ALCHEMIST

4/24/2009 10:30 PM at Shea Rose & Special Guest Ramzy Suleiman "Funk Up JP"
435 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, 02130
Cost: Always Free

She can’t be put in a box. She’s the black Rickie Lee Jones. Other times, maybe she’s the female Lenny Kravitz. She’s an African American woman who rocks. She’s a singer-songwriter who can plug a hole in a soulful folk tune with a bit of rap. . After two years, she lost the feeling to perform, and moved to Jamaica with her boyfriend from the band, Nathan Sabanayagam. Her evolution continued with a heavy course in reggae in its homeland, and learning how to play guitar. Shea the storyteller revealed herself in a more folk-acoustic fashion, such as “Light Fades” & “Lovin’ You.” Returning again to Boston, she answered an ad on Craigslist, and was chosen as one of six writer-musicians to tour the country on a bus for MSN Music. While using her skills as a reporter, she wrote online articles for bands and concerts. Those close quarters with her busmates, representing different genres of American music, exposed to her even greater range of traditions -- and how the music industry works. After three months, the tour was over and Shea realized how little experience she really had with music. Getting serious, she took Berklee College of Music up on a $10,000 World Tour Scholarship they had offered three years before. “I never realized how vast and theoretical music really is,” she says of her education. Plus, she took advantage of a grant to study for a semester at the Nakas Conservatory in Greece. . Ramzy Suleiman is a pianist, vocalist, songwriter, and creative troublemaker, born and raised in the Washington D.C area. Mostly self-taught, Ramzy developed his musical talent as a child by transcribing Ray Charles songs by ear, and then singing and performing them at churches and local venues. In 2002 Ramzy became the singer/keys player, front man, and songwriter for D.C. area funk band JOPPA, and with them he has performed on the bill with such artists as Warren Haynes, Eric Krasno (Soulive), Marco Benevento, and Oscar-winning hip hop group Three Six Mafia. In August 2007, Joppa entered the studio to the last seven years, including at D.C.’s Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and New York City’s Sullivan Hall. Ramzy has also performed at political events and rallies, such as Barack O’bama fundraisers and Iraq war Protests, composing many songs embracing the message of peace and justice. In 2008, Ramzy was granted a scholarship to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he currently studies and performs with a diverse group of faculty and international students. Ramzy is eager to share his original music with new audiences, and looks forward to the debut of his new album “Killing in Vain” this summer.