caption years_active birth_place label name background birth_date instrument genre image article_title birth_name occupation
ledisi in houston , 2009 1995 -- present new orleans , louisiana , u.s. verve forecast lesun records ledisi solo_singer 28 march 1972 vocals r & b soul jazz neo soul gospel ledisi cropped2 -rrb- . jpg in houston - d -lrb- 4077124164 -rrb- -lrb- ledisi
 ledisi anibade young recording artist songwriter record producer actress
ledisi

ledisi anibade young -lrb- ; born march 28 , 1972 -rrb- is an american r&b and jazz recording artist , songwriter and actress .
her first name means `` to bring forth '' or `` to come here '' in yoruba .
ledisi is known for her jazz influenced vocals .
in 1995 , ledisi formed the group known as anibade .
after unsuccessfully trying to get the group signed to a major label , she formed lesun records with sundra manning .
along with her group , anibade , ledisi released an album titled `` take time '' .
the album gained major airplay from local radio stations .
she is a nine-time grammy award nominee .
in 2000 , ledisi released her first album , titled '' '' .
ledisi and her group toured in 2001 , performing various shows .
in 2002 , ledisi released her second album , `` feeling orange but sometimes blue '' .
the album won her an award for `` outstanding jazz album '' at the california music awards .
in 2007 , ledisi signed a major record deal with verve forecast and released her third album in august of that year , titled `` lost & found '' , which sold almost 217,000 copies and earned her two grammy nominations , including one for best new artist .
in 2008 , ledisi released her christmas album , `` it 's christmas '' .
in 2009 , ledisi released her fourth album `` turn me loose '' , which earned her two grammy nominations , followed by her fifth album `` pieces of me '' -lrb- 2011 -rrb- which debuted in the top ten of the us `` billboard '' 200 album chart at number eight , becoming her first top-ten album of her career and her highest-charting album to date .
it also garnered three grammy nominations at the 54th grammy awards including for best r&b album .
in 2013 , she received a nomination for best r&b performance at the 55th grammy awards for her collaboration with fellow r&b and jazz musician robert glasper for the album cut `` gon na be alright '' off of his grammy award-winning fifth album `` black radio '' -lrb- 2012 -rrb- .
in 2014 , she released her sixth album `` the truth '' to critical acclaim and moderate sales .
she portrayed legendary gospel singer mahalia jackson in the martin luther king , jr. 2014 biopic , `` selma '' .
