وبگاه طرفداران شینی و اندی

     On a Hollywood High : Shani Rigsbee      

Shani Rigsbee (Shani), is currently at the red-hot epicenter of a rising power pack of  American stars that are equally fluent on stage and screen, in acting and music.  Her credits as a Recording Artist – Singer, Composer and Producer appear in major motion pictures and she has performed at the worlds’ most prestigious venues.

Her reputation as an International Artist (though born in Hot Springs Arkansas) has made her the “go to girl” for Internationally-flavored and culturally enriched projects. Her song “El Llamar de Pasión - Call of the Wild” was featured in  the ACADEMY AWARD WINNER for Best Picture, Crash and was also chosen to promote Oliver Stone’s Persona Non Grata for HBO.  She was the Featured Vocalist in the 20^th Century Fox epic One Night With the King and her songs, voice and persona  have been featured in numerous feature films such as The House of Sand and Fog (Dreamworks) in which she also appeared  and  The Keeper - The Legend of Omar Khayyam (Guide Company Films) with Academy Award Winner Vanessa Redgrave, in which she also  plays the exotic Court Entertainer and was also the Executive Producer of the soundtrack.

Shani has also been a featured Artist in many high profile events including the Countdown for Barack Obama (an official campaign event)  and followed as the Producer of the Inaugural Purple Ball’s Show Performances.  She has also been the  Featured Vocalist in the current prestigious play “Beneath the Veil”  which focuses on women’s rights in the Middle East at both the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles as well as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and at  New York’s Lincoln Center.  And she has supported various events for Haitian relief with organizations such as Amnesty International.

On screen, Shani plays a variety of roles from a sultry femme fatale to a seductive ancient temptress.  Her debut film role was the feature film Crossworlds with Rutger Hauer, Josh Charles and Jack Black and she has several episodic television credits in her archives.

Who would have guessed that this International talent actually stems from Bill Clinton’s hometown?  As a young girl, Shani would spend hours singing to the artists of the day while her father played drums and would produce plays in her family’s garage for the neighbors.  Encouraging her passion for the arts, her family threw caution to the winds taking the Southern cheerleader and choirgirl to the City of Angels, Los Angeles, to help her launch her career.

Along the way her path was interrupted when she was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.  Forced to channel all of her energies towards regaining her health, Shani felt her path enlightened by her spiritual search.  Through her indomitable will, she conquered her ovarian cancer; this combination of inner and outer exploration had a profound effect on her development not only as an artist, but as a human being as well.  She proudly supports and has been a featured performer for such organizations such as Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine and their Art of Compassion gala and has been a supporter and produced a dvd for Canyon Creek Farm, a PMU horse rescue in Southern  California which helps to support the fallout of the hormone replacement industry and it’s relationship to horse slaughter.  She also has participated in Sir Elton John’s annual post-Oscar benefit to raise money for his Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Social Hollywood Opening to Benefit Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Program, as well as Best Friends Animal Society's Annual Lint Roller Party to benefit homeless pets as well as other animal advocacy groups such as In Defense of Animals and The Humane Society of the United States.  Shani also walked many red carpets in support of charitable causes and she uses her talent as a means to expand her audience and to support other endeavors requiring immediate attention such as the Hurricane Katrina animal relief effort for which she coordinated animal rescues in the New Orleans.  To raise cancer awareness, Shani serves as a Board Member at the Women’s Clinic and Family Counseling Center in Los Angeles and is a proud supporter of  the L’Oreal Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.  Shani also has spent time making the congressional  rounds in Washington D.C. in support of various legislative causes such as the American Horse Slaughter Ban bill.

Since the classically-beautiful Shani arrived in Los Angeles from Arkansas, she’s been on a Hollywood high.  She has since cemented her status as a first-class international entertainer, actress and singer.  Perhaps it’s because of her singing style – a sensuous, alluring voice that curves and caresses each vowel when she’s caught in the heat of passion.  Or perhaps it’s because of Shani’s pure allure – there are some people who walk into a room and disturb the molecules.  This is 100-watt charisma, something no scientist can explain.  Her mysterious sexuality is part enigma – a female whose sexual presence is too mysterious to pin down, too intimate to forget.

In her previous album, Call of the Wild, Shani broke new ground creating a global span of sound that combined percussive dance beats with sensual Eastern and Spanish overtones, creating a new sort of ménage-à-music.  She  followed its international acclaim with Velvet (international release).   With her latest release, At the Casbah, which contains two updated Cole Porter standards in her highly stylized direction along with 11 original songs, she practically creates an “event,” evoking an exciting blend of rhythm, sophistication and exoticism, free from labels, borders or boundaries.  5 tracks from the album are featured in recent Motion Pictures.

One part jazz, one part pop, Shani has also enlisted some urban flavor from several Rap Artists on the album and features Producer/Rap Artist, V-Style, who is also featured on the “Get Somebody” video. Currently, her music and videos  from her At The Casbah (CMG/SONY BMG), play across the country, showing up on television and in shopping malls, and she can even be heard on major Airlines and on International television.

A consummate artist, whether she has achieved international acclaim as a starring vocalist on Sony PlayStation singing in English, Latin and Spanish (that has generated mega millions around the world), or singing and dancing with enchanting belly-dance flair on stage everywhere on the globe, Shani has become a world-renowned entertainer.

Based on the strong international recognition of her music, Hollywood called.  Not only were they pleased with her talent as an actress, but they began to request her work on prestigious soundtrack.  She has forged ahead both in front of and behind the camera continuing to develop and collaborate on projects and continues to tour and perform, enticing audiences all over the world from Los Angeles’ Kodak Theatre to London to Dubai, and has remixes of her songs playing in nightclubs everywhere.

With her cemented status as an Artist who fuses art and cultures on an International scale, she has now parlayed her success  into the role of Producer of feature films.

*      Silver Cord  - A supernatural / Romance  thriller set for production in 2010 .  Shani has also written and produced the end title credit song and will play a featured role.

*      Matter of Honor – A crime drama that is in development for 2010.

*       The Quest of Sheherzade – a historical epic that is slated for 2011.