iolite
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States | SELF
Music
Press
" This superb local group's MySpace page simply calls them "Neo-Soul." Bad Myspace Page! While that description is fitting, you could alternately call iolite a Jazz band or Reggae crew. Lead singer Annie Benick has the kind of voice you build a band around and that appears to be just what happened. Veteran music folks like Lucky Spaulding, Mark Santangelo and Ashley Martin have lent a hand, but its clearly Benick's and co-writer Julia Johanan's own sweet Soul revue. Come to think of it, Neo-Soul works. Sorry, MySpace."
Dig it:
Jill Scott doing a Jazz album, Billie Holiday sneaking some Bob
Marley into her set. (How? time travel or some shit). (MB)" Mike Breen, City Beat Music Editor
- City Beat
Iolite is a band surrounded by a deep richness of sound. There are a number of musicians on this EP that help appeal to the senses by way of a plush & vibrant appearance. The fullness factor can be contributed to the many talented players on this disc. This work is undeniably an all-around group effort that comes across as highly fulfilling to the listener. The members of Iolite are as follows: Arianne Benick as founder, co-writer & lead singer, Julia Johanan as founder, co-writer, pianist/keyboardist & other, Shimon Israel on bass, Dan Barger on flute, tenor/soprano sax & percussion along with various guests on drums. Additional instrumentalists include: Dawn Bosan on muted trumpet, flugel horn & horn arrangements, Tim “Tsly” Sylvester on guitars and Brian LoseKamp handling percussion.
Iolite offer a smooth blend of jazzy & bluesy soul as they hope to appease your appetite for “good vibes and good music”. I almost get an old-fashioned feel when listening to the five tracks on this EP. Just picture yourself in a smoky lounge in say the 50s or 60s era surrounded by cigarette clouds and soulful jazz numbers. This is the picture that is painted for you as they attempt to bring you back in time. These cool cats have got the perfect dose of medicine for all you “lounge lizards”. Their anecdote happens to be on the sensual and sultry side while keeping it classy all the way. This Cincinnati-based band comes equipped with a simple & delicate charm that is extremely delectable. Simply put, they have created timeless music for your listening pleasure.
From a musical perspective, Iolite, as a whole, really nailed it. The overall presence comes across as polished and well-versed. All instrumental sections were performed spot on with pure ease. Arianne Benick sings with such poise and passion to where you can sense this quality in her voice.
In the end, I believe Iolite have a lot to be proud of and a lot to play for. They have a solid reason and a true purpose when it comes to making music and that is to simply please ALL. Julia Johanan says it best when she stated: “Our main purpose is one of understanding and unity for all of humanity. We hope people can learn something from our experiences through our music”. Well said Julia and I applaud you and the rest of Iolite for your much needed & timely message. No better time than now to preach wholesome goodness in a country surrounded by blatant ugliness. And in the end… WE stand united as ONE. For more on this soulfully jazz-worthy group and their new release, SKOPE out www.myspace.com/iolitemusic.
By Jimmy Rae - Skope Magazine
"...With a taste of old Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Soul and Funk, iolite aims for a cavernous yet raw-heart, ultra-smooth sound that reaches beyond audio, entering the visual realm. Here, Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith meet Norah Jones and Massive Attack...." - City Beat
"...For us, it’s important for everyone to be a contributing member, not just someone who shows up for gigs and the occasional practice.” In fact dynamic and mutual energy are a key to the band, she told us..." - Metro Mix, Cincinnati
If you're looking for a way to jazz up and give your life soul, I'd suggest checking the musical efforts of iolite. From the first notes hitting my ears, it was obvious that this CD is mature and the art is real.
On Night, the soulful vocals soothe whatever is not right in the world. The instrumentation is peaceful and perfect. The trumpet solo is just right. On Be Wise, they embark into a more world music feel and genre. Its full of percussion and muted trumpets. The vocals are put nicely in their place and the piano excels.
On later track, Rooms, they bring in some good old fashioned soul to the mix. The warble of the guitars are a nice touch.
There seems to be a real sense of production and gloss with iolite. They know how to compose and turn art in to something the masses can enjoy and be moved by.
RATING: 5 of 5 stars
Posted by Ross Christopher - Ross Christopher, Awaken Music Magazine
On a scale from 1-5 we received high marks in all categories.
Recording Quality/Production: 4.5
Lead Vocals: 5
Musicianship: 5
Lyric Writing: 4.5
Music Composing: 4.5
Melodies: 5
Song Arrangement: 4 to 4.5
Comments:
"I love the blends of influences to create a unique sound with a/c, Jazz, soul and even blues.
The lead vocals and musicianship are outstanding. I really dig this project, Julia!"
- Foley Entertainment Inc.
iolite is planning a nationwide promotional push in 2010, but Saturday at The Mockbee in Brighton the group’s self-titled EP gets “release partied” with a hometown throw-down featuring guests Eclipse, Abiyah, DJ Nati Kid, djdq and DJ Stacks, plus lots of visual and culinary art. Singer Arianne Benick’s elastic, commanding vocals are the heart of iolite’s passionate, smoky Jazz/Blues/Soul sound, bringing to mind the varied likes of Tracey Thorn, Anita Baker, Norah Jones and Sade without distracting from the singularity of her approach. But the musicians deserve a lot of credit for creating the sensual mood with their deft, cinematic, urban Soul Jazz, crafted with flute, sax, trumpet, piano and sultry Jazz grooves.
The material, while subdued, still manages to create a sense of liveliness missing from most other attempts at this sort of speakeasy-ready Neo Soul Lover’s Rock. - City Beat
From the very moment that I heard their music, I was instantly hooked to the magical, inspiring, and sensual voice of Arianne Benick and the mesmerizing enchanting style of the rest of the members of the band. What is the best part of the band is the many fusion of style that one hears when listening to iolite's music. A combination of soul, jazz, reggae and R&B the band iolite will sure to delight and entertain music lovers of such artist as Sade, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone, and Erykah Badu to name a few. Many of these legendary artists' style will come across in the music of iolite. Check out the band in this recent spotlight with our Webzine as we get to know who is iolite. Enjoy! - Junior's Cave
Rating scale from 1- 4, 16 points total overall
Sound 3 / Composition 3.5 / Musicianship 3.5 /
Performance 3.5 / Total Rating 13.5
Billie Holiday would be proud to witness her influence being perpetuated so eloquently. Perhaps most astonishing about this old school group is that the performers, apparently, are very young. iolite, which hails from Cincinnati, plays steamily seductive torch music that sounds like the real thing because, well, it is. Singer Arianne Benick is a natural crooner who oozes sensuality on theses five midnight torchers, assisted by keyboardist/co-writer Julia Johanan plus others on horns, woodwinds, bass, guitar and drums.
Think loping piano, brushes on snare, lowly snarling trumpet and sax, with Benick's voice flowing like sweetly potent cognac through smoke filled environs. Hints of swing and bossa nova poke through on "Be Wise" but this is a mostly relaxed take on the classic lounge-jazz tradition from which these players are generations removed.
So, where's the prog ? It hadn't been invented yet. As iolite advises on the last cut from this irresistible EP, you've got to "Take it Slow".
-John Collinge, editor and publisher, Progression (quarterly journal of progressive music) - Progression, a quarterly music journal
"Holy sexy vibe, Batman! That’s all I could think while watching this five-piece band, complete with a saxophone/flute player at Roh’s Street Café on Saturday. The mesh of sounds coming from this band had me thinking along the lines of Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Chan Marshall (Cat Power) and Sade. Oooh, baby! The lead singer has a deep, smoky, alluring voice, and her body movements while she sang were entrancing. I was a bit shocked that people weren’t clap-happy after the saxophone player finished his kick-ass solos (I was, you better believe it), but overall, the crowd was definitely engaged. One of the many highlights was a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “Here But I’m Gone." - Metro Mix, Cincinnati
Interview of iolite by Stoli. - Skope Magazine
Immediately following Peter Adams was iolite. A band that mixes jazz, funk, blues and pop into a pot and sets on sizzle. As cheesy as that line was, the band won me over. With the intention of staying to see a bit of the Hip Hop set afterwards, I watched iolite and was blown away by the way they captivated the crowd. Each note secured a place in the mind of the listener, and wouldn’t let go.... - AltOhio
iolite is a sound bursting with originality; think Etta James meets Janis Joplin, and you might begin the understand the feel of the lead singer Arianne (Annie) Benick. Juila Johanan, Dan Barger, Shimon Israel and Marvin Hawkins round out this five piece to deliver a sultry sound filled with a wide array of influences. From Jazz to Reggae to Neo Soul/Blues, to an undeniable pop feel. Annie is electrifying on stage with her presence, both strong and warm, challenging and inviting. An experience you shouldn't miss on The CHMF stage!" - Far-I Productions
Discography
Demo.
1. Clouds
2. Taking it Slow
3. Been there
EP "iolite"
1. Night
2. Be Wise
3. Good and Bad
4. Rooms
5. Taking it Slow
"Taking it Slow" is featured in a full length, locally produced movie as the title track and played throughout the film.
* All tracks from the EP can be purchased and downloaded through all major online distributors including ITunes and Amazon.*
Photos
Bio
Just back from a successful mini tour of NYC and NJ!
Stops at The National Underground, The legendary Stanhope House, Phoebe's Cafe and Recoup Lounge! We went and did it! Going back for more!
Next project:
A theatrical musical piece in the film noir style. This will be a multi-media performance collaborating with members of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, local visual arts agency Able Projects and other local arts organizations. To be shown at the 2011 Cincinnati Fringe Festival.
Bio:
“Our main message is one of understanding and unity for all of humanity. We want people to feel like our music has something to teach them.” – Julia Johanan, iolite.
Being a huge fan of Leonard Cohen, Arianne Benick is thinking of one of his quotes when she explains her songwriting process for her Cincinnati-based band, iolite, which features Benick as lead vocalist and songwriter, keyboardist/songwriter and co-founder, Julia Johanan, Dan Barger on horns and percussion, and bassist, Shimon Israel. “I don’t feel like I can pick the songs or the melodies,” she says. “I feel like they pick me.”
Not pinned to one genre, iolite’s agile arrangements often pay homage to Jazz, Blues, and Reggae at the same time. Hearing iolite is like unearthing a multi-faceted jewel that’s mysteriously hard to classify. And being hard to classify seems to be part of iolite’s allure, which lends to another enigmatic thing about the band—its name. Drawing more from their combined energies rather than from any particular music genre, the band’s namesake comes from a semi-precious gemstone used by early Vikings for accurate navigation through the New World because it turned a deep indigo when aligned with sunrays. In comparison, Benick, whose lustrous voice seems to channel Sarah Vaughn, Norah Jones and Sade as muses, describes the band’s sound as hues of indigo, sapphire and deep purple. And like the gem, which is long-believed to possess metaphysical healing abilities that help one open up to a Higher Self, Johanan and Benick write music to help people open up their sub-consciousness and find metaphysical balance.
Benick’s intimate delivery over Israel’s grooving bass lines open listeners up to iolite’s universal messages of understanding self, impermanence, acceptance, patience and unity, as heard on tracks from the EP like “Be Wise,” “Night” and “Taking it Slow.” “Night’s” allusions of sun and moon (reflection of the sun/looking back at everyone….attract where you’re at….) talk about how people attract who they are on the inside. “We definitely use a lot of allegories to nature and life,” explains Johanan. Another song, “Rooms,” is a metaphor for personal space to grow after a break-up. Though women connect with the emotive lyrics and men connect with the sensual, smooth grooves, iolite’s fan base intersects binaries of age, race and gender. Playing throughout the tri-state with other avant-garde groups like Hip-Hop/Jazz trio, IsWhat?, they hope to build alliances with independent performers.
Before they became a band, Johanan met bass player, Israel in 2001 during her internship with Group Effort Studios in Northern Kentucky. After observing his recording session with reggae band Kaan’ Shuz, she and Israel began networking. Israel, a Grammy nominee from Cincinnati, had opened up for international reggae recording artists, Steel Pulse, Mighty Diamonds, Yellowman, Third World and Aswad. Minneola, NY native, Johanan began taking piano lessons at age five and earned a Bachelor’s in Electronic Media at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Israel invited her to audition as Kaan’ Shuz’s second keyboardist and she got the gig.
Johanan decided a year later that she wanted to start her own band, which slowly came to fruition. With nothing else to do one cold day in 2003, Johanan and friend, Benick, wrote a song together. They discovered a kinship through each other’s styles and kept writing. A few years later, they founded iolite, who had no permanent bass player until Israel saw them playing at The Greenwich and offered to come on board. “Shimon's style of playing and his experience with groove based music has really added a lot to iolite's sound, with rewriting most of the bass lines and adding a very experienced feel and authentic vibe to the band's original music,” says Johanan.
Before becoming iolite’s horn player and percussionist, Barger first met the group as a fan after sending iolite a MySpace.com email to compliment them on their style. Known on the music scene from playing with a diverse list of groups such as Poco Loco, Frequency, Lucky and the Magic, Los Honchos, RX2, the Windau Jazztet, Baoku and the Image Afro-Beat band, and Lo Fi, Barger was also a founding member of Salsa Caliente and wrote big band jazz arrangements premiered by the Pavilion Music Company Big Band and the Blanchester High School Jazz Ensemble. “Dan is very talented yet humble, and has been helpful in writing and figuring out the theor
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