Clara Hill

Once part of Berlin's Sonar Kollektiv collective, electro-soul vocalist Clara Hill immersed herself in multiple strands of Germany's urban dance music from the early '90s onward. At seventeen she developed a passion for the Fender Rhodes electric piano and launched the acid-jazz duo Superjuice—later known as Hill & Funès—which quickly built an audience across the city's club circuit. During one performance she encountered Jazzanova's DJ Alexander Barck, who in 1998 introduced her to producers Stefan Leisering and Axel Reinemer; both were struck by the warmth of her voice. Leisering went on to helm her early track "No Use," which surfaced four years later on Jazzanova's In Between. Prior to the launch of Sonar Kollektiv, Hill assembled the hip-hop jazz outfit Stereoton in 1997, and the group contributed cuts such as "Kick Me Off" to the label's initial compilations at the turn of the century. The Jazzanova association gradually positioned her as a self-sufficient artist, leading Sonar Kollektiv to issue her debut solo album, Restless Times, in early 2004. Leisering and Reinemer—working as Extended Spirit—along with her former partner Funès supplied the dreamy deep-house backdrop for her introspective lyrics. The release drew the interest of Vikter Duplaix, Atjazz, and King Britt, each of whom helped shape her 2006 successor, All I Can Provide. A more acoustic direction emerged on 2007's Sideways, released under the name Clara Hill's Folkwaves. Her fourth album, the subdued Walk the Distance, arrived in 2013 via the Tapete imprint and included contributions from Schneider TM, Hanno Leichtmann, and Kalle Kalima.