Ledisi, whose name means “to bring forth” in the Yoruba language, will be in a very familiar setting when she performs at the Essence Music Festival on Friday, July 6. First of all, the “party with a purpose” is presented in New Orleans, her place of birth and where many members of her family as well as friends reside. During her childhood, the rhythm and blues vocalist, movie and Broadway actress and author, whose star continues to rise to super nova status, left the Crescent City and moved ...