Anjani | |
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![]() Anjani in 1989 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Anjani Thomas |
Born | Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, U.S. | July 10, 1959
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Instrument | Piano |
Years active | 1983–present |
Labels | Columbia |
Website | anjani-music |
Anjani Thomas (born July 10, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist, best known for her work with singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, as well as Carl Anderson, Frank Gambale, and Stanley Clarke. She became a solo artist in 2000.
Anjani was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she trained in guitar, piano and voice. She attended Berklee College of Music for a year then moved to New York City to a pursue a music career. She performed in jazz clubs before meeting producer John Lissauer, who hired her to provide backup vocals on Leonard Cohen's influential song "Hallelujah" from Various Positions . Anjani went on to tour with Cohen in 1985, as his keyboardist and backup vocalist, and worked with Cohen for many years after, lending her talents to I'm Your Man , The Future , Dear Heather and Old Ideas . [1]
Anjani launched a solo career with Anjani in 2000 followed by The Sacred Names in 2001 – an ode to the Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew names of God. [2] In 2006, Cohen contributed lyrics and production talents to Anjani's music and arrangements for Blue Alert on Columbia Records. The song "Blue Alert" was used in a 2007 Old Navy TV spot. [3]
In 2011, Anjani began working on a follow-up to Blue Alert , which continued the collaboration with Leonard Cohen on three new songs. The new record, I Came to Love , was released in download-only form in July 2014. [4]