London


<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/cSjyvH-q-1024x683.jpeg" alt="Yolanda Brown at Soul Mamam" class="wp-image-4271" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/cSjyvH-q-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/cSjyvH-q-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/cSjyvH-q-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/cSjyvH-q.jpeg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<p>YolanDa Brown&#8217;s a busy woman. Not only is the award-winning saxophonist, broadcaster and mum-of-two touring, she&#8217;s also just opened <a href="http://soulmama.co.uk/our-story" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Soul Mama</a>, a new Afro Caribbean restaurant and live music venue based in The Gantry hotel in East London. </p>



<p>Warm, friendly, driven and instantly likeable, it&#8217;s clear to see why she was able to rally enough crowdfunding support to open Soul Mama &#8211; a record-breaking £248,148, the largest amount ever raised for a restaurant on Kickstarter. Muddy caught up with the Jazz legend before opening week to find out more. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-saxophonist-author-presenter-university-chancellor-is-there-anything-you-can-t-do">Saxophonist, author, presenter, university chancellor&#8230;is there anything you can&#8217;t do?</h2>



<p>*Laughs* I see an opportunity and I take it! Actually most of the things I do interlink and emerge out of each other, like coming out of lockdown and seeing a need for somewhere for friends to meet with live music and great food, that&#8217;s how Soul Mama came about.  </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/VtWVvbuO-1024x683.jpeg" alt="Yoland Brown at Soul Mama" class="wp-image-4272" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/VtWVvbuO-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/VtWVvbuO-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/VtWVvbuO-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/VtWVvbuO.jpeg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-soul-mama-s-based-in-stratford-why-there">Soul Mama&#8217;s based in Stratford, why there? </h2>



<p>I grew up in East London (in Barking), it&#8217;s an area I know well and there&#8217;s a great community, so it was a wonderful serendipity when the PR who works for The Gantry hotel (where Soul Mama&#8217;s based) heard about our crowd-funding attempt and contacted us. The venue&#8217;s ten minutes from my home and there&#8217;s nothing like it locally, so I&#8217;m really excited. Stratford&#8217;s really on the up, BBC Music Studios, Sadler&#8217;s Wells and University of the Arts have moved there, plus the transport links make it so easy to reach, we&#8217;ve got the International Station and Underground. It&#8217;s a lovely location, come visit. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-is-it-true-you-ve-made-it-into-the-guinness-book-of-world-records">Is it true you&#8217;ve made it into the Guinness Book of World Records?</h2>



<p>It&#8217;s true! Myself and my co-founder knew Soul Mama was a great idea but needed to raise some money to launch it, however banks and investors kept us turning down (luckily we’re artists so we&#8217;re used to it!). That&#8217;s when we decided to crowdfund last year (June-July &#8217;23), and it became the fastest ever crowd-funded restaurant globally, which got us into the Guinness Book of World Records. The certificate I was presented with was the first thing to go into the venue. It was so great to be backed by people who loved the idea, who wanted to visit and had faith in us. We&#8217;re so grateful and have even created a founder&#8217;s wall for everyone to see. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-unique-about-soul-mama">What’s unique about Soul Mama?</h2>



<p>I think it’s unique because of the style of African and Caribbean food, which is very much mum&#8217;s comfort cooking &#8211; we&#8217;ve got dishes like creamy coconut curry chicken with rice and peas, Ghanaian-style kelewele and mango jerk cauliflower. Combining that delicious soul food with all different types of music is going to be amazing. Music venues usually cater to one type of music but I want a real mix, jazz, soul, r&#8217;n&#8217;b, it&#8217;s all good. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="673" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.20.07-1024x673.png" alt="Yolanda Brown " class="wp-image-4274" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.20.07-1024x673.png 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.20.07-300x197.png 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.20.07-768x505.png 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.20.07.png 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-do-you-think-london-s-music-scene-needed-a-new-venue-nbsp">Why do you think London’s music scene needed a new venue?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>It’s sad to keep hearing about all these grassroot places closing, but I&#8217;m not deterred by other venues&#8217; experiences. I think it’s on the punters to keep supporting live music. People say they want these experiences and the crowdfunding success was evidence of that, so we&#8217;re going to provide it. Sending love to all the venue owners who have been pushing, we need to keep providing the music. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-won-two-mobo-awards-for-best-jazz-was-it-a-defining-moment-for-you-nbsp">You won two MOBO awards for best jazz, was it a defining moment for you?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Yes, I think these celebratory moments are key. When I won my first MOBO I was still studying for my PHD in management science as well as playing music, and was on the cusp or deciding if I should make a career out of it. I was living double life, but it was the nod and a hug I needed to make a go of it. Winning a MOBO was the push I needed. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-ve-toured-with-some-major-stars-who-are-your-favourites-and-why">You’ve toured with some major stars, who are your favourites and why?</h2>



<p>I’ve had so many amazing experiences with some great musicians, including <em>Kool &amp; the Gang </em>and recently Katherine Jenkins, but I&#8217;d have to say my number one experience was going on tour with The Temptations. I grew up with their music as my parents loved them so it was a big deal, and their work ethic and how they treated me was incredible. They were global stars and yet they brought me on stage as the sixth Temptation. It taught me that collaboration is a wonderful thing. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="763" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.22.59-1024x763.png" alt="Yolanda Brown getting an OBE" class="wp-image-4275" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.22.59-1024x763.png 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.22.59-300x223.png 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.22.59-768x572.png 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/london/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2024/09/Screenshot-2024-09-04-at-07.22.59.png 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-was-receiving-an-obe-in-2023-a-shock-nbsp">Was receiving an OBE in 2023 a shock?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Yes! I was on tour in Germany with Kool &amp; the Gang and I had to read the email a  couple of times to make sure it was for real &#8211; it&#8217;s not every day you get commended by the Prime Minister and King. I was so chuffed, like the MOBO it&#8217;s another nod and hug to say keep on doing what you&#8217;re doing. I took my kids and parents to Buckingham Palace, it was one of King Charles&#8217; first roles as King and such an honour. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-re-a-super-star-musician-mum-of-two-and-now-restaurant-owner-how-do-you-make-it-all-work">You’re a super star musician, mum-of-two and now restaurant-owner, how do you make it all work? </h2>



<p>I&#8217;ll be honest, it’s a juggle. I&#8217;m spinning lots of plates, but some plates are spinning away on their own ok meaning I can concentrate on the ones that need more momentum. My support network is strong too, the grandparents do amazing work with the girls and they come on tour with us, even to Australia. My family is very much part of everything, rather tha separate to work. For example the kids have even been helping out with the launch of Soul Mama, last week they were unpacking chairs, helping with menus, it&#8217;s a family effort. Everything’s on, all the time &#8211; tonight I&#8217;m putting name labels into school uniforms.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-muddy-stilettos-has-to-ask-is-it-true-you-give-away-a-pair-of-heels-at-your-gigs-nbsp">Muddy Stilettos has to ask, is it true you give away a pair of heels at your gigs?&nbsp;</h2>



<p>*Laughs* I love heels (I feel comfy in them and it helps my posture) and when I wear them on stage I&#8217;m often asked about them and yes, I have been known to give some away. I was doing a show at the Barbican once and a woman was wearing a pair I&#8217;d given her a few years ago, we had a chat and she told me where they&#8217;d been. </p>



<p><em><strong>YolanDa&#8217;s performing at <a href="https://www.universe.com/events/yolanda-brown-tickets-1XCPJD" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Soul&nbsp;Mama</a>&nbsp;11-13 October. It&#8217;s also an official music venue for the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.soulmama.co.uk/londonjazzfestivalatsoulmama" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">London Jazz Festival</a>&nbsp;taking place in November</strong></em>. </p>


Musician YolanDa Brown talks awards, stars and her new London restaurant

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