Sarah Jane Morris

Born on March 21st, 1959 in Southampton, England, genre-bending, four-octave-straddling singer Sarah Jane Morris cut her teeth singing jazz and soul classics in local clubs before joining London's Afro-Caribbean-Latin troupe The Republic as a lead singer in 1982. After signing with Charlie Gillett's Oval Records Ltd, the group released an EP and two singles – Three Songs from the Republic and "One Chance" and "My Spies" – before parting ways in 1984. Next up was a stint in the 21-piece protest music-inspired brass band, The Happy End, releasing two records with the group before leaving to join the Communards. She hit her stride with the Communards, performing as a guest vocalist on the British synth-pop heroes' hi-NRG smash-hit 'Don't Leave Me This Way' in 1986 and going on to contribute vocals to a string of other Communards' tracks. She launched her solo career in 1989 with her self-titled debut album and, following a tour with Simply Red, contributed to the opera The Fall of the House of Usher by Peter Hammill and Judge Smith in 1991. She released a second solo album, Heaven, in 1992 and a slew of other solo records appeared over the next two decades, including compilations I Am a Woman (2000) and After All These Years (2006). In 2019, she paid homage to the late folk-blues and jazz legend John Martyn with an album of covers made with guitarist Tony Rémy called Sweet Little Mystery. 2021 saw the release of new album Let the Music Play with Papik.

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