Lady Zen Quezada

Music

FEATURED SONG

Play
Play Next
Add to queue

Whatever I Want

Album:

Released: Jan 1, 2009

Label:

1. Play
2. Play Next
3. Add to queue
Whatever I Want
4:03
1,140 plays
1. Play
2. Play Next
3. Add to queue
Like Water
5:25
474 plays

Total Plays: 1,669 / Plays Today: 1See All Featured ►

General Info

Genre: Hip Hop / Jazz / R&B
Location Portland, Maine, US
Profile Views: 9412
Last Login: 9/19/2011
Member Since 2/15/2007
Record Label Demi Studios
Type of Label Indie
Bio
Lady Zen holds a B.A. in Music Business Management and Marketing from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She is also a Fulbright Scholarship winner for Opera Performance with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. As the front woman and primary songwriter for the band, Liquid Blues, she wrote and recorded five original compilations. She has been a featured jazz artist in several venues around the Southern United States, taking a residency at the 1936 Club in Fayetteville, until she moved to Washington in the late 1990’s. While living on the West Coast she was one of the founding members of the Female Hip-Hop Alliance which featured the talents of such musicians as Ruby Valentine from Romanteek (romanteekshows.blogspot.com) and Scream Club (screamclub.com) and Timezone LaFontaine. She continued to perform as a jazz vocalist with the very prominent Joe Baque (www.joebaque.com) at the Limelight Club while performing with the F.H-H.A. When she moved to Athens, Ohio she formed the Ki-en Crew, an all female DJ collective that focused on mentoring and teaching women of all ages the skills of DJ-ing through a non-profit organization called, ArtsWest. She was one of the strong voices that came out of the Athens, Ohio Hip-Hop Shop which featured such artists as Doxcity, Dysfunctional Family, DJ Self Help, D Jones, and slam poet; Jon Sands. She worked with the Ohio University chapter of the Hip-Hop Congress. She has shared the stage with such underground hip-hop artist as Jesty Beats, The Lab Rats, and Brui Lei. She was also featured as for the first Ladyfest in Athens, Ohio. Upon moving to Portland, Maine Lady Zen became a member of, The Queer Alternative, a queer theater company that brings together queer artists of all genders and gender identities to perform in an uncensored public forum. As a member of the Port Veritas Slam poetry collective, she has teamed up with poet T$ to form Butch Poets which rejects the traditional oppressive expressions of masculinity which breed hate in the form of violence, intolerance, and greed. She can be found touring on the East Coast with her new book that will be self released on July 30, 2009. She recently opened for Kurtis Blow, Kenya Hall, and Gil Scott Heron. She has been featured on Lesbian Radio and the pod cast, Catalina Byrd. She will be on tour with Butch Poets, and will be performing with her Jazz Slam Poetry Band which features some of the hottest jazz players in Portland, Maine. She is a lecture on Jazz Slam Poetry topics, a vocal coach, and a poetry writing seminar director.
Members
Mark Tipton- Trumpet Chris Sprague- Upright Bass Jim Doherty- Drums/sound engineer
Influences
Sister Roberta Thorpe, Lavern Baker Eartha Kitt, Ramsey Lewis, Nina Simone Aretha Franklin, Lauren Hill, Medusa, Monk, Mary J Blige, Love Unlimited, The Supremes Mavis Staples, The Staple Singers, Al Green, Sarah Vaughn, Della Reese, Ella Fitzgerald Dinah Washington George Lewis, Anthony Hamilton,Toni Braxton, Gerri Mulligan, Stan Getz, Babel, Eryka Badu, Barry White, Sade, Betty Davis, Chico Hamilton, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Stevie Wonder and a bunch more folks I am probably forgetting.
Sounds Like
Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and those vocalists from back in the day who knew how to mix the beautiful colors of life's images into words and buttery tones.