Music
Press
Live Album - Second Story Sessions
"Utterly honest and beautifully written.......beautiful soulstirring music , reminds me of early Jill Scott meets Indie Irie"
Elle J Small - Fmagazine - Uk's Leading Digital Mag
EYE Magazine, Toronto/ Errol Nazereth- 2005
Of all the female singers in the local R&B, soul and hip-hop scenes, Skyla J's voice is the warmest and most seductive. Think Philly poetess Ursula Rucker and you have an idea of how sultry J's voice is and how it perfectly suits the group's organic mixture of jazz, reggae and soul.
- Eye Magazine
Album Review: Time and Energy
German Website www.jazznotjazz.de 2005
'What a real pleasant surprise! Greenlaw Ave. is a duo which evokes memories of Groove Theory or Sample This! But Skyla J and Michael Anthony Osbourne (aka MC Ozzie) have their own sound, which is an earthy, raw mixture of groovy beats, street soul and jazz. Time And Energy was recorded in London, which may explain why their music is done in a way you’d expect more to come out of the UK than Greenlaw Ave.’s home country Canada.
The title track Time And Energy is straight out of the nu soul department but it has that special something that separates it from the masses of nu soul songs and that is Skyla J's magic flute.
Colour Blue is a fine vocal performance by Skyla and again her flute playing. A great, timeless song. Things get even better with All Around Me, a soul song that oozes class with cello and trumpet adding further variation to Greenlaw Ave.'s sound ...... so don't miss Greenlaw Ave. if you like your music original, with heartfelt and honest energy.' - German Website www.jazznotjazz.de/ 2005
CBC Radio 1 and Errol Nazereth of Eye Magazine featured Time and Energy as an " Album that made them sit up and listen in 2005"On a years end CBC segment Dec 31st 2005. - CBC Radio 1
Won Most memorable show at the 2004 Monday Mag awards, were also most nominated artists. - Monday Mag
Discography
- Oct 2010 - Single No Less Of A Star released on Digital download
-Dec 2009 -Single After Im Gone Including 6 Remixes Charts #2 and #10 on Breakbeat.com
-2008 Single Warrior including 7 Remixes on Vinyl and Digital Download
-2005 Time and Energy - Studio Album recorded in London, England at Petworth Sounds.Voted top album of 2005 by CBC Toronto
Many songs are regularly rotated on CBC, Canadian College and University Radio and Indie Radio in England.
-2005 Title track off Time and Energy released by King a Groove records on an International hip hop film fest compilation.
-Late 2003 -Second Story Sessions / - Live album, recorded in Victoria B.C sold over 2000 units off stage from 2003 - 2004. Many songs are regularly rotated on CBC, Canadian College and University Radio and Indie Radio in England.
-Next Une / 2002 - Single released from Album" Music For Short Attention Spans"
Written and performed by Skyla J
Label - Nice and Smooth
Charted Top 50 London, England Radio
Photos
Bio
Musical Philosophy
Skyla and Ozzie share a belief in a higher power, and infuse their music with a strong sense of personal spirituality. Much of their original work, created over 13 years, is dedicated to the strength of the human spirit. Always seeking to push the boundaries of their unique musical style, they have embarked on a side project called SKYlab Sounds to experiment with Beats Bass, their true musical passion, and Voice. Their ultimate goal as musicians is to inspire, and uplift, their audiences.
Greenlaw “Ave” – How Greenlaw began….
After their initial collaboration in Victoria under the name “Selective Collective,” Skyla J and Oz decided to make the move to Toronto, Ozzie’s hometown, to expose themselves to the urban scene, and the soul sights and sounds of Toronto’s Afro-Caribbean community. The duo expanded to an 8-piece funk “big band”, their talent earning them the honor of headlining many events including the 1999 Montreal Jazz Festival.
Two years later, Ozzie and Skyla J decided to re-form as a smaller, four-piece, soul, reggae, hip-hop fusion band, Greenlaw Ave. In addition to adding a drummer and a lead guitarist, Ozzie took up the bass and Skyla the flute. After 7 months together in Toronto, the band booked a cross-country tour playing cities such as Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Greenlaw Ave was heading home!
Greenlaw
Over the next 10 years, Greenlaw Ave, whose name was subsequently shortened to Greenlaw, has played venues throughout Germany, France, the UK, the USA, and Canada. Their success grew phenomenally after the release of their debut single “Warrior” on UK-based Formation records in 2008, with whom they signed in 2006. In review after review, Greenlaw has earned praise for their unique brand of dub, soul, and drum & base infused rhythms, combined with a unique high-energy live performance and visual showcase. In addition to playing sold-out shows in Europe and North America, Greenlaw has received extensive playtime by some of the most influential people in the Drum & Bass world, including BBC Radio 1 DJs Fabio & Groovdigger. Indeed their 2009 hit “After I’m Gone”, including remixes by Formation Record’s front man DJ SS Nero, Tantrum Desire, and many more, stayed in the top five of the international Download charts for more than four weeks. In 2010, Greenlaw released the powerful and moving “No Less of a Star”, grabbing the attention of industry professionals and listeners worldwide.
With a highly anticipated album due fall 2011, and many more projects in the pipeline, the sky is the limit for MC Ozzie and Skyla J.
RECENT NEWS
JAN 2010
GREENLAW NEW SINGLE AFTER IM GONE CHARTS NUMBER 2,5 and 10 ON BREAKBEAT.CO.UK
MARCH 2009
Greenlaw Nominated for Best Electronic Act at Victoria's M Awards
OCT 2009 TC HELICON SPONSORS GREENLAW"S FALL EUROPEAN TOUR
TC-Helicon and Greenlaw are a perfect Union.
TC-Helicon’s performance pedals have assisted Greenlaw in bringing their live Dub Soul and DnB performance to the next level. Using both the new Voice Tone Synth and the Voice Tone Create Greenlaw is excited to show the World how these pedals give them a creative edge during performance and will be using them during their upcoming WODNB Tour.
FEB 2009 GREENLAW NOMINATED FOR BEST NEW PRODUCERS and BEST INTERNATIONAL ACT at the MTV DNB Awards in the UK
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