I have loved Taja Sevelle from the very start of her career and have enjoyed all of her musical explorations. I've wanted to feature her here for years, but at one time Taja was offering her albums on her
website so I resisted out of respect. However, someone recently requested her work, and I checked her website and the albums are no longer available there, and they don't seem to be available digitally either, so I thought it was time to share her amazing music. As her biography is available on her website, I'll give the condensed version. She was born Nancy Richardson
in Minneapolis. While working in the health food industry and farming, she also pursued music, fronting several local jazz and R&B bands and also working as a radio producer and DJ. She was accepted at the Berklee College Of Music, but passed when Minneapolis' most famous citizen, Prince, offered her a record deal with his vanity label, Paisley Park, which was distributed through Reprise Records. She had previously done background vocals on his track "The Ladder" in 1985, and obviously this impressed him enough to sign her to a solo deal. Hooking up with Minneapolis musician Chico Bennett (aka
George Bennette), she created an album that incorporated the red hot Minneapolis sound, but with her own folksy, hippiesque vibe. Her first single, the self-penned ballad "Love Is Contagious," became a huge hit in Europe, reaching #7 on the UK charts, and a modest hit in the US, reaching #62 on the Billboard Hot 100. It remains one of my favourite ballads ever. She followed it up with the funky Prince-penned "Wouldn't You Love To Love Me," but it only managed to reach the middle of the UK Pop and Billboard R&B charts. Follow-up singles "Popular" and "Take Me For A Ride" failed to chart. Paisley Park's run would soon end, but Taja stuck with Reprise, and four years later released her second album,
Fountains Free. While Bennett still produced a few tracks (and would go on to work with superstars like Lady GaGa, Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake), she also worked with various other R&B and pop producers, most prominently pop producer du jour Ian Prince and the legendary Burt Bacharach. As a result, the album was much more pop-oriented, but the direction didn't seem to work, as the only single, "Trouble Having You Near," did not chart. For awhile it seemed that was the end of Taja's musical career, but six years later she surprised her fans by signing with 550 Music and releasing the album
Toys Of Vanity. This time she worked with producer R.J. Rice (of
R.J.'s Latest Arrival fame) and she delved deeply into the trip hop sound that was hot at the time. No doubt she didn't expect the album to become a huge pop hit, but she released the singles "I & I" and "A Lot Like You" to critical acclaim. Personally I was thrilled to discover the album a couple years later, as I was a huge trip hop fan. During the recording of the album in Detroit, Taja was struck by all of the poverty there. This led to her greatest passion, the founding of
Urban Farming, which encourages people in cities to grow their own food on unused land, and the group helped to plant vegetable gardens around the world for those in need. Though she has also written books, acted, and even patented her own invention, Urban Farming has remained her passion, and she has made more of a name for herself in this respect than from her music, having appeared on numerous television shows, including
Ellen. But she has still managed to release new music, including the underground house music hits "
Never Givin' Up" in 2000 and a remake of The Rolling Stones' "
Sympathy For The Devil" in 2003. She also independently released the
Good Times EP in 2004 and continues to occasionally independently release various singles on her
e-store. I have had the pleasure of corresponding with her on her blog and
Facebook page, and I can tell you that her personality is as sweet as her voice and her conscience.
Urban Farming
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Musi
Video for
Love Is Contagious
Video for
Wouldn't You Love To Love Me
Video for
Popular
Download
Taja Sevelle
| 1 |
Love Is Contagious |
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| 2 |
Wouldn't You Love To Love Me? |
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| 3 |
Popular |
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| 4 |
How Could You Do Me So Bad? |
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| 5 |
Take Me For A Ride |
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| 6 |
If I Could Get Your Attention |
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| 7 |
Infatuation |
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| 8 |
Baby's Got A Lover |
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| 9 |
Mama 16 |
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| 10 |
Fly For Your Painted Rainbow |
Download
Fountains Free
| 1 |
Trouble Having You Near |
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| 2 |
Chase Temptation |
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| 3 |
I'm Givin' In |
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| 4 |
Even Odd You |
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| 5 |
Fountains Free |
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| 6 |
The Power Of Your Love (You And I) |
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| 7 |
Perpetual Motion |
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| 8 |
What A State Of Love |
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| 9 |
Fierce Desire |
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| 10 |
Forever In Love |
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| 11 |
Died Alive |
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| 12 |
Trouble Having You Near (Radio Mix) |
Video for
I & I
Download
Toys Of Vanity
| 1 |
I & I |
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| 2 |
Us |
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| 3 |
Wake Before I Die |
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| 4 |
A Lot Like You |
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| 5 |
I Feel |
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| 6 |
Killing Time |
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| 7 |
Making Love To The Air |
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| 8 |
Fleet Of Angels |
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| 9 |
Toys Of Vanity |
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| 10 |
Sub-Conscious Me |
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| 11 |
Why? |
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| 12 |
Fleet Of Angels (No Drums) |
