Marcelle Davies-Lashley comes to the Freight with an ensemble of stellar musicians and a new album, Easy to Love, that lives up to its title with a rich fusion of gospel, soul, and jazz that showcases her gorgeous vocals. Growing up in Brooklyn, the youngest of seven children with parents from Sierra Leone and Liberia, Marcelle started singing in the church choir when she was five. Since then, she has gone on to perform on six continents, touring with Craig Harris and the Nation of Imagination and playing the Queen of Sheba in Robert Wilson’s opera, The Temptation of Saint Anthony. She has recorded with Toshi Reagon, Liz Wright, BeBe and CeCe Wynans, Angélique Kidjo, Macy Gray, and Bono, and now she has a wonderful album of her own that’s powerful, spiritual, and uplifting.
 
San Francisco native Vicki Randle has toured with George Benson, Laura Nyro, and Kenny Loggins, recorded with Aretha Franklin, and spent 18 years as the first and only woman in the band on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Berkeley’s Shelley Doty co-founded the popular West Coast band Jambay, touring relentlessly and releasing three independent albums before disbanding in 1996. Since then she’s immersed herself in a wide array of projects, leading the Shelley Doty X-tet and playing in Skip the Needle. Oakland’s Julie Wolf is a composer, teacher, and master of the accordion who has worked with Maceo Parker, Ani DiFranco, the Indigo Girls, Bruce Cockburn, and Holly Near. Oakland’s Kofy Brown is a master of funk, rock, blues, and hip-hop, who has released ten albums, including her latest, Feels Like Umm.

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