Eclectic Jazz: Carmen Souza's CD Release, New York City & Toronto Dates & More June 2013

With material from a media release:

Carmen Souza
New CD: Kachupada
 

@drom New York City June 14, 2013

@ TD Toronto Jazz Festival
Wednesday, June 26th 2013
Jazz Bistro, 251 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON M5B 1T8
8pm & 10pm / $35.60 /

Tickets Here


Cape Verdean songstress Carmen Souza announces a North American summer tour, celebrating the release of her new album Kachupada. On June 14th she'll be in New York CIty at drom and June 26th she’ll be performing at the Jazz Bistro in Toronto.

Carmen Souza and Theo Pas‘cal complement each other musically in an ingenious way has already been shown in their successful cooperation over the last few years. The latest studio-album called Kachupada, that was recorded in London and Lisbon will be released in North America on June 11, 2013, continues this tradition. The title of the album was inspired by the favorite Cape Verdean dish Kachupada that, with its wide variety of ingredients and spices, reflects the multiplicity of influences in Carmen Souza‘s music.

Carmen Souza tells stories taken from real life, she indulges in melancholy, radiates vitality and on the wings of her African heritage she resorts to her rich musical treasure trove. Carmen Souza intermingles jazz-lines with Cape Verde-an sounds, scatting tunes, caressing the melodies. Her interpretation of the jazz-standards “My Favourite Things“ (Richard Rogers / Oscar Hammerstein II) or “Donna Lee“ (Charlie Parker / Miles Davis) sounds exotic and at the same time very familiar.



Carmen been peforming for more than half her life and it shows in the facility with which she uses her voice She growls, she squeaks and at times approaches heavenly purity. Her voice is fluid and elastic, expressive and emotive whether you understand the language or not. She plays with the words and rhythms - at times at dizzying speeds. The songs are often playful and bouncy in tone; sometimes influenced by the undeniable rhythms of African guitars. Influenced by its Portuguese history, Cape Verdean music often has a flavour akin to Latin or Cuban rhythms.

She has assembled a top notch cadre of musicians to help her out, capable of an impressive rhythmic complexity. Along with the solidest of rhythm sections and guitar, in various songs you'll hear flute, accordion, violin, keyboardsor saxophone..

One of the CDs highlights for me is Xinxinroti, a song where the eccentricities of her vocal style come in perfect synch with the music; at times delicate and breathy, at others vibrant and pure in tone. I was also taken with 6 On Ne Tarrafal, a plaintive acoustic guitar based ballad (see video above).

Carmen Souza represents a newer generation of artists whose globally influenced and idiom-bending music defies categorization and she'll be on tour in North America throughout June.

TOUR DATES
•  June 14: DROM, NYC, NY
•  June 15: REGATTA JAZZ CLUB, CAMBRIDGE, MA
•  June 20: LEVITT PAVILION, PASADENA, CA
•  June 21: KIRKLAND PERFORMANCE CENTER, KIRKLAND, WA
•  June 22: VANCOUVER JAZZ FEST @ GRANVILLE ISLAND/PERFORMANCE WORKS, VANCOUVER
•  June 23: VICTORIA JAZZ FEST @ UPSTAIRS CABARET, VICTORIA, CA
•  June 25: OTTAWA JAZZ FEST @ OLG STAGE, FESTIVAL PLAZA, OTTAWA, CA
•  June 26: TORONTO JAZZ FEST @ JAZZ BISTRO, TORONTO, CA
•  June 27: ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL @ MAX OF EASTMAN PLACE,  ROCHESTER, NY
•  June 28: ROCHESTER JAZZ FESTIVAL @ XEROX AUDITORIUM AT XEROX PLAZA, ROCHESTER, NY
• June 29: FREIHOFER’S SARATOGA JAZZ FESTIVAL @ GAZEBO STAGE, SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY

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