Lilla D'Mone & Brazilian Lions

Since the release of Music Trance, D’Mone has worked with and shared the stage with Ciara, Kenny G, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Boyz II Men, Pussycat Dolls, Wu-Tang, Too $hort, Bill Summers of Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, Kermit Ruffins, and album feature artist Talib Kweli. Nationally and internationally, she’s played from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, to Beijing China. As a performer, the-22-year old has the ability to connect with any audience and communicate music's deepest emotions. From her hand-picked band to her ground-breaking originals, there are few modern performers that bring the class, presence, entertainment and talent that Lilla does to the stage. And, when she’s not fronting her own band, Lilla can be found sitting in on jazz, neo-soul, blues or hip-hop shows, adding heartfelt and powerful melodies to music of nearly any genre.

“After experiencing a great show, everyone comes out changed in some way. You are forced to forget your problems. You leave dancing. That's something I've learned from the the best musicians I've worked with.” -Lilla D’Mone

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Lilla grew up under the influence of her parents’ music: Billie Holliday, Marvin & Tammy, James Brown, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Hendrix, Sade, Tracy Chapman and Sarah Vaughan, to name a few. At the age of 6 she taught herself to play the piano by ear and, by age 12, was the shining light in her local gospel choir. In high school other opportunities presented themselves--in addition to gospel choir, she sang and toured the East Coast with Ulysses S. Grant High Schools internationally recognized Royal Blues, Jazz Band, at the same time providing stage and studio vocals for several local hip-hop and R&B acts. It was during this time that she found a niche in the local Portland scene. After performing guest vocals for a number of published releases, and studio work with national hip-hop, R&B and jazz notables, she felt she had enough experience to strike out on her own.

Writing, producing and performing her own full-length album is one of Lilla’s greatest accomplishments to date. Despite the challenges of creating truly original music, the end product is one of uncompromising dedication to music with integrity.

“People forget the importance of music’s roots – the great singers and musicians. People are building sounds, but too many are building off of something that happened a day or two ago. The warmest sounds come from every era of jazz, gospel, soul and blues; these are the sounds that remain unforgotten.”
-Lilla D’Mone ©