Tonight, where's the jazz?
吉拉
Vocals·Musicians·JP
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Geila Zilkha is a Berklee-trained jazz and soul vocalist based in Japan. Known for her powerful, expressive voice, she won the Kobe Jazz Vocal Queen Contest and has released numerous acclaimed albums blending standards with J-pop classics.
Geila Zilkha is a highly recognized jazz and soul vocalist based in Japan, whose name "Geila" translates to "joy" in Hebrew, derived from the Israeli folk song "Hava Nagila." Born and raised in Kobe to an Israeli father and Japanese mother, she attended the international school Canadian Academy and is fluent in both English and Japanese. Her path to music was solidified at age nine following a major surgery for scoliosis, which ended her ability to pursue dance and sports. She initially began her musical studies on the alto saxophone and keyboard, eventually attending Berklee College of Music in Boston to study saxophone. However, during her second year, she realized her voice was her true instrument and changed her major to singing. She studied under mentors such as April Arabian and Bob Stoloff, and participated in the Reverence Gospel Choir before graduating in 1991. Returning to Kobe, Geila built a successful career as a TV and radio personality, hosting programs for FM802 in Osaka and ABC Television. Her career was interrupted by the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which eventually led her to move to Tokyo. In Tokyo, she became a prominent voice in the commercial industry, narrating and singing for major brands including Mazda, All Nippon Airways (ANA), and Haagen-Dazs. Her popularity grew so significant that audiences frequently requested her name from advertisers. In 2002, she founded the all-female Voissalot Choir, which released three albums and performed at the Apollo Theater in New York in 2009. Geila's solo career reached new heights in 2010 when she won the Grand-Prix at the Kobe Jazz Vocal Queen Contest, leading to a performance at Jazz Alley in Seattle. Her debut solo album, 'all Me' (2010), became a surprise hit, followed by 'appearance' (2011) and 'Day Dreaming' (2013). She is also well known for her project 'Girayama Jiruko,' where she re-styles Showa-era Japanese pop classics into jazz, and her long-standing vocal duo 'SOLO-DUO' with Ayumu Yahaba. Her recent work includes the album 'Geila Zilkha & Super Soul Jazz' (2019) and 'ORIGINALS' (2022). Beyond performing, she is a dedicated educator, serving as a jazz vocal instructor at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music.
