Ugochi And The Urban Griot Movement Soul Band from Chicago, IL

Ugochi’s music has allowed her to travel to many countries in Europe, including performing her extremely individualized form of sound power in Paris, Nigeria, Amsterdam and London. She has been featured on WTTW’s Wild Chicago, Artbeat Chicago, WXRT, WGN Morning Show, as well as performed with acclaimed artists such as Common, Malik Yusef, J. Ivy, Eric Benet, Michael McDermott, Edwin McCain, Maxi Priest, Umphrey’s McGee, and most recently John Legend and Femi Kuti. She was selected as a finalist in the HBO/Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam 2001 Competition. She also performed in Dance Africa Chicago 2001 where she received rave reviews by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times. In 2003, legendary Chicago diva Chaka Khan saluted the emerging artist as “someone who will have a long life in the music business,” when she was selected as a semi-finalist on Star Search. Ugochi also wrote the only original song for the critically acclaimed “Red Hot and Riot Compilation,” in honor of the late Fela Ransome Kuti and global AIDS awareness. The song, So Be It, was performed by R&B star Kelis. Ugochi is “Best African Entertainer 2005,” according to Chicago Music Awards. Illinois Entertainer Magazine hails her as an urban singing phenomenon, a rising star with reach far beyond her city block. Her unique sound has also been featured in two independent chicago films, Love Shorts, and Severed Ties. Both films were featured in the Black Harvest Film Festival, 2004 and 2005.