Listeners to Jazz FM and the more savvy, more eclectic jazz and soul stations might well have come across a lovely, insidious little tune, ‘Parts Of Me’ credited to POETIC LEESTAR.
The track defies categorization. It’s a spoken word piece that rides a neo-soul groove with a jazzy undertow but it’s insistent and hypnotic with a very special atmospheric – one those (rare) tunes that just grabs at you!
Poetic Leestar is the working name of 24 year old Lebo Ester – a poet and spoken word artist from South Africa. Her aim (which she achieves admirably on ‘Parts Of Me’) is to infuse her poetry with soulfully based music to show that “poetry is not one dimensional”.
‘Parts Of Me’ is the focus track on Ms Ester’s latest EP ‘Sensual Pleasure’. It’s the lady’s 3rd mini album and features 3 other, longer tracks – a jazzy, electronic beater ‘Maybe’ (with input from LesDaVocalist), an afrobeat infused ‘You Are The Light’ which features Ace Bliss, and ‘Where Is Your Love’ – an up-tempo collaboration with Komplexity. But it’s the wonderfully hypnotic ‘Parts Of Me’ that really stands out. Worth investigating if you like your soul a little different, a little more provocative, a little more intriguing!
