La-Nai & The Free People
Toronto, Ontario, Canada | SELF
Music
Press
EMMA BROWN
Multi-talented singer-songwriter-musician and Humber graduate La-Nai Gabriel will perform live with several members of her band The Free People during Fireside Culture Week in Parkdale Village on Saturday.
“Performing live is unlike anything else that I do. On stage I am completely in the moment and I get to show a completely different side of myself,” said Gabriel.
Gabriel, 26, knew from a young age she wanted a career in music and when it came time to pick a college Humber was at the top of her list.
“The music program looked really great to me and there were a lot of professors at Humber I knew I wanted to study with.”
Humber music professor Andy Ballantyne taught Gabriel music composition and saw potential in his student early on.
“She was a real stand-out,” said Ballantyne. “She has a really good sense of what is musical, you know, she just gets it.”
Gabriel was raised in Markham, Ont. Her parents emigrated from St. Vincent and The Grenadines, and growing up Gabriel said she couldn’t help but be influenced by the music from that region.
“I listened to a lot of calypso music and a lot of reggae. Bob Marley had a big impact.”
As Gabriel entered her teens her musical tastes broadened and she found herself being influenced by the rock and alternative music of the ‘90s.
“I started listening to Billy Corrigan and Tori Amos as a teen. Then as I got into jazz, I began listening to a lot of John Coltrane and Hank Mobley,” said Gabriel.
Gabriel formed The Free People in 2009. As well as writing and arranging the music, she is also the band’s lead singer and piano player.
Last summer The Free People released their first EP entitled Pictures, which contains four original tracks. They followed that up with the release of their self-titled second EP earlier this month, recording two of the three original tracks at Humber.
Humber student Nevin Dunn is one of Free’s nine members and plays saxophone for the band. Dunn said one of the things that makes their music so appealing is the accessibility of Gabriel’s lyrics.
“Whether you are male or female, you can relate to her words,” said Dunn. “She’s strong and honest and those two things come across in her songs.” - Humber Et Cetera
Discography
Get Ready (2012, Independent, OAC)
Pictures EP (2010, Independent)
Photos
Bio
Neo-soul, reggae, R&B and dancehall converge beautifully in the music of La-Nai & The Free People. Lead by the prodigiously soulful La-Nai Gabriel, La-Nai & The Free People is a 9-piece group which spotlights the wide spectrum of talent to be found within Toronto’s vibrant music scene.
La-Nai Gabriel is an award-winning singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist proficient on all saxophones, clarinet, flute and piano. A first-generation Canadian, La-Nai was born to Caribbean immigrants, who instilled in her a deep love and understanding of soca, calypso and reggae music from the West Indies. Merging this love with the rock, R&B, hip-hop and jazz which dominated the taste of La-Nai’s peers resulted in a unique blend of influence, the fruits of which lay bare within each of the profound songs, the poignant melodies, the authentic grooves, and the heartfelt lyrics.
La-Nai and The Free People released their full-length album Get Ready in May 2012, with help from the Ontario Arts Council.
Band Members
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