To her nearly 1 million Instagram followers, New Orleans-born singer and actress Ledisi self-identifies thusly: “I am a sexy nerd and I belong to God.”
“That pretty much sums it up,” she said during a recent interview, laughing. “It’s simple and to the point. I’m a nerd, and I feel very sexy certain days (but) not all the time.”
Born Ledisi Young, she is much more than a sexy nerd. Over the past quarter-century, she has released 11 albums showcasing her four-octave range, fronted orchestras and her own band around the world, and won a Grammy for best traditional R&B performance.
As an actress, she’s played gospel great Mahalia Jackson twice: in the 2014 movie “Selma” and in 2022’s “Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story.” She’s also portrayed Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle onscreen.
She earned raves for her 2021 Nina Simone tribute album, “Ledisi Sings Nina,” and the sold-out concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall that followed.
Her new album, “Good Life,” is a throwback to the classic-sounding contemporary R&B and soul on which she built her reputation.
The “Good Life” tour stops at her hometown Mahalia Jackson Theater on Friday, April 5 with Raheem DeVaughn. , starting at $45 plus fees.
“New Orleans opened the door to being all these eclectic things,” she said. “The rest of the world, they don’t live like us.”
A Nina Simone lifeline
Ledisi, who is 52, grew up on Lowerline Street. Her mother loved Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline and classical music. Her great-aunt exposed her to Mahalia Jackson.
At age 8, Ledisi was one of two Lusher Elementary School students selected to perform with what was then called the New Orleans Symphony. She sang the Carpenters’ “Sing (Sing a Song).”
Early on, she “knew there was something special about singing. So I would use it to calm things or make friends.”
Nina Simone’s voice calmed Ledisi during a particular low point in her 20s. She was living in Oakland, California, where her family moved when she was 13.
“Because of my New Orleans energy, I didn’t fit in there either,” she recalled. “I was young and figuring it out and unsure about what direction I wanted to be in my life. I really didn’t want to be on the planet — that’s how dark it was.”
Simone’s “Trouble In Mind” happened to come on the radio.
“It described everything I was feeling in the moment I’m thinking I needed to commit suicide. Hearing that song shook me out of it. It made me know I’m not alone in how I felt. It reminded me of my childhood and the music my mom would play to get me out of a funk.
“Ever since then, I promised to always have Nina somewhere along my journey.”
She released “Ledisi Sings Nina” through her own record label, Listen Back. She chose the name Listen Back because “as artists, we listen to our consumers. Most of us, at least if you’re an entrepreneur like myself, you listen to what people want to hear.
“Now I’m asking you to listen back to me. I’m asking you to support me. I’m asking you to see what I’m giving and take the time to listen back.”
The song “Anything For You,” from her 2020 Listen Back album “The Wild Card,” won Ledisi her first Grammy after a dozen previous nominations.
That year, the Grammys were virtual because of the pandemic. Some winners may have been disappointed, but Ledisi didn’t mind: “I didn’t have to wear all these uncomfortable shoes and be cute on the red carpet. It worked perfectly for me.
“And I can say ‘Grammy Award-winner,’ finally.”
Singing with Eric Church, Irma Thomas
Hometown fans have seen her at the Essence Music Festival and, in March 2023, . Two years ago, she and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews made a surprise appearance at .
Backed by Church and his band, Ledisi caressed John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and then belted Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary” in front of 14,000 country fans.
“I loved it,” she said. “I couldn’t believe (Church) called me. He had seen me perform with Stevie Wonder in Los Angeles for an event honoring Paul Simon.
“Being in different settings isn’t new to me. It’s me waiting for everyone else to understand that I belong in those different settings. I enjoyed it. It felt free. It felt full circle. It felt like New Orleans, where we have this jambalaya of music. It felt appropriate.”
She and Trombone Shorty got an up-close look at Church’s massive operation.
“I’m behind the scenes like, ‘Wow. This is what it’s like to be this kind of artist.’ Shorty and I are both looking at each other like, ‘You see where we are?’ We both had to catch our breath.”
She worked with local legend Irma Thomas on the 2022 movie/album project “Take Me to the River: New Orleans.”
“Irma is the queen,” Ledisi said. “Whatever she wants to do, I’m going to do it. That’s like meeting the Aretha Franklin of New Orleans. You’ve got to come in humble. I was ready to hold her purse.
“But when I walked in the room, it was like meeting another one of my relatives. It was so easy.”
Thomas even brought her homemade gumbo. “If she gives you kudos, you should be grateful: ‘Miss Irma gave me validation. I belong.’”
A ‘Good Life’ throwback
Ledisi wanted her new “Good Life” album to sound contemporary but also “go back to the R&B, to why people fell in love me in the first place. With R&B and soul music, I wanted to bring back nostalgia music that felt good even in chaos.
“Those albums like Earth Wind & Fire, Deniece ‘Niecy’ Williams, the Emotions, the Commodores, all this music my stepfather would play and practice to on Lowerline Street. That’s the stuff I wanted to come back to my childhood and pay homage to.”
She wrote and recorded “Good Life” during a particularly hectic time between orchestra gigs, concerts with Kem and acting roles. She was also moving: “I had boxes behind me as I’m recording in the kitchen, trying to lay down vocals.”
As the material took shape, she started “thinking like an actress and not being so personal. Just create human behavior, human experiences in love and heartache, and do the traditional R&B thing.
“And I did it. I made a cohesive album that feels like a long story.”
Her husband suggested she duet with Kenny Lattimore on the single “Perfect Stranger” and directed the song’s video.
“Kenny is like me,” Ledisi said. “He studied classical. He can sing in different languages. We geek out over technical singing. We’re so weird.
“But when we get onstage, we turn that thing on and it’s soothing, it’s sexy, it’s us. We’re both Aries. It’s a great combination.”
“Good Life” may end up comforting someone, just as Nina Simone’s music comforted Ledisi.
“That’s the goal — healing music. Everything’s a vibe now, or it’s overly traditional, or it’s got to be a genre. Who cares? ‘Just make it feel good’ is what I was looking for. We need healing music right now.”
This story is based on an interview from “Let’s Talk with Keith Spera,” a partnership between WLAE-TV and The Times-Picayune | . “Let’s Talk” airs on WLAE on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 9:30 p.m. and on WWNO 89.9 FM on Mondays at 12:30 p.m. and Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. Episodes are also available on WLAE’s YouTube page.