Two successful and distinct musical personalities come together to weave the beautiful musical tapestry that is Moon Bossa.
Born and raised in Birmingham, England of Jamaican parents,
Julie Dexter is a world-renowned singer/songwriter who has won numerous international awards. A classically trained musician who writes, arranges, composes and produces, Julie is considered by many to be one of the most important female vocalists of her generation. Deeply influenced by legends such as Abbey Lincoln, Billie Holiday and Nancy Wilson, as well as popular icons such as Omar and Sade, Julie takes classic soul to the heart of artistry. Over the past ten years Julie’s career has taken her through the circles of jazz, broken-beat, bossa-nova, and soul. For the past five years Julie has shared the stage with this generation’s cutting-edge soul artists, including Jill Scott, Bilal, Amel Larrieux, Donnie, Omar, Jaguar, Rachelle Ferrell, and Fertile Ground, to name a few. After moving to Atlanta and taking time off to have her first child, Julie is back in a big way with Moon Bossa.
In 1996 Khari Simmons formed Jiva, a band with a powerful sound that performs a wide array of soul-bossa and neo-soul tunes. For the last decade Khari has been playing as a side man and touring as the bass player with India.Arie. Khari’s preferred musical style is Soul Bossa, a style associated with classic albums by the likes of The Soul Bossa Trio, Sergio Mendes and George Duke. Khari adds his personal touch to this music by mixing it with a lot of modern soul and dance music.
The collaboration of Khari’s music and Julie’s vocals make up
Moon Bossa which is a tour of the various styles of Bossa Nova. Every form is featured from the purest aspect of the sound with vocal and guitar, to a mix of new soul and Hip Hop with the Bossa. It’s also an homage to great songwriters like Basia, Swing Out Sister, Everything but the Girl, Sergio Mendes and Jobim whose songs all grace Moon Bossa.
This record is guaranteed to put you in the Bossa Groove.

A wonderful, bossa-inflected jazzy soul surprise from UK-bred/Atlanta-based diva Julie Dexter and ATL-fellow Khari Simmons of Jiva — an effervescent batch of tunes that meld the best modern soul styles of both artists with a mutual affection for bossa rhythms! The duo pulls off the blend with what feels like an effortless grace — Julie’s vocals are light, soulful and often quite jazzy in way which expands nicely on her previous work — with a backdrop of bass, Rhodes and B3, Moog, occasional horns and percussion. Nice!

–Dusty Groove

This is a interesting collaboration. The multi-talented English Lady from London and the bass player from the India Arie Band, Khari Simmons. Both now residing in Atlanta which presumably is how they met up. Though with Incognito’s Bluey as an A and R advisor to the project it wouldn’t surprise me if the ever enthusiastic one had a part to play in the relationship! Whatever and whoever takes the credit becomes largely irrelevant when the quality of the material is this good. This is an album perfect for the summer nights and yet equally at home in the glow of a winter’s log fire. A contender for album of the year.

–Vibe