For her previous effort, 2014's superb Lagos Music Salon, New York-based singer/songwriter Somi moved to Lagos, Nigeria in order to absorb the city's vibrant music and culture and utilize them as a catalyst for her own cross-pollinated jazz and R&B.

On 2017's Petite Afrique, she turns her attention back across the Atlantic to New York's Harlem, drawing inspiration from that city's deep cultural roots to celebrate America's immigrant experience.

Although born in Illinois, Somi is the daughter of Rwandan and Ugandan immigrants, and even spent several years living in Zambia and Kenya as a child.

Consequently, she brings a unique cultural perspective to her music, a sound informed by jazz, R&B, and African and Latin traditions.

Here, Petite Afrique (or "Little Africa") refers to a stretch of Harlem along West 116th Street, famed for its many shops and restaurants historically run by French-speaking Muslim West African immigrants.

Somi even includes snippets of recorded conversations she had with Harlem locals and cab drivers to help flesh out her story-based song cycle.

Produced by Lagos Music Salon's Keith Witty, Petite Afrique showcases an adept ensemble including guitarist Liberty Ellman, pianist Toru Dodo, bassist Michael Olatuja, and drummer Nate Smith.

Also collaborating with Somi is trumpeter and associate producer Etienne Charles (himself an immigrant who grew up in Trinidad), who co-wrote some of the songs and supplies string and horn arrangements featuring fellow jazz musicians tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland and alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw.

Somi

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Alien - Somi

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Black Enough - Somi

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