SOFIA REI KOUTSOVITIS, “one of the most versatile and in-demand singers...."

SOFIA REI KOUTSOVITIS, “one of the most versatile and in-demand singers on the New York music scene” as Simon Calle -All About Jazz- wrote about her, is a Buenos Aires native, a singer and a composer who elegantly fuses South American rhythms with a jazz aesthetic in a unique and extremely seductive way. She has been praised by the legendary Curtis Fuller as "one of the most memorable performers I have ever encountered... a superb and original songwriter," and by the great Maria Schneider for her "lovely sound that is human and earthy all at once."

Sofia belongs to a new generation of musicians who in the last fifteen years or so, have created diverse blends of jazz styles with several South American genres, enriching and deeply integrating these musical traditions. But, despite the long relationship between jazz and Latin American music; South American music styles are relatively new to the jazz vocabulary. Since she moved to New York, Sofia has became a highly demanded artist for musical projects that explore Argentine, Brazilian, Afro-Peruvian and Colombian idioms as well as jazz, contemporary and experimental music. In fact, she is leading the vanguard of this movement bringing forward-thinking multicultural music grounded in South American rhythms, fusing all these elements with a post-bop aesthetic to create a fresh, global and innovative sound. [Photo: Delfina Colzani]

Besides her own group she is always active with several musical projects recording, performing and collaborating as a member of groups such as Folklore Urbano, Geoffrey Keezer's Aurea, Samuel Torres Group, Alcatraz and Pablo Aslan's Avantango. Sofia also keeps a busy teaching schedule, organizing workshops and master classes on vocal improvisation and South American music genres.

In Danilo Perez words: "She knows how to combine the best of her Argentine roots with the skills and passion necessary to make many contributions to our music community". Her debut CD, ‘Ojalá', presents a rainbow of poignant melodies, involved orchestrations, folkloric textures and all-around superb musicianship, centered around Sofía's rich, full-bodied, dolorous vocal instrument. Singing in Spanish, Portuguese, or English, Sofía pursues a cross-pollination of traditions reflected in her original compositions and arrangements. ‘Ojalá' has received incredible critical acclaim and has been chosen a TOP 10 album of 2006 by the “Jazz Journalists Association”. A follow-up CD “Sube Azul” will be released in Europe by Harmonia Mundi (World Village) in the summer 2009.

Sofia has also recorded, performed and collaborated with renowned artists such as John Scofield, Lionel Loueke, Bob Moses, Aquiles Baez, Hector Martignon. She toured Europe with the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and premiered with the group Cerulean Skies, a piece commissioned by the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna. She was featured with vocal giant Bobby McFerrin in Instant Opera at Carnegie Hall, November 2008.

Last but not least, she had made presentations in Europe, Asia, North and South America singing at renowned international festivals and venues such as the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note, Festival de Jazz de Barcelona (Spain), Chicago World Music Festival, Festival Internacional Jazz en Lima (Peru), Festival Iberoamericano de las Artes (Puerto Rico), Cite de la Musique (Paris, France), the IAJE Conference 2008 (Toronto, Canada), Lapataia Jazz and World Music festival (Uruguay), Festival Internacional de Jazz y Musica Moderna (Colombia), and of course in Argentina where she started her musical studies at the age of 4 and began singing professionally in the prestigious Children's Choir of Buenos Aires Opera House Teatro Colón when she was 9 years old. In Buenos Aires, she studied classical vocal performance at the National Conservatory and gained experience within the circles of classical and avant-garde music, performing in the most distinguished halls. She was part of the internationally acclaimed National Youth Choir with which she toured extensively the country for about four years before moving to the US.

Program:
21 fev 2010 20:00 John Zorn Masada Marathon (with MYCALE)@ the Henry Street Settlement New York, New York
3 mar 2010 20:00 Tutuma Social Club - Sofia Rei @ Tutuma Social Club New York City, New York
5 mar 2010 19:00 Zinc Bar - Sofia Rei and Jorge Roeder DUO @ the Zinc Bar New York, New York
12 mar 2010 17:30 Philadelphia Museum Of Art - Art after 5 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
14 mar 2010 20:00 Forsyth Chapel - The Forest Hill Educational Trust Boston, Massachusetts
26 mar 2010 19:00 Joe’s Pub - New England Conservatory 40th Anniversary Celebration - Vocal Night New York, New York
31 mar 2010 20:00 Levontin (Israel) - John Zorn’s Mycale Tel Aviv
1 abr 2010 20:00 Beit Avi Chai - John Zorn’s Mycale Jerusalem
10 abr 2010 20:00 Centro Cultural de España - Festival Internacional del Cajón Lima, Lima

Influences:
Elis Regina, Clara Nunez, Billie Holiday, Carmen Mc Rae, Sarah Vaughan, Flora Purim, Luciana Souza, Monica Salmaso, Bethe Carvallo, Chavela Vargas, Susana Baca, Toto la Momposina, Cecilia Todd, Bjork, Radiohead, Danilo Perez, John Coltrane, Miles, Brad Meldhau, Keith Jarrett, Carlos Gardel, Hermeto pascoal, Egberto Gismonti, Gilberto Gil, Marisa Monte, Djavan, Caetano Veloso, Silvio Rodriguez, Astor Piazzolla, Steve Reich, Mercedes Sosa, Raul Carnota, Suna Rocha, Cuchi Leguizamon, Luis Salinas, Tomas Lipan, Pedro Aznar, Fito Paez, Charlie Garcia....