Yaz Alexander is arguably the UK's finest female reggae recording artist having served her apprenticeship as a backing vocalist for some of the UK's most established reggae acts including Steel Pulse and Pato Banton. Yaz's vocal style is so cosmopolitan it naturally crosses over into any other genre of music you could care to mention and even though reggae is her first love, she also dabbles in Jazz, R'n'B and Neo Soul as well. Inspired by flamboyant female superstars past and present, Yaz particularly draws influence from Billie Holiday, Shirley Bassey and the first lady of diva, Diana Ross but because of her love for reggae - by default - Bob Marley is her number one musical inspiration and the influence of Bob is evident in almost every one of Yaz's lyrics - powerful, edifying, sometimes political but always containing a moral and/or message for the listener. Yaz has the sultriest of tones that leave most audiences mesmerized whenever she starts to sing and her passionate style is born out of her profound love of both reggae and jazz music. She is equally at home in both genres and hitherto she has collaborated with luminaries of the calibre of The Mighty Diamonds, Eddy Grant, Peter Hunnigale, Vivian Jones, Nerious Joseph, Musical Youth, Mercury Prize Award nominee and Mobo Award winner Soweto Kinch as well as veteran jazz legend, Andy Hamilton. The stage is the natural domain for Yaz Alexander and like all of the great stage artisans she works it artistically, creatively and professionally and always gives audiences something stimulating to focus on. The great thing about Yaz Alexander is not only does she look good, this wonderful young lady also has the natural God-given vocal ability to back up her sophisticated image. Album Review from reggae-vibes.com Since the emergence of the Lovers rock genre, kick-started by Louisa Marks' plaintive reading of Robert Parker's soul hit "Caught You In A Lie" in 1975, the UK reggae scene has proven to be a fertile ground for female singers. Those familiar with Lovers rock and other styles of reggae produced in the UK throughout the past 30 years need no introduction to artists like Janet Kay, Carroll Thompson, Joy Mack, Sandra Cross, Kofi, Janet Lee Davis, Barbara Nap, Sylvia Tella, Lorna Asher, Dawna Lee, and Aisha, to name a few. And now we can add another silken-voiced songstress to the ever growing list of UK based female artists who are worth checking out. Grown up in Leeds, but born and now based in Birmingham, Yaz Alexander is a vocal force to be reckoned with. Since 1990, when she started working with Pato Banton, she has established herself as one of Britain's most in-demand session and backing vocalists. Besides collaborations with Pato, Steel Pulse, et al. Yaz has managed to release several solo and independent singles over the years, ranging from covers of Soul II Soul's classics, "Keep On Moving" and "Back To Life", to original material such as "Freedom" (2003) and "This World" (2004), a track that personifies Yaz Alexander's commitment to principle and consciousness. Now, after being persuaded to document her material indelibly, Fully Fledged Productions unleash Yaz Alexander's debut album "Life Begins", which opens in great style with the aforementioned single "This World", a cut for The Gumption Band's "Kotch It!" riddim. After having listened to the album we can only draw one conclusion: Yaz Alexander has a stunning vocal delivery... warm, sultry and ambient. Her amazing voice fully shines on stand outs like "Empress" (across Christopher Birch’s "Ghetto Blues" riddim, probably best known from Chuck Fender & Cherine’s No.1 hit "Coming Over Tonight"), "Why Me", the steamy "Love Has Got A Hold", the moving "Sister", the excellent "Black Pride", and "Mama" (on Gregory Isaacs' "Hard Drugs" riddim). Solid debut album with many captivating tunes, well laid riddims and on top of that... a beautiful voice!