Ayanna Witter-Johnson is an eclectic soul phenomenon

Posted By: Katie Higgs
March 11, 2021
Interviews, New Music

Cellist and vocalist Ayanna Witter-Johnson has to be heard to be believed. The London-born musician is THE definition of eclectic soul with phenomenal musical prowess, mesmerising vocals, uncompromising lyrics and mastery of the cello. Ayanna unapologetically imprints her unique musical signature into her music.

In January she released her latest EP ‘Rise Up’ that pays tribute to her Jamaican roots, with its authentic urban grittiness against the backdrop of her incredible musicality.

Here she chats to us about her new music and diversity in the music industry.

Tell us about your latest EP ‘Rise Up’, what was the inspiration behind it?

The EP is a homage to my Jamaican Heritage and an opportunity to remind us all of our collective power. I wrote the song ‘Rise Up’ to remind myself and my generation as young British Caribbean people of who we are. Our greatness, our power, our gifts, our belonging in this world. It was originally released on my debut album ‘Road Runner’. ‘Rise Up’ features British Rapper Akala and on the back of last year (2020) and all the racial uprisings, the lyrics resonated even more, so I chose to re-release the song alongside two others to continue to encourage us all to remain hopeful, to keep rising and realising our dreams. A really positive message to start the year. On the second track on the EP, Cleveland Watkiss and I duet on a rather radical cover version of the great Jamaican Roots Reggae track ‘Declaration of Rights’ and I finish the EP with a remix of ‘Rise Up’ where I created, an instrumental for MCs and rappers to freestyle to over the essence of the ‘Rise Up’ groove and this is titled ‘Rise Up Riddim’.

What is your favourite track on the EP and why?

The title track ‘Rise Up’ is probably my favourite because of the amazing journey that its been on and all the experiences I’ve had as a result of the song. It was born out of a dancehall rhythm initially and a desire to create a song out of the many sounds that my cello (named Reuben) can make. I sampled the cello to create all the drum sounds on the track and the cello also provides the bass and most of the arco string parts.

During one of the early performances of the song at my first headline Jazz Cafe show, Akala jumped on stage and killed it with a verse which we later recorded at his studio to add to the album version of the track. It’s just a feel good vibe with a powerful message and I think the combination of both is much needed today.

We love the cover of Declaration Of Rights’ what made you decide to cover the track?

Thank you. The ‘Declaration of Rights’ cover came about through Cleveland Watkiss who first suggested that we duet together for his 60th Birthday event at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre for the London Jazz Festival. The theme was the Great Jamaican Songbook which I thought was such an amazing idea! It took me a little while to figure out what my version of the song would sound like but once the idea came through, our collaboration on the track flowed really naturally and the performance was a joy. However it only happened once and it was my manager who suggested we capture it on record. Thank goodness!

How has the pandemic affected your career? Have you missed performing live?

The pandemic was initially quite a shock to the system as all my shows in the diary from March – November 2020 had disappeared overnight. Along with all the momentum that myself and my team had been working hard to build for months so that was painful. I surrendered to the moment and probably needed a little bit of a break, but it wasn’t long before things got busy again.

I have missed performing live but I feel extremely fortunate to have been so active creatively during this time, releasing a single (‘Those Words’) with Sitarist Anoushka Shankar which has been nominated for a Grammy Award, releasing ‘Movement -Variation II’ with composer/producer Nitin Sawhney which will feature on his upcoming album ‘Immigrants’, being a featured cellist in Renell Shaw’s ‘The Windrush Suite’ for which he received an IVORS Composer Award, having my composition ‘Fairtrade?’ recorded and released by the London Symphony Orchestra, joining the IVORS Academy Jazz Committee, being featured on BBC News and hosting the opening night of the BBC Proms to mention a few of the incredible highlights I’ve experienced last year.

There has been a lot of discussion about diversity in the music industry. How have you navigated the industry as a black woman?

It’s difficult to articulate how I navigate it as a Black woman because I’ve never been anything else. I am who I am. A Black woman. I’ve always just tried to show up wherever I find myself, with as much authenticity and grace as I can.

In my journey I have experienced varying degrees of discrimination in the scene from seemingly none at all and feeling like the world is my oyster to venues that book hardly any Black musicians at all or possibly one or two per season. I’ve listened to countless stories from female instrumentalists who have said they can’t get booked as another similar female musician has already been booked for this festival or that month. There has to be room for more diverse programming nationwide and more opportunities for those just starting their professional music journeys. I also regularly find myself on discussion and judging panels being the only Black person in the room and therefore by default feeling the need to be the voice of the Black community and it’s exhausting because being Black is not a monolithic experience.

What does 2021 have in store for you?

I’m currently working on my sophomore album and in between I have a number of singles due for release. I’m also featured on composer/producer Nitin Sawhney’s forthcoming album ‘Immigrants’ which is out this month (March 2020) and I’m currently still promoting my ‘Rise Up’ EP. I’m also composing for a site-specific theatre piece for Manchester International Festival and I’ll be continuing to collaborate with the London Symphony Orchestra on some super exciting projects this year.

Listen to Ayanna