Kadhja Bonet at Ludlow House

Kadhja Bonet and her five siblings were raised in the East Bay area of San Francisco, California, where their opera singer father and cellist mother steeped them in classical music. Kadhja (pronounced "kah-dya") and her siblings learned to play instruments. Kadhja mastered violin and viola, and learned flute and guitar. During her college years, she jumped from long distance runner to film student to recording artist in short time. Relocating to Los Angeles, California, her genre-defying music generated a strong local buzz. She recorded and releasing her songs online one by one until she finally had enough songs to release an EP in 2015. Her debut album, The Visitor, was released on October 21, 2016.

Performing a brief set tonight at the exclusive members-only Ludlow House, Bonet was accompanied by two musicians who played various instruments. Although herself a multi-instrumentalist, she delivered steadfastly at the microphone only on the very dimly-lit stage, often singing with her eyes closed. Her performance was soft and slow, mixing originals with cover tunes including the Beatles' "Yesterday." Her vocals were a velvety, airy pillow-talk, sometimes leaning towards a folky pop and sometimes a soulful jazz. The difference between her music and a lot of the current neo-soul artists is that most of those rising artists are accompanied by electronic waves of sound and Bonet has chosen to back her mellow sound with the richness of natural instruments. This should get Bonet some special attention.

Visit Kadhja Bonet at www.kbonet.com.