Renée Neufville
A singer/songwriter of Jamaican descent and a classically trained pianist, Renee Neufville is one of the founding members of the platinum-selling recording group Zhane. As the main hit songwriter, she wrote numerous nineties classics such as "Hey Mr. DJ," "Sending My Love," "Groove Thang," "It's A Party," and several others. Neufville's songs have been covered by some of the most sought-after artists of today's era, including Childish Gambino (2020), Beyonce's protege Chole & Hale (2019), Aaliyah, and Common, to name a few.
Not one to rest on her laurels, Neufville joined the late revered jazz aficionado Roy Hargrove and toured globally with him for fifteen years as the lead vocalist and pianist in his collective RH Factor. The group performed at jazz festivals worldwide, from Shanghai, China, to Rotterdam, and the list goes on. They recorded three long-playing albums on Verve Records that garnered two Grammy-Award nominations.
As a result of her extensive touring career on the Jazz circuit with Hargrove, Renee Neufville became globally known outside of her work with Zhane, and for that, she is forever grateful. Subsequently, Neufville's performance resume is quite extensive. She has performed with Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), multi-Grammy Award-winning artist Robert Glasper, the late great Gil Scott Herring, legendary bassist Ron Carter, and has appeared at the Monterrey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Umbria Jazz Festival, and Black Sea Jazz Festival, among others.
Neufville's music and voice have been highlighted in several TV productions backed by OWN Networks (Oprah Winfrey), Overbrook Entertainment (Will Smith), Issa Rae, AMC TV, and Micahel B Jordan (2022). Her on-screen debut was in 2000 when she was cast by the legendary movie filmmaker John Singleton in his remake of Shaft starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, and Vanessa Williams. Most recently, Neufville co-starred in the short film Boxed In and was featured in the upcoming documentary for the global cultural icon Sister Nancy.