NAJE

Rebecca Reuther

San Francisco

NAJE | NEW DAY San Francisco soul siren Naje (Na-jay), aka Rebecca Reuther, is scheduled for an April 22 release of her upcoming retro-pop album New Day - a modern-day Sharon Jones meets Amy Winehouse that promises to be THE new sound of 2016! One listen to Naje’s powerful, soul-shattering voice fused with early 60’s Motown-era pop-soul, funk and R&B and you know you’ve found the real deal. The album was recorded in the studio while the songstress was pregnant and explores the many colors of love, loss, endings and new beginnings, and documents many events that define Naje, especially the birth of her daughter and becoming a mother. New Day was co-written and co-produced by Naje and composer/arranger/bassist Sascha Jacobsen after she raised the money to produce the album through her loyal fans on Kickstarter. The album was recorded by engineer Scott Bergstrom at Oakland’s 25th Street Studios and features an all-star cast of Bay area musicians with Naje (The Supervixens) on vocals, Sascha Jacobsen (Rita Moreno, Hugh Jackman, Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone) on bass, Mike Blankenship (Sheila E) on keys and hammond B3, Colin Douglas (Eddie Palmieri, Wayne Wallace) on drums and percussion, Dave McNab (Bob Weir) on guitar, Guillermo Garcia (Trio Garufa) on nylon string guitar, and the Musical Art Quintet. Musically, Naje draws influence from what she deems to be an eclectic mix of musical genres, including jazz, soul, R&B, reggae, and of course indie-rock and punk-rock, the music she grew up on. And that’s exactly what you get on her retro-pop New Day, an album that’s not afraid to dive into the many shades of love, pain, loss and dealing with the tough truths that allow us to experience overwhelming joy, devotion, faith and bravery. She was born Rebecca Benham in Virginia Beach, VA, and raised on an eclectic diet of rock and punk rock before developing her love for jazz and Billie Holiday. She was raised in her teens by her aunt and uncle in Tampa, Florida before attending the University of Florida where she studied Journalism and Telecommunications. After graduation, she set off for Athens, Georgia to dive into the town’s vibrant indie music scene, and it was here she joined all-girl rock band The Supervixens. She also teamed up with Hayden Thais (Man or Astroman, Servotron) to write her first song ‘Dying Starry Avengers’ which she recorded with The Supervixens and released on Kindercore Records. After the Supervixens, she adopted her stage name Naje, taken from her late mother's name Najebi, and set out to record and produce her first EP with Jim Marrer at Zero Return Studios with Thais playing guitar and bass and Ballard Lessemann (Rock*A*Teens) on drums. In 2006, Naje released downtempo/trip hop album Cinephoniq, and in 2011 worked with Latin-grammy winner Lorenz Russo (Tango Fatal) to independently produce and release versions of ‘Caravan’ and ‘More Than You Know’, along with her own original ‘The Garden.’ From 2011-2013, she served as a local artist-in-residence at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco, and has performed at top venues and festivals around the country including the Great America Music Hall, the SF War Memorial Performing Arts Center, the De Young Museum, Yoshi’s Jazz Club, Fillmore Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Athens Jazz Festival, Athfest, Buena Vista Winery, The Fabulous 40 Watt, Atomic Music Hall, Chicago New Music Festival, The Georgia Theatre, The Masquerade, and many more. "Not only does NaJe always deliver a compelling and charismatic show with her unique vocal sound, but she consistently fills the room with her loyal following. First we kicked off our Local Talent Series, and NaJe led the way in making it a success. When we decided to launch our Yoshi's Jazz Supper Club, we knew that NaJe was the artist we wanted to feature in our opening month. It was every bit as successful as we had hoped and more." Evan Sokol, Director of Marketing Yoshi’s Jazz Club – San Francisco