The middle of a college semester can feel monotonous, like a photocopy of the day before. Amid a treadmill of assignments, group projects, and coffee-fueled cramming sessions, Thierry DeJean attended New York Tech for electrical engineering, but believed he was destined for something else. On an average college day, he heard the sound of a piano and tried to pinpoint the source, he loved the flow of the tune, and he knew his breakthrough had come with the simple press of a piano key.
I heard someone playing piano on my way to class and it changed me,” says DeJean. “The song on the piano that day was ‘April in Paris’ and my parents sang and played instruments in the house. I actually had a piano at home, but never used it. But hearing that person play that day went a long way for me and it’s been about the music ever since.”
Instead of a desk cluttered with circuit boards, tangled wires, and stacks of textbooks, all competing for space with the faint coffee rings marking his long nights of calculations and coding, DeJean pursued a music career. While in New York, he met vocalist LeNora Jaye, and after she recorded in DeJean’s studio, the two would have an almost 30-year business partnership.
“Once I met her, I knew I had to work with her,” says DeJean. “After 26 years, I don’t enjoy any other vocalist the way I enjoy LeNora. She’s done amazing things all over and she’s bringing it to Florida. She’s my go-to.”
Jaye, a multi-time award winner and vocalist for the funk-rock band Rhythm Republik, now brings her talent to Wilton Manors’ The Pride Center at Equality Park for S.O.U.L. (Sounds of Universal Love) on Saturday, Jan. 25. The evening will feature musicians playing jazz, rhythm and blues, soul classics, neo soul and world fusion.
“One thing that makes us really different from other South Florida bands is we literally play everything,” says DeJean. “We definitely gravitate towards the older songs, but sometimes we take songs and flip it around to our version and we do remixes to make it feel fresh and new again.”
Members of the band S.O.U.L. have worked with legendary recording artists such as Kirk Franklin, Freddie Jackson, Fantasia, and The Isley Brothers, and their catalogue features more than 300 songs.
“You’re going to have some of the best on that stage,” says DeJean about the Wilton Manors gig. “We’ve worked with some of the best and we’re looking forward to sharing that experience . . .”
Jazz openers with a vibrant swing, claps, cheers, and spontaneous hollers filling the air; Neo-Soul lyrics that’ll pour out, soulful and raw, telling stories of love, loss, and resilience. Music that will transcend the personal, becoming communal, and binding strangers together with shared emotions.
I think one of our stand-out songs will be Quincy Jones’ ‘Betcha Wouldn’t Hurt Me’ because not a lot of people do that song,” says DeJean. “It’s the first time we’re doing (it) and we’re also throwing in some Yacht Rock-ish songs in there, too. We’re going to hit the Kenny Loggins, The Doobie Brothers, and one I know everyone will love, ‘All Around the World’ by Lisa Stansfield. But for all this, big credit goes to LeNora.”
Even though Jaye met DeJean in New York, she moved to South Florida in 2012, and much like DeJean, she also comes from a musical background. Her mother, who was a registered nurse, was also a jazz vocalist and she’d sing to her kids.
“I’m the baby child,” says Jaye. “All four of us can sing, but I’m the only one who pursued it professionally.”
She was also a part of her choir and studied music, and as a teenager, she would get gigs in Manhattan. By the age of 21, she had her funk band and was performing at venues like B.B. King’s House of Blues, The Blue Note NYC, S.O.B’s, Tramps, The Wetlands, CBGB’s, Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar and others. In 2011, she was voted Best New Artist by SoulTracks and for their Annual Reader’s Choice Music Awards after she released her debut album, “The Story,”, and in 2016 with her TransPhatt Records EP release, “Force of Life.”
“I’ve self-produced and written songs,” says Jaye. “My first album made a little splash in the UK and Japan which was a huge surprise to me. It was an album I made in my bedroom and my first single was being played on UK radio. I never thought it’d all unfold like this. But then I came to South Florida, and South Florida has the energy I need. I do the bulk of my work in Broward County, especially Wilton Manors.”
Even though Jaye has performed in Europe and Africa, she would like to perform in Asia, and she says the duo is working on a new album.
With DeJean moving to South Florida, too, the two reconnected and formed S.O.U.L., and as the founders, they formed the band S.O.U.L.
“I’ve been singing in Wilton Manors for 12 years,” says Jaye. “Wilton Manors has increased with creatives and they’re looking to boost diversity and inclusivity. Even though I’ve been at the Pride Center before, this time we’re having soul music with world influences. The groove inflections that reflect what we grew up listening to, but with a modern twist.”
Some younger people may sit slouched in the back seat of their dad’s aging sedan. They might have a mix of boredom and teenage disdain plastered across their face. Especially if listening to Dad’s radio station called “The Classics” which features music that belongs in dusty record stores. But with this upcoming event, S.O.U.L. looks to bridge the gap between generations.
“What’s old is new again,” says DeJean. “This will have something for everyone to enjoy, and our remixes of old songs will be fun for older listeners who remember them, but something new and exciting for those younger.”
For the first time, the invisible barrier of decades will vanish. The remixes of iconic songs become a bridge, connecting not just music but generations. The buzz will become a shared rhythm, a collective groove that feels as fresh as the future and as familiar as the past.
“I’ve experienced a lot of isms in the music industry,” says Jaye. “Racism, sexism, ageism, and we’re still finding out about allegations that go on in the music industry and it’s a really nasty and shallow trench. I know people who’ve been put through it and have been stripped of their creative identity. But for this event, it’s about coming together through music. The same way DeJean and I came together through music, the way he found his calling from the piano, and we want all of this to show that having a little soul can go a long way for us all.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT :
S.O.U.L. (Sounds of Universal Love) featuring LeNora Jaye
WHERE:
2040 Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors
WHEN:
7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25.
TICKETS:
$25
INFORMATION:
954-463-9005 or
pridecenterflorida.org
