Based: Cape Town
Auriol Hays was born and raised all over the Western Cape everywhere from Mitchell’s Plain to Eerste River. She grew up listening to classical music and whatever her parents liked, be it Jim Reeves or Roger Whitaker.
And despite coming from a musical family where mum played piano and her brothers played guitar, Auriol kept her vocal talent and song writing very much disguised. A chance meeting with songwriter / producer Andre Scheepers, brought her debut album, Behind Closed Doors into fruition and lead to her first SAMA nomination and SAMA performance with Tumi and The Volume and Marcus Wyatt. Her album was also chosen as one of the Top 20 albums of 2009 by the Sunday Times.
Aside from singing at numerous corporate and private venues, Auriol has performed at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, opened with the Gauteng Big Band for the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, sang at the Zoo Lake music festival, wowed crowds at the 94.7 Christmas Wish Concert, perform to a sold out crowd at the Grahamstown Festival and staged another sold out Nina Simone Introspective show in Cape Town. Her music has also been used on various movie and television soundtracks. Her bands, all accomplished jazz musicians in their own right, are all based in Cape Town.
Her first current single, A BETTER MAN, taken from her new album CALL IT LOVE – Anima Sola, is on high rotation on 5FM and Highveld. Follow up single MY LOVE has already commenced rotation on national radio.
The second album is far more thematic than the first (which was a mixture of pop and jazz) and deals with the unravelling of a long term relationship. Each song is meant to take you deeper and deeper within that relationship. Stand out tracks include Better Man, For The Man You Are, My Love and O Me Amor – a beautiful Portuguese Ballad written by Lionel Bastos.
Auriol Hays
Auriol Hays – Over My Shoulders.flv
Auriol Hays – Child Atone ft Riaan Smit
