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Editorial Reviews
A new type of jazz singer has emerged in the twenty-first century: the multilingual vocalist. Artists like Claudia Acuna and Luciana Souza are but two examples of this modern phenomenon. Now, with the release of her Sunnyside debut, Bienvenida, the gifted, Philadelphia-based, Cuban-American vocalist Venissa Santi represents the next step in this multicultural artistic evolution, with an exciting blend of American and Cuban standards, folkloric songs, and original compositions with global influences that range from Billie Holliday and Betty Carter to Celia Cruz.
Backed by a powerhouse array of musicians including Robert and Michael Rodriguez on piano and trumpet, organist Barry Soames, Cuban bassist Yunior Terry, guitarist/bassist Jeff Lee Johnson, drummers François Zayas and Daoud Shaw, and percussionist Cuco Castellanos, Santi s lithe and angelic Spanish and English vocals float effortlessly between show tunes and Cuban syncopations; from 6/8 bembe to infectious yambu and Columbia rumba rhythms.
My artistry of singing Afro-Cuban and jazz was born from the necessity to express the musical influences that nourish my spirit as a Cuban American, she says. The challenge might be when I ask: Are people ready for this? Will people get it? Can non-Spanish speaking people appreciate this? Will Latinos dig it? I hope the record will be placed somewhere that all can hear it. Otherwise, I don't consider it a challenge. I consider it another trick up my sleeve!
There s nothing tricky about this thirty year-old singer s real and heartfelt fusion of music, culture, language, and identity. Propelled by her band s Cubop-in-pocket moods and grooves with some stateside swing Santi sautés and simmers standards like the Peter Pan/Rogers and Hart chestnuts Tender Shepherd and Little Girl Blue, and Gershwin s Embraceable You, with Havana-breezed, Caribbean cadences, while her rendition of an old Cuban song, Como Fue, is reimagined as a Broad Street blues. The bolero Lucerito De Mi Amor comes from the pen of Jacobo Ros Capablanca, a noted Cuban composer and Santi s grandfather.
I inherited this musical passion from my grandfather, she says. He was a composer in Cuba. He was on the scene in the 40s. He sold some music. Some [of it] was stolen from him. He was not a go-getter; he was very mild and not a fighter. In 1961, [he and his family] left Havana and entered a life of struggle and poverty. I was given his compositions. I moved to Philadelphia to study jazz, and it was a groundbreaking moment at the end of my senior year when I took out the aging portfolio of his compositions and had them played for me by an accomplished pianist. I knew I had to sing his music one day. Lucerito de Mi Amor should be a part of the Cuban standard repertoire.
Other island gems like the gorgeous bolero, Tu Mi Delirio reconceptualized as a 4/4 bop number; Convergencias, which effortlessly morphs from an abakua and danzon to a cha-cha-cha; and the fiery and folkloric traditional selections Cumpling Cumpling, and Columbia Pa Miguel Angel, as well as Santi s compositions, the percussively poetic Talkin to You, and the ballad Wish You Well, shows that Santi is at home with any song, from Havana to Harlem.
Backed by a powerhouse array of musicians including Robert and Michael Rodriguez on piano and trumpet, organist Barry Soames, Cuban bassist Yunior Terry, guitarist/bassist Jeff Lee Johnson, drummers François Zayas and Daoud Shaw, and percussionist Cuco Castellanos, Santi s lithe and angelic Spanish and English vocals float effortlessly between show tunes and Cuban syncopations; from 6/8 bembe to infectious yambu and Columbia rumba rhythms.
My artistry of singing Afro-Cuban and jazz was born from the necessity to express the musical influences that nourish my spirit as a Cuban American, she says. The challenge might be when I ask: Are people ready for this? Will people get it? Can non-Spanish speaking people appreciate this? Will Latinos dig it? I hope the record will be placed somewhere that all can hear it. Otherwise, I don't consider it a challenge. I consider it another trick up my sleeve!
There s nothing tricky about this thirty year-old singer s real and heartfelt fusion of music, culture, language, and identity. Propelled by her band s Cubop-in-pocket moods and grooves with some stateside swing Santi sautés and simmers standards like the Peter Pan/Rogers and Hart chestnuts Tender Shepherd and Little Girl Blue, and Gershwin s Embraceable You, with Havana-breezed, Caribbean cadences, while her rendition of an old Cuban song, Como Fue, is reimagined as a Broad Street blues. The bolero Lucerito De Mi Amor comes from the pen of Jacobo Ros Capablanca, a noted Cuban composer and Santi s grandfather.
I inherited this musical passion from my grandfather, she says. He was a composer in Cuba. He was on the scene in the 40s. He sold some music. Some [of it] was stolen from him. He was not a go-getter; he was very mild and not a fighter. In 1961, [he and his family] left Havana and entered a life of struggle and poverty. I was given his compositions. I moved to Philadelphia to study jazz, and it was a groundbreaking moment at the end of my senior year when I took out the aging portfolio of his compositions and had them played for me by an accomplished pianist. I knew I had to sing his music one day. Lucerito de Mi Amor should be a part of the Cuban standard repertoire.
Other island gems like the gorgeous bolero, Tu Mi Delirio reconceptualized as a 4/4 bop number; Convergencias, which effortlessly morphs from an abakua and danzon to a cha-cha-cha; and the fiery and folkloric traditional selections Cumpling Cumpling, and Columbia Pa Miguel Angel, as well as Santi s compositions, the percussively poetic Talkin to You, and the ballad Wish You Well, shows that Santi is at home with any song, from Havana to Harlem.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous first record by a new jazz great,
This review is from: Bienvenida (Audio CD)
This CD quickly became one of the those that I listen to regularly. Santi has an amazing voice, an innate sense of timing, and (in Spanish or English) a beautiful lyrical sensibility. Santi crosses musical borders with grace and skill, all the while captivating us with her wonderful, rich voice. A warning As soon as you listen to her music you'll be hankering for her next record impatiently, but enthusiastically.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
encantadora,
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This review is from: Bienvenida (Audio CD)
Cuando la escuche por primera vez a Venissa supe inmediatamente que no se parecia a nadie que yo hubiese escuchado antes, su tono y su timbre de voz son inconfundibles y si a eso le sumamos una modulacion vocal tan personal como la suya, tenemos una nueva artista que brilla con luz propia.
Tambien tengo que decir que la produccion de este trabajo es magnifica tanto en la eleccion de los temas como en las tomas sonoras incluyendo algun ruido adicional en algun tema. Gracias estaba esperando a alguien como tu y ademas cantando en castellano.
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