Ivana Santilli

Ivana Daniela Santilli (born in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian R&B singer and multi-instrumentalist, who has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the 1990s R&B/pop combo Bass is Base.

Santilli was born to an Italian father and a French-Canadian mother. Santilli's earliest performances began at age 9 playing trumpet for her father’s Italian wedding band in Toronto. During her schooling, she hooked up with her first band, Bass is Base, a band which gained national attention . The trio’s funk and soul fusion garnered them many an award, (Juno award, CMVA, MMVA, etc.), and two successful albums with A&M/Polygram & Island Records in the U.S. She left the band and set out to find her own sound. The band broke up while the three members were writing and recording demos for their third album. Ivana asked to be released from her contract with A&M records, and then wrote and recorded 10 new songs as a solo artist within a month of the breakup. She then began working as a session musician (keyboards, Back up vocals) with various bands: Soul Attorneys, Women ah Run Tings, Punjabi by Nature, Holly McNarland.

Following the dissolution of Bass is Base, her solo career began with the release of her album Brown in April 1999.

The album Brown became one of the most successful independent albums released in Canada that year outselling major label releases. The album was unique in that it showcased Ivana’s many influences and had something for everyone, soul, bossa nova & drum 'n bass ("Sun + Moon = Tomorrow"). It was this music and her live performances that helped garner Brown critical and commercial success and helped Ivana become one of Canada’s most distinctive and talented artists; along with being a triple threat (vocals, keys, trumpet), Ivana is also fluent in Italian and French. Her Brown album, also featured '"If Ever I Fall", a duet with singer Glenn Lewis during his early career . She's toured across North America, and played live with the likes of James Brown, Tito Puente, Barenaked Ladies, De La Soul, Jamiroquai, Brand New Heavies, The Fugees, Jann Arden, Maceo Parker, Sylk130, Bahamadia, Pharcyde, and The Roots. One of her three performances during the Montreal Jazz Festival was the subject of a one-hour Bravo! television special. Peer publishing signed her as a writer in the fall of 2000.

On August 10, 2004 she released her second album, Corduroy Boogie, which included the singles, "Deserve" "Superstar" and "What Matters". The video version of "What Matters" appears on a various artists compilation entitled Required Listening. This album featured collaborations with James Poyser, King Britt, Dwele, Dego (4Hero), Kaidi Tatham (Bugz In The Attic), soul legend Omar, Stuart Matthewman (Sade, Maxwell, Sweetback). She then became heavily involved as a keyboardist in remix collaborations for such artists as Jazzanova, King Britt, Scuba, Vikter Duplaix, Steven Spacek, All Saints, Appleton: "Don't Worry", Rosey (Def Jam), Roy Ayers, Larry Gold. After touring Japan (blue note), and Europe, in New York, she's noted for her work as an instrumentalist on various soundtrack recordings for film. Her third album TO.NY was released on June 10, 2008 with the singles "Whateva U Want" and "Been Thru This" which reached #91 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Santilli signed to CP Records and released her fourth studio album, Santilli on June 29, 2010. The first single is "Your Girl Tonight" and the second single is "Letting Go". Six of the songs on Santilli are new recordings, while the remainder were from TO.NY.

Ivana's 5th studio album was prereleased on February 13, 2015 and released digitally worldwide on March 10, 2015. Subsequent release forms will continue during 2015 for CD and dates TBA for analog forms of release.

Albums

• April 1999: Brown (Brown Recordings)
• August 2004: Corduroy Boogie (Brown Recordings)
• June 2008: TO.NY (Brown Recordings) review
• June 2010: Santilli (CP Records)
• March 2015: Late Night Light (Brown Recordings)

Singles