and the many places that have shaped her life. But on her latest album, What Does It Take To Bloom?, she turns that exploration inward, asking what it means to feel at home within ourselves. Her first collection of original songs in six years, the album was written and recorded between Dakar, Lagos, Paris and New York, bringing together jazz, soul and contemporary African musical traditions. Co-produced with Benjamin James of Nigerian highlife duo The Cavemen, it's a deeply personal collection about love, loss, identity and finding the courage to begin again. Somi reminds us that growth isn't always easy or obvious. Sometimes it's simply about learning to accept where we are while finding our way toward who we're becoming.
The album opens with “Throw Something,” a reflection on letting go of the things we cannot control and learning to trust what comes next. On “We're All Falling,” Somi confronts grief and mortality, reminding us how precious our time together really is. “Sugar” explores love, second chances and the difficult realization that sometimes choosing yourself is the healthiest decision you can make. “So You Want To Be A Woman,” under consideration for this year’s GRAMMY® Awards Best Jazz Performance, features saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin and examines the expectations and responsibilities placed on Black women, while “Sometimes Love,” featuring The Cavemen and under consideration for Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals, brings another dimension to the album's African musical influences. Throughout the record, Somi also incorporates recordings of her mother's voice, offering words of wisdom that connect generations. These personal moments give the album an intimacy that feels like being invited into a conversation between a mother and daughter. And through it all, Somi's expressive vocals and thoughtful songwriting remind us that finding ourselves is a lifelong process, one that deserves patience, grace and a little faith.
Somi is a GRAMMY®-nominated vocalist, composer, actor and playwright of Rwandan and Ugandan heritage whose career has taken her across the worlds of jazz, theater and film. A two-time NAACP Image Award winner and recipient of the prestigious Doris Duke Artist Award, she made history in 2021 as the first African woman nominated for a GRAMMY® in a jazz category. Her work has long explored questions of identity, culture and belonging, from albums inspired by Lagos and Harlem to her celebrated tribute to South African music legend Miriam Makeba. She also made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning Jaja's African Hair Braiding and holds a PhD from Harvard University. Now dividing her time between New York City and Nairobi, Somi continues to create work that reflects the many worlds she inhabits. With What Does It Take To Bloom?, she reminds us that home isn't always a place on a map. Sometimes it's the person we become when we finally learn to embrace ourselves.
For more information visit somimusic.com.
REVIEWS
"A virtuosic performer in full command of her instrument and power."
—The New York Times
"A superb jazz singer... an elegant amalgam of the musics she loves and the bi-continental experiences that have shaped her life"
—NPR
"A pioneer of a new and promising generation of African artists."
—Vogue Magazine
A notable piece of art intent on raising questions while also rousing spirits."
—JazzTimes
