In autumn 1978, she auditioned to appear on Joe La Greca's album Montreal. In early 1978, Jiani recorded two tracks for the project, "If You Believe in Me" and "Higher and Higher". These were released on an EP, with her credited under her birth name. Glenn LaRusso of Salsoul Records convinced her to shorten her name from Uchenna Carol Ikejiani to Carol Jiani to make it easier for North Americans to pronounce.
