BY AVA ARCHAYA
The Zahria Sims Collective is built on community and shared inspiration, according to the band’s founder Zahria Sims.
Sims said that her inspiration for forming this group came from a desire to be her truest self, and play the music that she felt honestly.
The city of New Orleans, and its musical history, is a huge factor in the community that this collective has been able to build from, Sims said. Sims formed the band while studying Jazz music at Loyola University New Orleans. Although the band itself does not focus on specifically Jazz music.
The Zahria Sims Collective focuses on Black American Music, as Sims puts it, which incorporates aspects traditionally associated with Jazz, Funk, Soul, and R&B.
“I just like that term, because that’s what it really is,” she said. Sims highlighted that many of the figures commonly associated with traditional Jazz music disliked the term. She feels that “Black American Music” better honors the genre’s origins and the community which created it.
Rocky Leonard, the band’s lead vocalist, further emphasized the support and inspiration the Zahria Sims Collective are able to find in each other.
Leonard said that she and Sims originally bonded over a shared love for the song “Butterfly” by Herbie Hancock, a song which they performed together, along with original collaborative work in fall of 2019. Leonard said that this was her first performance in New Orleans.
“I had collaborated on music before, but this was the first time I really felt strongly about the changes,” Leonard said in reference to the music she and Sims made and performed together.
“We’re a family,” she said. “And (Sims) creating the band was very intentional, but we were meant to be together and I am very grateful to be a part of something so beautiful.”
Jacob Peffer who both plays alto saxophone and helps organize and manage the Zahria Sims collective, further spoke on the importance of the community through Black American Music as a genre.
“Music is not only what you play, but the support that you give to what others play,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what we can do.”
CREATIVE CREDITS:
PHOTOS BY SOFIA LUCIANO SANTIAGO
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