Here I Am Baby

Rare 1980 Detroit funk-soul LP finally surfaces after 45 years, revealing a powerful story of survival and artistic resilience.Edinburgh-based label Athens of the North is pleased to announce the reissue of "Here I Am Baby", the only studio album by soul and funk vocalist Lady Jane (Jane Brice), originally recorded at Studio A, in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn Heights and privately released in 1980.Lady Jane recorded these sessions during a turbulent period in Detroit in the late 1970s, working with respected engineer Eric Morgeson and a studio band on material largely written by her then-husband. The album remained virtually unknown for decades, with copies destroyed in a flood and masters held by her ex-husband. A chance discovery by Friends of Sound Records founder David Haffner in 2022 set the reissue in motion. Remarkably, before his death, Jane's ex-husband returned the original master tapes to her-yielding not only the complete multi-tracks for "Here I Am Baby", but an entire album's worth of unreleased material, also coming soon on AOTN."Here I Am Baby" showcases Jane's extraordinary voice across a compelling blend of soul, funk, and disco, from the opening ballad through heavy funk excursions like "Never Lived In The Ghetto" and "Space Flight." The album's final track, "She's A Star" - the only song Jane wrote herself - carries profound personal significance. Recorded without her husband's knowledge, the song directly addresses her survival of childhood sexual abuse and stands as a moving testament to resilience and self-belief.Now an ordained minister, Jane Brice has spent decades away from the spotlight. But her voice-at once forceful, delicate, and vulnerable-deserves to be heard. Newly mastered from the recovered tapes, "Here I Am Baby" and the forthcoming "Miss Disco" present not merely a rare funk-soul artifact, but a powerful document of a woman's courage in reclaiming her own story.