The Greatness of Leila Adu: Underrated, Underappreciated, One of our Greatest Talents

I always used to think that Leila Adu was the best kept secret in New Zealand music. I met her over a decade ago and one minute she’d be working with the improvisers, tinkering, make music out of noise or noise from music and then – sometimes even in the same performance – she’d stand, fiercely, proudly behind her keys and hammer down hard, deliberately…