Official Biography (courtesy of Jeanne Ricks)
Jeanne Ricks is described as a singer with a “smoky soulfulness” (New Entertainment Weekly Magazine), but her talents don’t stop there. As a composer, she has actualized myriad impressive accomplishments that would have taken some a lifetime to achieve….
Jeanne has penned a number of successful songs. In 2020 Guitarist, Nick Colionne released Jeanne’s song ‘Only 2C U Smile!’ CD release on Trippin n’ Rhythm Records. Famed Guitarist George Benson selected Jeanne’s ‘Love Remembers’ for the title track of his Warner CD; Anita Pointer chose ‘Thorny Rose’, ‘Always’ and ‘Stronger than Pride’ for her upcoming CD; Chaka Khan recorded ‘Don’t Ask Me’ for a WEA release.
Jeanne’s 2022 Ep ‘ReInvention’ – Executive Produced by music industry veteran Kevin Harewood – pushed the boundaries of Soul music, with songs like “Out of Nowhere,” “River Rising,” and “When You Go!” which appeals to your “Grown & Sexy” Smooth Jazz listening audience. Jeanne also boldly covers the title track she wrote that George Benson originally recorded for his own Love Remembers CD charting at #1 on Billboard.
In 2021 she held the #1 Independent Contemporary Jazz Song in the Nation’ for an unprecedented 24 weeks straight on the Roots Music Report with her song ‘War & Insufficient Peace’ which featured piano soloist Robert Irving III (famed Miles Davis producer).
With her CD “Make it Work!” Soulstress Jeanne Ricks brings a tasty blend of Neo-Soul, Jazz and R&B to this incredible CD that hit the airwaves and won the 2012 DJ Sounds award for slow jam of the year; and features Walter Beasley & (Miles Davis’ alum) Robert Irving III. With sensual vocals and dynamic Guitar playing, this collection of her original songs will ‘groove’ you with emotional authenticity and real-world sound!
“Listening Room,” was Jeanne’s first solo CD included a few friends like Grammy award winners Branford Marsalis and Lisa Fischer, as well as Darryl Tookes and Hubert Eaves III; lending their talents to her self-produced, written, arranged & mixed CD. ‘Listening Room,’ listed under her artistic pseudonym, “Jenjii” for the Rickso Facto Music Label.
Ms. Ricks earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Berklee College of Music in Film Scoring with advanced studies in Audio Recording Engineering. She has composed music for the critically acclaimed Francis Ford Coppola movie, ‘Assassination Tango,’ starring, Robert Duvall. She has also scored a ½ dozen short films including the Wright Bros. Photoplay film, ‘The Path of Least Resistance’ which won high praise from the IFP. For 12 years she composed music for ‘The Weather Channel ‘Local on the 8’s’. As a fan favorite, her song ‘Simple Pleasure’ was requested for The Weather Channel’s 1st ever commercial CD release, titled ‘The Weather Channel Presents: Best of Smooth Jazz’ which reached #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart for 7 weeks.
A multi-instrumentalist who plays Acoustic & Electric Guitar as well as Keyboards – Jeanne lends background vocals to 2 of Steve Coleman’s tracks on his groundbreaking CD The Sonic Language of Myth [RCA/Victor]. As a Guitarist Jeanne has mastered elements of Classical, Flamenco, Country Western, Blues as well as Jazz & Rock.
Currently: collaborating on music with Doc Velazquez the producer and strategist behind the artist known as ‘The Weekend.’ She produced 3 songs for trumpeter Michal C. Lewis due to drop in 2025. Also, she’s working with ReMix Engineer Musa Baran in Cologne, West Germany and in Amit Sen London to create incredible remixes for a 2025 release using a social media specialist.
