Bio
Laila Biali is fast becoming the new face of contemporary jazz. From touring with Suzanne Vega, Chris Botti and Paula Cole to recording with and supporting Sting on his If On a Winter's Night DVD and tour, her resume precedes her. The past two years has seen a renewed focus on her skills as composer, arranger, singer and pianist. Her reputation for challenging the boundaries of music is unparallelled. She takes the best of pop, rock, classical and soul, informs it with her knowledge of Jazz and weaves it all into her musical arrangements seamlessly. Laila's music has been presented at prestigious venues spanning four continents including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Tokyo's Cotton Club, Peru's El Festival Internacional de Lima, and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Her accolades include "SOCAN Composer of the Year" and "Keyboardist of the Year" at Canada's National Jazz Awards, and her latest release Tracing Light received a JUNO nomination for "2011 Best Vocal Jazz Album of the Year." She currently splits her time between New York City and Toronto, where she is working on material for two new recording projects.
"Laila has the uncanny gift of making familiar songs sound brand new—and when we hear her new songs, it feels like we have known them for years. Laila invites us to a secret place that we never want to leave."
- Robert Sadin, multi-Grammy award winning producer (Sting, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter)
"Biali has a voice that makes the listener shudder, it is so rounded and pure."
- Montreal Gazette
"A keyboard virtuoso with a distinctive sultry voice - intimate and emotional."
- Toronto Star
"For Biali, the jazz tradition is a step on the way to setting, and playing, her own standards."
- Toronto Life Magazine
"Full of bold musical ventures, youthful funkiness, ingenuity, verve and depth."
- Ottawa Citizen
"Her ability to meld traditional jazz with contemporary pop allows Biali to easily move between both worlds - so effortlessly that neither style seems out of place on the same record."
- Spinner Magazine
"Laila Biali is a sublime talent. With glittering keyboard work, a gift for complex arrangements and a soothing and sophisticated vocal style, she brings dimension to pop and a masters' subtlety to jazz. It doesn't hurt that she packs a heck of a lot of charisma on stage."
- John Moore, host of Moore in the Morning (CFRB 1010)
"Juno Nominee Laila Biali makes music that you can put on when you want the world out of your head. It's familiar like a friend. It's jazz... at ease. Buy her albums because you'll listen to them again and again."
- Tim Tamashiro, host of Tonic (CBC Radio 2)
"Laila Biali is a rare find. She is not just a great pianist filled with an ever shifting and seemingly endless lyricism; she has the voice of an angel, and seems incapable of singing one bad note or a phrase not tied to the emotional landscape of the lyric. Laila Biali is a musical treasure."
- Rob Mathes, producer, arranger & composer (Sting, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Yo Yo Ma)
"Laila Biali is one of the most naturally gifted musicians I've ever worked with."
- Paula Cole, Grammy winning recording artist
"Laila Biali is one of the most beautifully gifted people I've ever met. Her music is pure magic."
- Don Thompson, JUNO award winning multi-instrumentalist
"I have nothing but the absolute highest regard for Laila, whether as a pianist, singer, or writer. She has amazing musical instincts married to brilliant technical ability, and any time I hear her music I feel better about everything. She is a great artist, and deserves any and all the good things that may come her way."
- Phil Dwyer, JUNO award winning multi-instrumentalist
"Laila has the uncanny gift of making familiar songs sound brand new—and when we hear her new songs, it feels like we have known them for years. Laila invites us to a secret place that we never want to leave."- Robert Sadin, multi-Grammy award winning producer (Sting, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter)
"Biali has a voice that makes the listener shudder, it is so rounded and pure."
- Montreal Gazette
"A keyboard virtuoso with a distinctive sultry voice - intimate and emotional."
- Toronto Star
"For Biali, the jazz tradition is a step on the way to setting, and playing, her own standards."
- Toronto Life Magazine
"Full of bold musical ventures, youthful funkiness, ingenuity, verve and depth."
- Ottawa Citizen
"Her ability to meld traditional jazz with contemporary pop allows Biali to easily move between both worlds - so effortlessly that neither style seems out of place on the same record."
- Spinner Magazine
"Laila Biali is a sublime talent. With glittering keyboard work, a gift for complex arrangements and a soothing and sophisticated vocal style, she brings dimension to pop and a masters' subtlety to jazz. It doesn't hurt that she packs a heck of a lot of charisma on stage."
- John Moore, host of Moore in the Morning (CFRB 1010)
"Juno Nominee Laila Biali makes music that you can put on when you want the world out of your head. It's familiar like a friend. It's jazz... at ease. Buy her albums because you'll listen to them again and again."
- Tim Tamashiro, host of Tonic (CBC Radio 2)
"Laila Biali is a rare find. She is not just a great pianist filled with an ever shifting and seemingly endless lyricism; she has the voice of an angel, and seems incapable of singing one bad note or a phrase not tied to the emotional landscape of the lyric. Laila Biali is a musical treasure."
- Rob Mathes, producer, arranger & composer (Sting, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Yo Yo Ma)
"Laila Biali is one of the most naturally gifted musicians I've ever worked with."
- Paula Cole, Grammy winning recording artist
"Laila Biali is one of the most beautifully gifted people I've ever met. Her music is pure magic."
- Don Thompson, JUNO award winning multi-instrumentalist
"I have nothing but the absolute highest regard for Laila, whether as a pianist, singer, or writer. She has amazing musical instincts married to brilliant technical ability, and any time I hear her music I feel better about everything. She is a great artist, and deserves any and all the good things that may come her way."
- Phil Dwyer, JUNO award winning multi-instrumentalist
