{{Short description|American musician (born 1959)}} {{Other uses}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Anjani | image = Anjani-Thomas-Blue-Alert-Cover-Art-No-Text.jpg | image_size = | landscape = | caption = Anjani in 1989 | birth_name = Anjani Thomas | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|07|10|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, U.S. | origin = | genre = {{hlist|Jazz|folk}} | occupation = {{hlist|Musician|singer-songwriter}} | instrument = Piano | years_active = 1983–present | label = Columbia | website = {{URL|anjani-music.com}} }} '''Anjani Thomas''' (born July 10, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist, best known for her work with singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, as well as Carl Anderson, Frank Gambale, and Stanley Clarke. She became a solo artist in 2000.
==Life== Anjani was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she trained in guitar, piano and voice. She attended Berklee College of Music for a year then moved to New York City to a pursue a music career. She performed in jazz clubs before meeting producer John Lissauer, who hired her to provide backup vocals on Leonard Cohen's influential song "Hallelujah" from ''Various Positions''. Anjani went on to tour with Cohen in 1985, as his keyboardist and backup vocalist, and worked with Cohen for many years after, lending her talents to ''I'm Your Man'', ''The Future'', ''Dear Heather'' and ''Old Ideas''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Anjani/Biography/ |title=Anjani Biography |access-date=February 16, 2010 |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221144302/http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Anjani/Biography/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Anjani launched a solo career with ''Anjani'' in 2000 followed by ''The Sacred Names'' in 2001 – an ode to the Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew names of God.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burger |first=Jeff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GsD0AgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Anjani%22+%22The+Sacred+Names%22+2001&pg=PA532 |title=Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters |date=2014-04-01 |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1-61374-758-2 |language=en}}</ref> In 2006, Cohen contributed lyrics and production talents to Anjani's music and arrangements for ''Blue Alert'' on Columbia Records. The song "Blue Alert" was used in a 2007 Old Navy TV spot.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/arts/music/21ligh.html| title=In Anjani Thomas, Leonard Cohen Finds a New Voice| author= ALAN LIGHT| date= May 21, 2006| work=The New York Times}}</ref>
In 2011, Anjani began working on a follow-up to ''Blue Alert'', which continued the collaboration with Leonard Cohen on three new songs. The new record, ''I Came to Love'', was released in download-only form in July 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anjani-music.com/|title=Anjani | Musings}}</ref>
==Discography== * ''Anjani'' (Little Fountain Music, 2000) * ''The Sacred Names'' (Little Fountain Music, 2001) * ''Blue Alert'' (Columbia, 2006) * ''I Came to Love'' (2014)
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[http://www.anjani-music.com Official site] *[http://www.musicbox-online.com/interviews/anjani-thomas-2007.html "Trusting the Force: Into the Heart of Blue Alert"] interview at Music Box, April 2007 *[http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/anjani.html "The Story of C"] at Leonard Cohen's site
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Anjani}} Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Honolulu Category:Writers from Honolulu Category:20th-century American women singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American pianists Category:American women singer-songwriters Category:American women jazz singers Category:American jazz singers Category:American jazz pianists Category:American women pianists Category:20th-century American singer-songwriters Category:21st-century American women musicians Category:Singer-songwriters from Hawaii