Vocalist Emy Tseng on Bossa Nova, Bach, and Sounding “Organic”

Posted by Steve Kiviat on May. 24, 2013 at 1:30 pm

When Emy Tseng moved to D.C. in 2009, she had to adjust to two new worlds: her day job at the Department of Commerce, and her nighttime role as a bossa nova and jazz vocalist in a new music scene. A Taiwanese-American who learned classical piano as a child and began singing traditional early music in her teens, Tseng caught the jazz and “Girl from Ipanema” bug when living in New York in 2001. She recently released her first album, Sonho, and brings her sophisticated lilting vocals to the Alexandria Jazz Festival for free on Memorial Day Monday. Via email she talked to Washington City Paper about her music.

Washington City Paper: How has your classical and choral background assisted you with singing Brazilian music?

Emy Tseng: My classical training, particularly my early music experience, has helped my voice in terms of intonation and purity of sound. In bossa nova, the tone is straight, without vibrato. My ear was familiar with the harmonic language—Antonio Carlos Jobim stated that Bach and the French composers Debussy and Ravel were primary influences. I grew up playing Bach on the piano, and have studied French Art songs. I also learned to sing in different languages (French, German, Italian, Latin) and convey the meaning when neither I nor the audience are fluent.

WCP: Who were some of your Brazilian-music teachers and how did they teach you and are there any anecdotal tales you can relate?

ET: The pianist Marcos Silva was my teacher at the Jazz School in Berkeley, Calif., for 3 years. He was the music director for Flora Purim and Airto for many years, and played with many other Brazilian music luminaries. He's very strict and demanding, but I found his detailed approach helpful since I’m a more analytical person.

My sight-reading ability (from doing choral music) helped me a lot. In ensemble class, he'd put these complex charts in front of us, and we had to read on the spot. And he would point out mistakes and expect us to correct them right away. After moving east, I attended a couple “Samba Meets Jazz” workshops run by bassist Nilson Matta and started studying with him in New York. His group Trio da Paz (with Romero Lubambo and Duduka da Fonseca) is one of the preeminent Brazilian jazz groups. He’s also worked with Joe Henderson and Yo-Yo Ma, and many Brazilian musicians. With Nilson, I’m learning more about the structural elements of Brazilian music, particularly the underlying rhythms. I spend as much time clapping and tapping in his lessons as I do singing. I've been very lucky to have the opportunity to study with these world-class musicians. Other key Brazilian music teachers have been the singer Sandy Cressman in San Francisco and Leonardo Lucini and Wayne Wilentz here in D.C.

Read more: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2013/05/24/d-c-vocalist-emy-tseng-on-bossa-nova-bach-and-sounding-organic/