ARTIST : Ayo
TITLE : Gravity At Last
LABEL : Universal
GENRE : Soul
BITRATE : 166 kbps avg
SOURCE : CD (LP)
PLAYTIME : 00:48:11
SIZE : 60.6MB
STORE DATE : 2008-00-00
Track List
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1. I Am Not Afraid 3:35
2. Maybe (Ayo Blues) 3:28
3. Slow Slow (Run Run) 3:29
4. Love And Hate 3:45
5. Get Out Of My Way 2:46
6. Better Days 3:32
7. Change 3:11
8. Piece Of Joy 3:38
9. Lonely 4:15
10. Sometimes 3:36
11. What's This All About ? 3:21
12. Mother 5:29
13. Thank You 4:06
At the age of six Ayo. played the violin for a short
time, then turned to the piano and later taught herself
to play the guitar. When she was about 15, she wrote her
first song, which was about her mother, and which helped
her to cope with her traumatic childhood. Her musical
taste was influenced by her father's large selection of
vinyl albums which included Pink Floyd, Fela Kuti, Donny
Hathaway, Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley. When her father,
who worked part-time as a DJ while studying engineering
in Germany, discovered her singing talent he recorded a
first demo tape with her in a studio and allowed her to
drop out of school at the age of eighteen.
At twenty-one Ayo. moved to London and later lived in
Paris and New York. During her time in Paris her musical
talent was noticed by a broader audience, and she gave
her first solo concerts, opened 2002 for soul singers
Omar and Cody Chesnutt, and signed a contract with
Polydor Records.
Shortly after giving birth to her son Nile, she recorded
her first album Joyful in January 2006 in the New York
Sony studio. The whole disc was recorded in just five
days under live conditions, with a group of musicians
organized by her producer Jay Newland. The album was
released in June 2006 in Europe and Korea and in November
2007 in the United States and Japan.
At the end of 2007 Ayo. started a concert tour through
Germany and the United States. On her American tour she
performed with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. On 10 January
2008 she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman,
and on January 26, 2008 the Late Late Show with Craig
Ferguson, performing her song Down on My Knees. In June
2008 the singer started her second tour through the
United States and Canada.
On 10 March 2008 Ayo. started recording on her second
album Gravity At Last at the Compass Point Studios in
Nassau on the Island of New Providence, The Bahamas. She
is co-producing the album with Jay Newland. Her band
includes Keith Christopherson (bass), Larry Campbell
(guitars and other string instruments), Lucky Peterson
(keyboards), Sherrod Barnes (guitar/vocals) and Jermaine
Parrish (drums). The album with 13 tracks written and
composed by the singer was recorded in only 5 days and
will be released at the end of September 2008 by
Universal Music France.