Brettina

Brettina was born in Nassau, the Bahamas. She moved to Chicago with her family while she was a toddler when her mother, gospel-singer/actress Leona Coakley Spring, began acting on the popular stage plays "The Crucible," and "The Other Cinderella."[1] Brettina moved back to the Bahamas during her school years.

Brettina began singing at age four, under the influence of her mother, as well as her uncles

1. , Theo and Kirk Coakley of the popular 1970 Funk/Soul group T-Connection.

While attending C.I. Gibson School in the Bahamas she was awarded the title "Miss C.I. Gibson", which made her eligible for Miss Bahamas Talented Teen.[2] Brettina won the title "Miss Bahamas Talented Teen",[3] and earned a university scholarship. She attended the University of Washington.[2][3]

Brettina cites as her main influences Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Horn,[3][4] Shirley Bassey,[5] Sade, Adele, Diana Krall, Brenda Russell, Corinne Bailey Rae, Tiwa Savage and LIRA.[6] She sings jazz, and describes her style as "organic".[3][4]

She hopes to perform in South Africa where she has a huge following, and to capture the European audience., June 2020 {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

She draws from personal experience in her songwriting. For example, she cites her poor childhood as the inspiration for her song "Poor Old Times",[2] her fondness for chai as the inspiration for "Chai",[7] and childhood memories as the inspiration for covering the Belafonte-Burgess song "Island in the Sun".[8]

In addition to her jazz career, she has worked as a print model and an actress in national advertisements. As a singer, she has performed mainly in the Seattle and Los Angeles areas.[6][3][9]

She has performed in public on several occasions, for example:

• CD release party (publicity appearance, but not a performance) [10]
• Supermodel of the Bahamas show, with Bahamian R&B singer Julien[11]
• Kirkland Performance Center "New Face of Jazz" concert November 2010[9]
• "Up Close & Unplugged" concert January 26, 2011[6][12]
• Her talent agency announced a "New Face of Jazz World Tour".[13]
• Caribbean Heritage Organization featured artist June 2013
• Scheduled to appear at 20/50 Music Is Life Festival 2014, in Nassau Bahamas, may 8[14]

• Brettina won the title Miss C.I. Gibson, which made her eligible for Miss Talented Teen Bahamas.
• Brettina won the Hal Jackson Miss Talented Teen Bahamas and was awarded a scholarship.[6]
• Brettina is an Ambassador for the reputable hair brand – Black Velvet Hair

Brettina has been praised by a variety of critics, for example:

• All About Jazz, "Brettina"[15]
• Jazz Wax, "Brettina: New Sound of Jazz"[16]
• Bohemian Soul, untitled article[17]

Brettina supports several charitable causes, most visibly a donation in support of C.I. Gibson School, which she attended.[7] She also supports All Saints Camp, a shelter for people suffering from HIV/AIDS, with her mother.[2]

Studio albums: Brettina (2010), Bop Baiye – Single released in May 2019

• Brettina (2010) [15]
  • "Paradise"
  • "Bahamian Girl"
  • "The Bug"
  • "Serafina"
  • "Poor Old Times"
  • "Chai"
  • "My Time to Shine"
  • "Pardon the Storm"
  • "Island in the Sun"
  • "One"
  • "Serafina" (bonus track with strings)

Music videos

• "Bahamian Girl"[18]
• Brettina's Single, 'Bop Baiye' : BOP BAIYE was released on May 20, 2019 much to the excitement of Brettina's fans across the world
• Brettina released her hit Single "Simple Pleasures" (Lyric Video) in October 2020
• Brettina came out with her soulful jazz and beautiful island rhythms EP this Spring of 2021 titled, "NEW DAY." This EP is a total feast for all of Brettina's fans across the globe.
• It consists of her hits, namely Simple Pleasures which is on high rotation,
• Bop Baiye
• New Day
• Low
• Brettina's EP, New Day is available on all streaming platforms and doing extremely well on the charts.

• Brettina on Facebook
• Brettina's channel on YouTube