Check out contemporary R&B/soul/jazz singer Ledisi stopping traffic in the French Quarter during Essence Fest as she sings "Pieces of Me" on a balcony at St. Peter and Royal.

Ledisi (the name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba) was born in the New Orleans area , then moved to Oakland, California as a child. She grew up in a musical family: "her mother, Nyra Dynese, sang in a local band called Coronava, and her stepfather, Joseph Pierce III, was a drummer. Her biological father is Larry Saunders, a Soul singer and musician who was most active in the 1970s. She's also the granddaughter of the late Blues singer Johnny Ace."