Vocalist Carol Bach-y-Rita CD Release Party, Catalina Bar & Grill, Sun., October 30th

GLENDALE, Calif. - Oct. 14, 2016 - PRLog -- CAROL BACH-Y-RITA celebrates the release of her new CD, MINHA CASA/my house, with a brunch performance at Los Angeles' top jazz club, CATALINA BAR & GRILL on Sunday, October 30^th. The date coincides with Bach-y-Rita's birthday and features musicians from the original recording band, including pianist and composer Bill Cantos, guitarist Larry Koonse, and bassist John Leftwich. Joining the ensemble for the concert are Ana Barreiro on percussion plus special guests.

MINHA CASA/my house is a stunning blend of Brazilian, bebop, and jazz, and Bach-y-Rita has been receiving critical acclaim for the CD, which was released last month on Arugula Records. Bruce Crowther of Jazz Mostly calls the music "… rich and varied, and Carol performs with flair and imagination… An album that will appeal both to lovers of jazz singing and those who favor the music of Latin America." And Michael C. Bailey from All About Jazz raves, "Bach-y-Rita mixes and matches instruments with a carefree whim that never fails to please… Her selected repertoire bursts with originality and invention." MINHA CASA/my house is currently enjoying wide national airplay on jazz stations across the country.

A compelling vocalist, it comes as no surprise that Bach-y-Rita is also a dancer. Her singing has a supple fluidity that suggests a body in motion. On her newest CD, MINHA CASA / my house, she performs re-imagined standards and original songs that celebrate both well- and lesser-known Brazilian rhythms. According to Bach-y-Rita, "I wanted to work with musicians who really know how to play both straight-ahead jazz and Brazilian music. There are a lot of great musicians who can play one or the other, but I'm lucky to work with bandmates who can soar in both styles."

Bach-y-Rita is a jazz singer with a broad international outlook. She is conversant in five languages, including English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese, and has lived in several countries including France, Italy, Mexico and Spain. Her father was Paul Bach-y-Rita, a well-known American neuroscientist whose family originally came from Catalonia where children are given two names: their father's patronymic and their mother's maiden name (i.e. Bach and Rita.) But it was her mother, Eileen, an artist and Feldenkrais practitioner, who instilled in her a love of jazz and dance that has been tightly woven in the fabric of her life.

With its rich music and dance history that contains elements of African, Portuguese and other European influences, Bach-y-Rita was ineluctably drawn to Brazilian rhythms. A versatile artist, she's also adept at arranging and composing. Bach-y-Rita teamed up with bassist John Leftwich to arrange "A Night in Tunisia" with Brazilian rhythms, singing lyrics by one of her idols, Eddie Jefferson, and she turned the Joni Mitchell/Charles Mingus tune "The Dry Cleaner from Des Moines" into a samba reggae, which is a rhythm that originated in Bahia and was derived as a blend of Brazilian samba with Jamaican reggae. Bach-y-Rita asked the respected Los Angeles guitarist Larry Koonse to arrange "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" (Cole Porter) with an Afro-Peruvian feel by singing the 6/8 bell patterns for him. Koonse also did a straight-ahead arrangement featuring the guitar trio on the lovely standard "Tis Autumn," as well as a version of "Pra Quem Quiser Me Visitar" by Guinga for voice guitar and bass.

Bach-y-Rita isn't afraid to take chances with her music as she demonstrates on the tune "Gardening with No Pants," a duet she wrote that features just vocals and percussion accompaniment by Dudu Fuentes, one of Rio de Janeiro's foremost percussionists. Dudu had a small break on his US tour and flew out one afternoon just to record this song with Bach-y-Rita. "Trust" was written by Bach-y-Rita and drummer Mike Shapiro. Bach-y-Rita was inspired to write the tune after attending a drum workshop. The song is composed around the maracatu rhythm from the North East region of Brazil. Although traditional maracatus are performed by a group of 80-100 drummers, a chorus, and a coterie of dancers, Bach-y-Rita and the band create an intimate version of the music while still capturing its exotic essence. "Nature Boy" is another tune that features a voice/percussion duet, this time, with Mike Shapiro on drums. According to Bach-y-Rita, "I love having at least one completely improvised tune on every project. We hadn't discussed our approach at all before starting. We just listened closely to one another and took it somewhere new!"

Three additional tunes feature the wonderful Bill Cantos on piano: a duet of the rarely recorded "While My Lady Sleeps" (Bronislaw Kaper,) a spirited samba arrangement of the Cantos composition "Morning Coffee," and the Rodgers & Hammerstein composition "Love Look Away" rearranged modally by Cantos from major to minor.

MINHA CASA / my house is a paean to the heart and soul of Brazilian rhythms and the American Songbook.  An inventive artist with a smooth, warm voice and sure command of exotic cadences, Bach-y-Rita raises the bar for other singers inspired by Brazilian music and American Jazz.

Bach-y-Rita has worked with many top artists in Jazz and Brazilian music in the United States and abroad, including Harry Allen, Claudio Roditi, John Clayton, Joshua Redman, Jacky Terrason, Bill Cunliffe, Ricardo Silveira, Mark Levine, and more. She's also been a featured performer at jazz venues and festivals throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, The San Francisco Symphony, The Monterey Jazz Festival, and the Newport Jazz Party.

INFO:

October 30, 2016
Doors open at 11:30am
One Show at 12:30pm
CATALINA BAR & GRILL
6725 W. Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
TICKETS: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?eventId=...
RESERVATIONS: (323) 466-2210

Webs:
http://www.carolbach-y-rita.com