Sofia Rei

A few months ago, while searching YouTube for some new stuff from John Zorn, I found a concert held in 2013 as part of the Warsaw Summer Jazz Days. It featured Zorn’s Song Project, which I hadn’t heard before, so I decided to check it out. The gig looked very promising, with an all-star band that included – among others – John Medeski, Marc Ribot, Kenny Wollesen (all of whom I listen to frequently) and even freakin’ Mike Patton on vocals. From the beginning – where Patton goes characteristically crazy on a vocal remake of Zorn’s “Batman”– the concert delivers in spades.

Two other vocalists had been invited to write lyrics for some of Zorn’s instrumental songs: Jesse Harris and Sofia Rei. I wasn’t familiar with Rei, but since one of the world’s most versatile composers invited her to be in his band, my expectations were pretty high to begin with. To say that she merely exceeded those expectations would mean to make an understatement of such gravity that I would be immediately disqualified from the prestigious brotherhood of people who write for a living. When Rei followed Patton on stage to deliver her version of “Besos de Sangre”, I was absolutely speechless for the first time in a very long while. In less than a minute “Besos de Sangre” became one of my favorite songs and Sofia Rei became one of my favorite singers.

If you don’t believe me, here’s an article I wrote called The Music and Myth’s Top 5 Female Vocalist, with Sofia placed at number 2 behind only Patricia Barber – though at this level the top two positions could easily be interchangeable. Overall, the Warsaw concert is great and every performance is amazing but, in my opinion, Sofia Rei completely stole the show. She was featured on three more tracks as a main vocalist: “La Flor del Barrio”, “Book of Shadows” and “Tears of Morning” and she shined in all of them, providing one of the most delicate yet passionate performances I’ve seen in years.

Here’s the full concert. I think it’s one of the best you can find on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4eO2o9u1j0

With that being said, I wanted to find out more about this talented musician who, in one single performance, has captured my attention like few before her. Born in Argentina and currently residing in New York, this young vocalist – who also teaches at the Berklee College of Music – has already released three solo records: Ojalá (2006), Sube Azul (2010) and De Tierra Y Oro (2012). Now, the purpose of this article is to talk about her most recent release, but I felt that her performance in the Song Project deserved its own mention.

Anyway, at the start of June, when De Tierra y Oro (Of Earth and Gold) arrived in my mailbox, I couldn’t wait to play it. I was already a fan of Sofia as a vocalist, and I hadn’t even had the opportunity to hear much of her own work outside of a couple of older songs on YouTube. Armed with a bottle of 2011 Pinot and with my wife by my side to help me translate the lyrics since I don’t speak Spanish, I played the record and made an evening of it.

I expected to like this record just based on the expressive power of Sofia’s voice alone, but I did not expect to love it as much as I do. In fact, the last two albums I instantly adored with the same passion were Patricia Barber’s Smash and Gregory Porter’s Liquid Spirit. Just to give you a general idea: the latter won a Grammy just this year while I’ve awarded the former my inaugural Music and Myth Award for best vocal record of 2013.

Without a doubt, De Tierra Y Oro is in the same league. The record’s eleven songs, most of which are written by Rei, are story-driven “philosophical wanderings”, as she herself calls them. They form a broad tapestry of vibrant South American musical culture, intertwined with the pensive depth of Jazz. This is, however, not merely “Latin Jazz”. Instead, the artist creates her own musical identity, a sound which studies the South American themes and pays homage to the folklore without remaining strictly within its boundaries. The songs speak of love and loss, cultural identity and adventurous curiosity, spiritual struggles and earthly yearnings in a tone that is sometimes vigorously narrative and other times sublimely lyrical.

Every great record needs a powerful opening track (see “Code Cool” and “No Love Dying”) and “La Gallera” (The Cockpit), a vivid recount of a cockfight in Cartagena, is an excellent choice. From the very first second, Sofia’s powerful, haunting voice beckons the listener with the enchanting magnetism of a siren’s song, introducing the rest of the sounds which then proceed to reveal themselves in layers (first background vocals, then percussion, then bass and guitar). This has the effect of quickly getting the listener emotionally invested and gives the impression of a very well-structured work.

Throughout the album, the intense, raw-sounding rhythm section creates a striking contrast with Sofia’s emotional delivery. That gives De Tierra Y Oro its unique sound. The band, formed of bass player Jorge Roeder, percussionist Yayo Serka and guitarist Eric Kurimski along with a great number of guest musicians, provides a complex instrumental background characterized by good timing and attention to detail.

The second song is the title track. In my opinion, it‘s the highlight of the overall stellar album. According to the musician, it is a song about “all the contrasts you go through as a performer”. Its dynamic construction is absolutely flawless. The climax, with Sofia’s soulful cries over the sound of Josh Deutsch’s flugelhorn (at around 3:50 minutes in, if you want to be exact), is a breathtaking and masterful example of musical storytelling. I have actually used this particular song to help me develop a climactic scene in the novel I am currently writing. It helped me overcome a point that had me stuck. I think the power of inspiring another artist is a pretty big accomplishment for any work of music.

The next song is the slightly more laid-back “El Sauce” (The Willow), a wise choice after the emotionally draining “De Tierra Y Oro”. It features some great interplay between Sofia’s voice, JC Maillard’s electric guitar and a really fun marimba, courtesy of Diego Obregon. In “Risa” (Laughter) Sofia’s hypnotic enunciation, combined with Celso Duarte’s charango and the solidity of the drums in the verse, collide with the trumpet and the vocalist’s impassioned carnival-shouts in the chorus, creating the musical equivalent of fireworks over a clear night sky.

Positioned so as to be the centerpiece of the record, Sofia’s version of “La Llorona” (with the moody and cerebral solo bass track “El Lloron” serving as an intro) is everything a cover should be. It keeps the spirit of the traditional Mexican song, but the sound is completely adapted to fit Sofia’s particular musicality. It’s also a lovely example of the chemistry the vocalist has with her long-time bassist and collaborator Jorge Roeder. Sofia’s passionate delivery of the haunting story, where she switches from sensual whispers to wraith-like shrieks, would have certainly made Chavela Vargas proud. The record continues with the thoughtful and delicate “Todo Lo Perdido Reaparece” (“Everything That Has Been Lost Reappears”) with beautiful lyrics by Sandra Cornejo, before switching gears with “Mundo Piedra” (“Stone World”) and its catchy rhythm and hypnotic sound-effects (including Sofia’s own high-pitched shrieks).

“Noche” ( “Night” – dedicated to Argentina) has perhaps the tamest, most “traditional” sound, which is fitting given its topic. In “Poesia Illegal” (“Illegal Poetry”) Sofia gets to show off her own poetry (Blind acrobat on a sea of ink/ Words leaking onto a piece of paper). Though I have avoided using many examples for fear of losing the complexity of their meaning in translation, the quality of the lyrics is impressive throughout. One of my favorite examples is in the brilliant closing track “Arriba” (“Up” – dedicated to “the idea of God”) where Sofia, in wonderful multi-layered vocals over the delicate sound of a harp, sings “I haven’t known you for long/ I don’t know if you are who I think you are/ But if the tears come/ You appear and dispel the fear”.

After listening to it repeatedly over the course of the last few weeks I really can’t find any weakness in this record. You can feel the dedication and heart that has been put into creating it, by everyone involved. The music is intricate and mesmerizing, the lyrics are thoughtful and sensitive and the track placement is well thought-out and strengthens the narrative.

The more I discover about Sofia Rei’s work – not only as a vocalist but also a songwriter – the more impressed I am. Truly, De Tierra Y Oro is one of the best records I’ve heard in the last few years. an expressive masterpiece of musical storytelling, created by one of the world’s greatest vocalists. I highly recommend it!

by Andrei Cherascu - The Music and Myth

There are a number of young singers tackling the world of Latin Jazz, but not many of them approach it with the same respect, authenticity, and intensity as Argentinean vocalist Sofia Rei. There’s depth to every piece of her performance; from her outstanding vocal technique to her emotive interpretations and her immense handle on South American rhythmic styles, Sofia Rei is the real deal. Combined with the fact that Rei brings a slice of modern New York jazz to all her work, she’s got a lot going for her that makes her music worth a listen, and in this case, worth watching.
This video places Sofia Rei and her band live at DROM in New York on December 1st 2012. The song “Mundo Piedra” comes from her outstanding third album De Tierra y Oro, which was released at the end of 2012. This clip features her band, consisting of acoustic guitarist Eric Kurimski, guitarist JC Maillard, bassist Jorge Roeder, and drummer Yayo Serka.
Sofia Rei brings some great vocals to this piece, along with a funky Latin vibe from her band – exciting stuff! - The Latin Jazz Corner

Her glorious voice makes its Australian debut at the 2014 Adelaide Festival, with John Zorn.

In her own right Sofia Rei is a distinctive, creative and highly eclectic artist.

The New York Times says her 'passion and clarity... have been embraced by New York City audiences from Carnegie hall to the hippest downtown haunts.'
Supporting Information

Click here for full details of Zorn in Oz - four different, marathon concerts, March 11-14.

Sofia Rei's official site

The song at the start of the interview is John Zorn's 'Moloch', as performed by the a cappella quartet Mycale on the album John Zorn: 'Mycale sings Masada Book Two' (Tzadik TZ 7378)

All other songs are on Sofía Rei's album 'De Tierra y Oro' (Cascabalera LM12-CD). The title means 'of earth and gold'.

She is author or co-author in every case, except for the traditional Mexican song La Llorona (The Weeping Woman), which Sofía dedicates to Chavela Vargas (1919-2012) and to Lila Downs. - ABC Radio Books & Arts Daily

[Video of unplugged live performance] - NPR Music

[Video interview]

Mili Bermejo y Sofía Rei unirán sus voces de dos generaciones en una noche música latinoamericana en Berklee. - Univision Noticias

La cantante y compositora argentina Sofía Rei no se rige estrictamente por los ritmos latinoamericanos, y sin temor los reinventa o incorpora elementos de jazz, improvisación y sonidos electrónicos. Apasionada por las historias con espíritu genuino, no tiene temor de atravesar sus propios límites en la búsqueda de sonidos que la reflejen.
Entrevista Silvia Demetilla [ Edición impresa]
Radicada en los Estados Unidos desde hace algunos años, Sofía cuenta que el proceso de descubrir su propia voz le llevó mucho tiempo: “Descubrir mi propia voz fue un proceso de muchos años. Y todavía lo es. Todos los días la respuesta cambia. Creo que no es sólo una, sino muchas. Y todas ellas reflejan una personalidad compleja, con gustos dispares y pasiones múltiples. Cuando comencé quería cantar Carmen, ser una diva de ópera, pero sin los malos hábitos. Pero al mismo tiempo empecé a interesarme por la improvisación vocal y el jazz. Transité ese camino muchos años y cuando me mudé a los Estados Unidos me reconecté con la música del sur, con el folklore de mi país y de los países vecinos. Vocalmente fue difícil cada transición. Pero en cada una de esas estaciones, distintas cosas fueron quedando. Y mi objetivo fue siempre disponer de todos los recursos para no tener que elegir. Siento que finalmente encontré mi propio estilo, dando cuenta de un instrumento versátil, que puede ir en varias direcciones al mismo tiempo, y que habla más de un idioma musical”.
Sus canciones son historias que recorren diferentes matices y paisajes. “Las experiencias que me inspiran siempre son únicas y diferentes, pero en general tienen que ver con personajes, gente, historias con las que uno tiene contacto y que dejan una huella. Todo aquello donde identifico un espíritu genuino y lo que genera una urgencia por contar la historia. En De Tierra y Oro (2012), eso fue definido como aventuras filosóficas, dudas sobre la existencia de un ser superior, críticas hacia la indiferencia política, viajes, amores, otras músicas, otra gente”, relata la artista.
Sofía además siempre estuvo fascinada con las posibilidades infinitas de la voz como instrumento, según sus propias palabras: “A mis alumnos les enseño a entrenar su voz para que sea el instrumento de su imaginación”.
Una invitación para celebrar el día de la independencia de México fue la ocasión ideal para interpretar “La llorona”. Sofía disfrutó tanto de la experiencia que decidió incorporar el tema a su repertorio dedicándoselo a Chavela Vargas y Lila Downs. Su habitual creatividad la llevó por otros caminos, e hizo una versión con ritmo de landó peruano. “Desde el sur, pensé entonces en un landó: misterioso, sensual, ambiguo, profundo, enigmático. Lo probamos y encajó perfectamente con el espíritu de la canción”, cuenta entusiasmada.
Sofia Rei Foto: Emra Islek
Sofia Rei Foto: Emra Islek
De su paso por el Conservatorio Nacional de Música López Buchardo, donde inició sus estudios, no tiene muy buenos recuerdos. “No fue una buena experiencia para mí. Recuerdo tener mucho miedo a expresar mis gustos musicales. Era un mundo muy limitado estilísticamente, y recuerdo llevar una doble vida: durante el día y la semana practicaba muchísimo los ejercicios y las técnicas clásicas que me daban. Y los fines de semana, tocaba jazz en clubes, usando una voz completamente distinta a la que entrenaba para mis clases. Era un poco esquizofrénico todo. De cualquier manera, llevo un buen recuerdo de mi maestra de canto. Y en la rigidez de los métodos aprendí a ser disciplinada en mi práctica. Como dice el refrán, no hay mal que por bien no venga”.
Luego llegaría una maestría en Boston y finalmente New York. Pero entonces ¿es New York un epicentro creativo para los músicos latinoamericanos?
“Definitivamente- responde Sofía - La idea de Latinoamérica como una cultura homogénea en la realidad no existente. Cada país tiene una diversidad de estilos, de subculturas. La fragmentación es enorme. Sin embargo, en New York se vive esta idea de Latinoamérica. Al haber tanta gente de cada uno de estos países concentrada en un territorio pequeño, hay muchísimo intercambio, mucha actividad musical compartida. Se vive el fenómeno Latinoamericano, tal vez más que en ningún otro país de Latinoamérica”, cuenta Sofía.
¿Cuál es la conexión con su país de origen en la actualidad?
“De Argentina me llevé el mate. Y bueno, también cosas de argentinos como la nostalgia, y el espíritu critico. Eso es muy nuestro y lo llevaré siempre conmigo. La conexión sigue siendo muy fuerte. Toda mi familia esta allá. Y también grandes amigos de toda la vida. Cada regreso a Buenos Aires es increíble, es una fiesta ambivalente. Una gran felicidad y un tango al mismo tiempo. Un reencuentro muy especial”, relata la artista.
Entre sus planes futuros Sofía Rei ansía poder llevar a toda su banda, un sexteto, de gira por Sudamérica. “Y generar proyectos que conecten con cuestiones extra-musicales, más sociales. Poder ayudar a la gente que no ha tenido las oportunidades y suerte que yo tuve”, finaliza.
| Sofía Rei | se presenta el 17 de octubre de 2013 en el festival ReVoice! - La Tundra

Con una luz propia, y tan potente como su voz, Sofía Rei deslumbró en el escenario del Festival de Voces ReVoice! de Londres.
Escribe: Silvina Soria

La cantante y compositora argentina vive en Nueva York desde el 2005, momento en que decidió mudarse para indagar en nuevas posibilidades de expresión. El resultado fue no sólo el encuentro con su propio y muy rico estilo musical sino el desarrollo de una carrera muy prolífica vinculada a músicos de gran renombre de la escena neoyorkina .
En un diálogo actual con sus raíces latinoamericanas Sofía juega con el folklore, el jazz y los arreglos electrónicos. Es así como interpreta varios clásicos y se acerca a otros sin timidez y con una absoluta certeza al crear sus propias versiones. Acompañada por Jorge Roeder en contrabajo y Eric Kurimski en guitarra, se desplegó a lo largo de la noche un repertorio de ritmos de Latinoamérica con novedosos ensambles y fraseos, una fusión de una intensa riqueza musical.

Sofia Rei "De Tierra y Oro"
Su canto transporta a esas tierras donde transcurren las historias que narran sus letras, al olor de la tierra que antecede la lluvia, a las creencias populares, a las cholas con sus grandes sonrisas, a las danzas del folklore.

Una celebración a la vida, a la ceremonia de cantar como un acto de brindarse a los dioses.
40 artistas se presentaron en la cuarta edición de ReVoice!, el Festival Internacional de Voces organizado por Georgia Mancio en Londres. - La Tundra

No stranger to London audiences, having appeared at last year's ReVoice! with the extraordinary a cappella quartet, Mycale, and at the Barbican earlier this year as part of "Zorn@60", Argentinian vocalist and composer Sofia Rei (17 October) performs from her award-winning album, De Tierra Y Oro. - The Arts Desk

Sunday 7 July 2013 10:05PM
Sofia Rei's 'De Tierra y Oro'

In English it would be of earth and gold; our Argentinean featured artist’s latest album is an arresting set of mostly her own songs, superbly sung.

As a child in Buenos Aires Sofia Rei (formerly known as Sofia Rei Koutsovitas) already knew that music - most especially, singing – would be her lifetime calling.

Now resident in New York, this uncommonly able, flexible, creative and eclectic vocalist is much in demand; her employers/collaborators have already included Maria Schneider, Lionel Loueke and John Zorn.

Sofia Rei’s third album as leader is – she says - a series of ‘philosophical wanderings’ — songs that draw on a wide range of South American folkloric influences and bracingly modern sounds.

Artist’s site has bio and background. There are good videos within its ‘pics & clips’ section:
http://sofiamusic.com - ABC Radio National

En desayuno musical las cantantes hablan sobre sus recientes propuestas músicales y sus presentaciones en conjunto.

[Video of TV Interview] - CNN Español

Exquisite music with South American folk influences, mixed with jazz sounds, and wrapped in the powerful voice and tonal beauty of Sofia Rei, that’s De Tierra y Oro.

Sofia Rei - De Tierra y OroThe most recent album by the Argentinian singer is a collection of outstanding original compositions with an eclectic blend of textures and sounds, provocative lyrics and melodies, that tells the stories of her travels and experiences. Sofia Rei is a native of Buenos Aires, now based in New York. She received a Masters at Boston’s New England Conservatory and is currently on the faculty of Berklee College of Music.

Sofia Rei’s fluid vocals, stunning tone and storytelling ability engages the listener from the first song “La Gallera”, reminiscing of her visit to a cockfight in Cartagena, Colombia. The flamenco and Arabic sounds on the title track, “De Tierra y Oro,” shows yet another influence on Sofia Rei’s music. Moroccan jazz singer Malika Zarra adds the background vocals on this one.

In the contagious Chacarera-like rhythms of “El Sauce”, Sofia Rei proudly displays her Argentinian heritage. In “Risa” Sofia Rei takes the listener to the Andean regions of South America. “El Llorón” is a powerful bass intro to the song “La Llorona”, a composition with touches of Mexican rancheras, especially in Sofia Rei phrasing.

The percussive rhythms of Sofia Rei’s voice and the electronic sounds on “Mundo Piedra” and “Noche” give the songs a more modern feel. De Tierra y Oro ends with the heartfelt interpretation of “Poesia Ilegal” and the echo-enhanced vocals and sublime harp sounds of “Arriba”.

Tracks: La Gallera, De Tierra y Oro, El Sauce, Risa, El Llorón, La Llorona, Todo lo Perdido Reaparece, Mundo Piedra, Noche, Poesía Ilegal, Arriba.

Personnel: Sofia Rei – vocals, Eric Kurimski – acoustic guitar (2,3,4,6,7,9,10,11), Yayo Serka – drums, percussion (2,3,7,8,11), Jean-Christophe Maillard – electric guitar (1,2,3,7,9), Jorge Roeder – bass (1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10,11), Samuel Torres, Facundo Guevara, Diego Obregón, Nestor Gomez – percussion, Fernando Martinez – drums (7), Malika Zarra – vocals (2), Celso Duarte – harp (11), Josh Deutsch – flugel horn (2,9,10), trumpet (4,7), Ryan Keberle – trombone (7).

Sofia Rei on the Web: sofiamusic.com

Label: Lilihouse Music | Release date: December 2012

Reviewed by: Wilbert Sostre - Latin Jazz Network

http://www.ny1noticias.com/content/buscar/181694/mexicana-magos-herrera-y-argentina-sofia-rei-juntas-en-el-joe-s-pub

[Video interview]

En varias ocasiones hemos hablado en este segmento sobre la bullente escena de cantantes latinas de jazz, folklore y world music en nuestra ciudad. Este 11 de mayo, dos de las más destacadas, la mexicana Magos Herrera y la argentina Sofía Rei, unirán sus voces en un concierto conjunto llamado "Sur 2 South" en el Joe's Pub, y para hablar de ello las cantantes hablaron con José Manuel Simián.


Magos Herrera y Sofia Rei se presentan este sábado 11 de mayo en el Joe's Pub, ubicado en el 425 de la calle Lafayette de Manhattan.

Para más información, visite joespub.com. - NY1 TV

If I ask you to think South American music, you might think of Samba drums, accordion-driven tangos, maybe Andean pipes and flutes. Like most traditional music, South American styles have guiding principles - a pulse, a structure, or a purpose that guides all the pieces within.

A new generation is taking those older styles forward. Argentina’s Sofia Rei and Sofia Tosello sing jazz-inspired runs over shifting rhythms. Juancho Herrera adds rock-inspired guitar to the sounds of his native Venezuela. Gregorio Uribe takes the Colombian Cumbia to its loudest extreme with his big band.

The first annual NYC South American Music festival brings all four of these artists together Monday night at Zinc Bar. Download Sofia Rei’s “De Tierra De Oro” above, and below download selections from the other artists playing the festival below. You can also see Rei’s (non-musical) appearance with Conan O’Brien in the video below. - WNYC Soundcheck

Stream of "Mundo Piedra" - NPR Latino

4. Sofia Rei - De Tierra Y Oro

Sofia Rei shakes up the New York scene with her South American rhythms. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina she infuses her music with pulsing chacarere, zamba and vidala patterns from Argentina, Afro-brazilian festejo and lando feels, Afro-Uruguayan candombe, Colombian cumbia and more. De Tierra Y Oro translates as 'of earth and gold' and is a instictive varied release. - World Music Network

Cuando una persona emigra a otro país lo hace (si nos atenemos a la definición del diccionario dela Real AcademiaEspañola) con la finalidad de trabajar de manera estable o temporal. Por supuesto que luego entran a tallar muchas variables, causas, consecuencias, méritos, desméritos, desganos, énfasis, necesidades y muchísimos, pero muchísimos etcéteras.
Argentina ha sido un país, en la historia reciente, que sufrió un éxodo importante de gentes que –básicamente por la fuerte crisis económica que alcanzó su cenit al inicio del presente siglo- fueron a buscar mejor suerte a otros países, especialmente Estados Unidos, España e Italia. Pero si uno se pone a investigar o es curioso (lo que es más o menos lo mismo), llega a algunas conclusiones no muy alentadoras que digamos. Tal vez los problemas comiencen cuando no se encuentren preguntas a cuestionamientos… nunca hechos. La gran mayoría no emigra con un objetivo claro, sino que más bien parecería estar escapando de algo. Sin que esto implique un juicio de valor, no suele haber un plan. Se idealiza algo que de por sí se desconoce. Ante la necesidad, se “huye” a cualquier precio que, después -y tal vez con toda lógica-, no se paga. Entonces la migración comienza a parecerse y mucho a un desarraigo. Más aún cuando la resistencia a insertarse a una sociedad nueva, distinta y con sus propios códigos, es más que manifiesta.
Por otro lado están los que se adaptan, los que antes de decidir, evalúan, los que son previsores, los que tienen un plan, los que no se resignan, los convencidos, los convincentes, los tesoneros, los permeables, los que se integran, los que no flaquean, los que construyen.

La cantante y compositora argentina Sofía Rei viajó a Boston (U.S.A.) en 2001 a estudiar canto, composición e improvisación. En 2005 se radicó en New York y no ha sabido, desde entonces, lo que es el descanso, un paréntesis, un instante sabático (bueno, tal vez exageremos un poco pero… sólo tal vez). En 2006 editó Ojalá; en 2009, Sube azul; al año siguiente –como integrante del cuarteto de voces femeninas Mycale- Book of Angels – Volume 13. Y ahora le llegó el turno a De tierra y oro, que cumple con ciertas premisas instaladas y certificables en sus discos solistas anteriores. Porque Sofía Rei, en los Estados Unidos, no se ha entregado mansamente sino que, haciendo uso de sus convicciones, se ha integrado a la escena musical norteamericana (y europea y asiática) con sus propias composiciones, cantando en castellano y echando mano al acervo cultural / musical latinoamericano. Y lo hizo de perlas.
Por supuesto que para que ello fuere posible, Sofía Rei cuenta con dotes vocales poco habituales, un enorme talento a la hora de componer, arreglar, producir e interpretar y una potente personalidad. Así se entiende entonces que haya tocado, colaborado o grabado en infinidad de proyectos y de muy diversas extracciones. Para muestra, más de 4 botones: John Zorn, Bobby McFerrin, Maria Schneider, Frank London, Eva Ayllon, Guillermo Klein, Pablo Aslán, Lionel Loueke, Steve Lacy, Bob Moses, Leo Genovese…

En su largo y extenso trajinar, Sofía Rei recaló en Cartagena. Allí la llevaron a presenciar una riña de gallos. El rechazo y estupor inicial se transformó en mágica composición, La gallera, que abre De tierra y oro a pura energía, como entendiendo o aceptando el hecho más como un ritual que como una celebración: “Son los gallos los que traen la esperanza entre la gente”. Ya se percibe un elemento distintivo del álbum: la plácida convivencia entre instrumentos más relacionados con el jazz y el rock, con otros más bien típicos de la cultura musical latimoamericana y elementos relacionados con la electrónica. En La gallera el protagonismo pasa por la guitarra eléctrica de Jean-Christophe Maillard, el contrabajo de Jorge Roeder y la percusión. Por encima, no sólo cantando sino –además y afortunadamente- interpretando, la potente voz de Sofía Rei. Luego de este inicio tan prometedor como energizante, De tierra y oro (el tema) ofrenda un sutil y complejo entramado rítmico con cierto aire flamenco y una muy buena intervención de John Deutsch en flugelhorn. La cantante da muestras una vez más de su versatilidad y comprensión de cada estilo que interpreta. Mejor dicho: que decide interpretar.
El sauce ratifica esa infrecuente capacidad interpretativa que posee una de las mejores cantantes argentinas (y más allá) de la actualidad, jugando (playing) con los distintos humores propuestos desde la instrumentación, yendo –en elaborado in crescendo- desde el minimalismo hasta la extroversión. Sofía Rei acomoda su amplio registro de manera tan natural como llamativa.
Risa es un claro ejemplo de lo que parece ser una característica que sorprende y atrae en su estilo compositivo, donde distintos estilos van entrelazándose de manera rapsódica. Porque podría decirse que estamos frente a un carnavalito (y es así) pero sería obtuso e injusto quedarse con esa simplista definición, habida cuenta de los distintos atajos y caminos paralelos que atraviesan la, digamos, ruta principal.
El llorón es un breve y sentido solo de contrabajo a cargo de Jorge Roeder que oficia de introducción al único cover del álbum: La llorona, versionado hasta el hartazgo pero muy pocas veces de manera original como la ofrecida aquí.

Sandra Cornejo es una escritora y poetisa argentina con varios libros editados y poemas traducidos al húngaro, inglés y alemán. Sofía Rei, leyendo una antología, encontró un poema que la subyugó: Todo lo perdido reaparece, de la mencionada Cornejo. La cantante lo musicalizó. El bellísimo y breve texto tiene ahora su versión hecha música, en un clima intimista y acorde, con buenas intervenciones de Roeder en contrabajo y Josh Deutsch en trompeta.
Mundo piedra, otro comprometido alegato dedicado a quienes “pelean contra la indiferencia y el silencio”; tan claro desde su mensaje como difícil de encasillar en estilo musical alguno. La instrumentación simplemente (¿simplemente?) fluye para el lucimiento (una constante a lo largo de todo el álbum, la verdad sea dicha) de la cantante. Noche, dedicado a la Argentina con su pizca de nostalgia entrañable, con guitarras eléctricas y acústicas en concordancia (a cargo de Jean-Christoph Maillard y Eric Kurimski respectivamente), el sostén desde la base con el cajón peruano de Yayo Serka y el contrabajo de Joirge Roeder y los sutiles toques en flugelhorn de Josh Deutsch.
El bogotano Nicolás Linares es un poeta nacido en 1962; hoy reside en New York, se autodefine como activista político y cultural, es Co-Director del Colectivo “Poetas en Nueva York” y no tiene empacho en asumirse como “poeta, filósofo independiente y mesero de banquetes de la ciudad de Nueva York” (sic). A él (y a todos los poetas del mundo), Sofía Rei dedica Poesía ilegal, tal vez la mejor ofrenda desde lo literario en De tierra y oro. Intimista, potente, cálida, combativa, sutil, implosiva, interpretada maravillosamente y con una nueva ubicua participación de Deutsch en flugelhorn.
El cierre del álbum es con Arriba, dedicada “a la idea de Dios”, con su aire litúrgico, como un spiritual latino, un final con mucho de magia para un disco fascinante.

Sofía Rei, con De tierra y oro, se consolida como una de las voces más expresivas de los últimos tiempos. Esto no sólo remite a su país de origen ni tampoco anula otras dotes de, al menos, similar valía: sus textos, composiciones, arreglos, personalidad y liderazgo no son cualidades fáciles de encontrar (todas) en una artista.
Que en De tierra y oro conjuga elementos de diferentes estilos (como el jazz, la libre improvisación y los distintos ritmos latinoamericanos –chacareras, landós, tamboras, carnavalitos-) logrando, como resultante, un sonido singular en el que cohabitan en perfecta armonía bombos legüeros, guitarras eléctricas y acústicas, trombones, arpas, trompetas, maracas, marimbas, charangos, loops, cajones, congas, contrabajos, etc. Y por encima, y como elemento absolutamente distintivo, lo mencionado: su notable registro vocal y sus grandes dotes como compositora, arregladora e intérprete.
Sofía Rei, además, no reniega de sus raíces ni le escapa a los permanentes desafíos en los que se ha (y la han) involucrado, aportando sus capacidades y nutriéndose, con un espíritu inquieto infrecuente, de elementos que sabe absorber para luego ponerlos al servicio de su arte. - El Intruso (Argentina)

Sofia Rei
De Tierra y Oro (Cascabelera / Lilihouse Music LM012-CD, 2012)

I find that by the time you get to November, the number of interesting albums decreases rapidly, as labels schedule albums for the New Year. Sofia Rei’s new recording, titled De Tierra y Oro, which came out in late November, is a great late 2012 album that definitely deserves attention.

Although Argentina has produced many superb vocalists, the attention in recent years has focused on Peruvian vocalists. Sofia Rei, a world traveler and song researcher with a vibrant voice, demonstrates that she is one of the new talents in the Latin American scene.

Sofia Rei, who is currently based in New York City, has absorbed the traditional musics of her homeland and other South American countries and has added elements of jazz, electronics and global sounds to create a fascinating sound. She depicts De Tierra y Oro as a series of “philosophical wanderings.” She produced the album along with her longtime bassist and collaborator Jorge Roeder and co-producer Fabrice Dupont.

“A lot of these grooves are made up, they’re not necessarily preexisting styles of music,” says Rei. “In certain songs you can hear recognizable styles such as chacarera or huayno, but in other songs I’ve made up new grooves depending on the needs of the composition.”

Sofia Rei’s United States-based band includes Josh Deutsch (trumpet, flugelhorn), Eric Kurimski (acoustic guitar), Jorge Roeder (bass), Jean-Christophe Maillard (electric guitar), and Yayo Serka (drums).

De Tierra y Oro features overdubbed vocals, electric guitars, loops and drum machines as well as Andean charangos, Paraguayan harps, Colombian marimbas from the Pacific Coast, Argentine bombos, and Peruvian cajones.

The album’s themes include a cockfight in Cartagena (Colombia), a nightmare in Buenos Aires, a love letter in New York, a haunted man in the Andes, Rei’s version of Chavela Vargas’ classic ranchera ‘La Llorona.’

Sofia Rei describes some of the songs:

“I was in Cartagena [Colombia] and got invited by a boat captain to see what he called ‘the real Cartagena,’ where all the workers live, and to witness a cockfight. The song captures the feeling of being there: ‘My luck started in Boca Chica and got lost in the eyes of a captain. … The town lights up in the afternoon and in the spurs I can feel the fear that’s present…. The roosters are the only hope around here, to the ones that never had, never will, the ones that only lay claim to a small illusion.’”

‘Risa’ (Laugh) – “The song is kind of an ironic take on the traditional music from this area. A lot of the themes are about carnival season, and about how the devil presents itself, impersonated by somebody. The lyrics say ‘I have lost my laugh, it’s always hiding somewhere, and even if I looked for it I wouldn’t know where to go.‘”

‘La Llorona’ (The Weeping Woman) – “Chavela’s singing is raw, pure and haunting emotion, like a scream from the earth,” Rei says. “The song itself has about 20 possible verses – in Mexican music different interpreters would add their own verses, and they’d get passed around and added to. Of all the songs on the album, this was one of the least planned – we never had a written arrangement. The landó style we play it in has this sensual pulsation, very mysterious, pushing the groove forward and backward at the same time.”

The title track ‘De Tierra y Oro’ “is about all the contrasts you go through as a performer,” says Rei. “You have to incarnate all these different situations and feelings. That’s the idea of the whole record: through all these different moods and characters you inhabit when you’re performing, this very deep connection to the audience is born.”

“Arriba” (“Above”), the closing track is “dedicated to the idea of God,” Rei says. “I don’t know if I believe or not, but truth is that when hardship comes, I have to grab onto something.”

Guests on De Tierra y Oro include percussionists Facundo Guevara and Samuel Torres, Moroccan vocalist Malika Zarra, trumpeter Josh Deutsch, trombonist Ryan Keberle and harpist Celso Duarte. - World Music Central

This leading light of Latin jazz had the most infectious smile at the 2012 Winter Jazzfest. The Buenos Aires native infuses the traditional music of Argentina with edgy harmonies and odd time signatures, but even for the non-Spanish speaking, the warmth that goes into every syllable communicates it all. Cumbia, currulao, fandango, and other rhythms of Colombia get special treatment here, but as a member of John Zorn's multicultural vocal group, Mycale, this is only a starting point. Also, in a memorable segment, she taught Conan O'Brien how to drink mate, the Argentine national beverage. His response? "You're like a dream."
Thu., Jan. 19, 2 p.m., 2012 - Village Voice

Video clip of "La Llorona"

La cantante argentina radicada en nuestra ciudad Sofia Rei lanza por estos días su tercer disco, "De tierra y oro", un álbum donde su voz ahumada recorre diversos géneros y paisajes de Sudamérica, y donde el folklore se da la mano con el jazz a través de canciones propias y tradicionales. Sofia visitó Contraportada para hablar de "De tierra y oro".

Sofia Rei lanza "De tierra y oro" a las 9:00 de la noche de este sábado 1º de diciembre en DROM, ubicado en el 85 de la Avenida A de Manhattan. - NY1 TV

(...)
On the East Coast, one dynamic New York City-based artist is staking out a dramatically different stylistic persona in her quest to become a household name. Sofía Rei Koutsovitis, an Argentine composer and singer, is known for mixing the folkloric idioms of her country and such lands as Colombia into the flow of contemporary jazz styles. Sofía is banking on her singular vocal style and intimate familiarity with a wide range of Latin American folk music idioms to propel her to the next level. On her sonically bracing new album, Sube Azul, Sofía blends the soulful spirit of South America’s Nueva Canción movement with vocal improvisational techniques related to modern jazz on tracks that capture a wide range of moods, from the festive feel of the Afro-Peruvian-inspired works to the moody balladry.

“All of my grandparents were Europeans who came to Argentina looking for better opportunities in between the two World wars,” she explains. “My grandparents from my father’s side were Greek, and my grandparents from my mother’s side were from Spain. My mom is a philosopher, a college professor and a writer. My father was a civil engineer, and he had his own construction company. I grew up in Buenos Aires and started studying music when I was very young. I realized that I really enjoyed singing.” She briefly studied classical music and sang in some small opera productions, but an opportunity to work on a Masters program at the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music in Boston brought her to the U.S. “Life takes you to places you wouldn’t have imagined,” she adds. “I got intrigued by jazz and vocal improvisation, and developed a passion for that style of music.”

Jazz saxophonist Jessy J. Photos by Lori Stoll.


One thing she particularly enjoys about New York City is that all of her music personalities can be nourished in one place. “It’s true that New York is ‘The City of Struggle’ for artists,” she confides. “And every musician in the world dreams of coming here and making an impact. But, the happy reality is that if one day I want to sing Brazilian sambas, I know where to go. If I decide to learn more about drumming from the coast of Peru, I will find the right musicians for it. Some people know me as a jazz vocalist and as an improviser. Some people call me to sing salsa, Brazilian music, Moroccan music, or Colombian music. Others know me for my own projects and my work as a composer and songwriter. I love that flexibility. It could only happen here.”
(...) - Latina Style Magazine

Sofia Rei Koutsovitis may have been born and raised in Buenos Aires, but the first time a New England Conservatory classmate asked her to participate in a concert by singing a nueva canción standard, she bristled at the presumption. After all, the jazz-besotted vocalist didn’t travel 5,000 miles to explore the music of her parents. (Full article: 810 words, from Archives, requires sign in) - The Boston Globe

Sofia Rei Koutsovitis -- surrounded by butterflies on the cover art of Sube Azul -- is also enveloped in a multicultural heritage that gives her wings to fly over any continent, soaring with all species of avian life. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but now a full-fledged citizen of the world living in New York City, this is a vocalist who concentrates on writing original material based in Spanish-language lyrics also referring to music of neighboring Peru, Uruguay, and Colombia. In tandem with producer and bassist Jorge Roeder, Koutsovitis employs a sort of South American bohemian aura, using hip cultural landmarks, feelings of love and regret, and an expanded color palette to weave some magical spells over anyone who comes close to her muse. She wrote all but four of the tracks on this, a follow-up to her debut album, Ojala, and she is joined by Geoff Keezer, with whom she collaborated on the pianist's award-winning album Aurea. As an individual, she's hard to compare to any predecessor, except her joy and passion could rival Flora Purim, Celia Cruz, or Abbey Lincoln. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, she's skilled infusing modern jazz into songs like the playful "El Lio" in 7/8 time, while beautiful repeat ostinato rhythmic phrases and melodies power "Imaginaria" and clarinetist Anat Cohen guests on the celebratory "Entre Paredes." Hers is a strong, lissome, yet contemporary voice with a wide range, as heard on the lighter waltz "Las Cascaras" with harp player Celso Duarte, the layered overdubbed vocals of "Coplera" in a tribal mode, the seriously resolute "Segundo Final," and the late-night "Jardines de Asfalto" in a 5/4 meter. Delicacy meets energy during the title track, the convergence of opposites where rain forest and metropolitan street smarts find common ground in her concept. Then there are the echoing strings that lovingly identify "Cardo o Ceniza," clearly where the heart trumps anything the head might avoid. Hand percussionist Samuel Torres (one of six on the date), soprano saxophonist Dan Blake, second pianist Leo Genovese, cellist and trombonist Dana Leong, and Eric Kurimski or Juancho Herrera on guitar are other instrumentalists playing prominent roles in brightening these sounds. Sofia Rei Koutsovitis is part of a triad of young Argentine-born singers -- including Magos Herrera and Sofia Tosello -- who are coming of age in the world jazz realm. With their own personal strengths and different approaches, all have promising futures, with Koutsovitis having the most diverse approach and far-reaching potential away from traditional pop forms and into a truly new music. - All Music Guide

At least one of our friends at WNYC's Soundcheck seems to have noticed the wealth of superb, Latin American, jazz-informed singers who have cropped up in New York in recent years. We observe this to be a good thing. In the last month, they've invited two young Argentinean transplants in Sofia Rei Koutsovitis and Sofia Tosello to the WNYC studios for live on-air performances and conversations. Both are powerful, throaty singers who have studied jazz, and it shows; both also have fairly recent albums which do tremendously artful, lilting things with South American song. Koutsovitis' Sube Azul was self-released in 2009, and issued on World Village in early 2010, while Tosello's Alma y Luna came out on Sunnyside last year. And both Sofias' studio performances are driven in part by drummer/percussionist Yayo Serka, whose name you'll see lurking wherever next-level Latin jazz rhythm sections are found. - NPR - A Blog Supreme

Despite the few glitches (or miscalculations), the musical sequences were exquisitely timed, shifting subtly with the dramatic beats on the screen, stopping cold at blackouts. When Nazerman berated a mentally ill regular "customer" (Juano Hernández), Aaron Gelb's high, fanciful bass clarinet notes floated out of the man's mouth. Anthony Coleman played a tinkling "prepared" piano solo of Yiddish songwriter Mordechai Gebirtig's ghetto song "S'Brent" ("It's Burning") to the complaints of a bedridden old man. And various ensembles offered variations on Nazerman's remembered scene — a pastoral with his family on the day the Nazis arrive. Versions of post-bop composer Herbie Nichols's "House Party Starting" recurred — as sextet, with forthright wordless vocals by Sara Jarosz, and in a second-act duet between flutist Amir Milstein and percussionist Jerry Leake.

The strength of these pieces in concert was indicative of rigorous preparation. Violinists Sandy Cameron and Wayne Shen with pianist Amie Chen played the pastoral-memory scene (as "Memories Under the Trees") with a mixture of lyricism and impressionistic harmonies — was it Debussy? Ravel? (It was, in fact, Shen told me in an e-mail, a mostly improvised piece based on the Jones score, with allusions to Bach and the Berg violin concerto.) But this was not pastiche — Chen's closing solo, with its swooping lines and dramatic dynamic shifts, was the bravura finale to an integrated whole. A vocal/trombone duet not listed in the program was drawn from Shostakovich.
Given all the superlative performances — the long list of standouts included James Merenda's alto-sax solo, Hankus Netsky's NEC Jewish Music Ensemble, Eleni Odoni singing Haitian composer Frantz Casseus's "Merci bon Dieu" — it hardly mattered that Blake himself did not perform. He, director Aaron Hartley, and the NEC crew gave us the sort of one-of-a-kind experience that few arts organizations outside of a school have the resources to pull off. As a free concert, no less. Yes, the show was exasperating at times, but also indelible. I'd look forward to a CD.

Argentine singer/composer Sofia Rei Koutsovitis is part of a long line of South and Central American musicians who have enriched the Boston music scene with a pan-American style that fuses varied folkloric traditions with American jazz. Koutsovitis was at the Regattabar on November 10 — visiting from New York, where she's lived since 2005, after getting a master's at NEC — celebrating the release of Sube Azul (World Village/Harmonia Mundi).

This is a more focused disc than her impressive, broad-ranging debut, 2006's self-released Ojala, with its extended arrangements. Here she mostly sticks with folk-song forms and dance rhythms in a relatively spare setting, but with plenty of room for solo improvisation and the occasional cello, saxophone, or trombone. But her voice — dark, athletic, with a mournful catch — is the center of attention. At the Regattabar, her band sported an all-star cast of Boston–New York players: pianist Leo Genovese, bassist Jorge Roeder (a key partner in producing the new album), percussionists Jorge Pérez-Albela and Tupac Mantilla, and guitarist Eric Kurimski. - The Boston Phoenix

Think of Latin music in New York City and you instantly think of salsa - unless you’re singer Koutsovitis. Sounding something like a folkloric, chamber-jazz version of Flora Purim, the native Argentine (and one-time Boston resident, now transplanted to the Big Apple) scours South America in search of themes, melodies and instruments to forge a pancontinental take on the region’s indigenous folk music, enlivened by the freedom of jazz and the passion of flamenco singing. It’s a potent combination that’s like nothing else around. Download: “Instante de Vos.” - See more at: http://bostonherald.com/2009/11/sofia_rei_koutsovitis#sthash.SjXnmKWp.dpuf - The Boston Herald

Sofía Rei Koutsovitis, a coolly cosmopolitan jazz singer from Buenos Aires, fulfills the promise of this series’s title - New York Times

La voz no tiene secretos para la cantante y compositora argentina Sofía Rei Koutsovitis, imaginativa intérprete acostumbrada a romper etiquetas que en muy poco tiempo ha conquistado la escena neoyorquina, desde el Carnegie Hall hasta los clubes underground más hip de la ciudad. Su formación clásica -estudió canto en su ciudad natal, Buenos Aires, e inició su carrera en el mundo de la ópera como mezzosoprano en el legendario Teatro Colón- le permite jugar con los más variados colores y matices vocales. Sin perder la frescura, sabe apostar sus bazas para ganarse al público con una sofisticada y novedosa aproximación a las tradiciones folclóricas de Argentina y sus países vecinos a las que añade irresistibles acentos jazzísticos. Sus canciones, que hablan de corazones rotos, del individualismo y del desafío que supone ser una extranjera en tierra extraña, abrazan las más diversas influencias populares y transmiten una poderosa energía rítmica. Acaba de publicar su segundo álbum, Sube Azul, editado por World Village, cuya puesta de largo internacional tuvo lugar el pasado 12 de julio en Barcelona, en un concierto en el marco del Festival Grec. "Me gusta jugar con los colores de la voz y buscar su fusión natural con los instrumentos, de una manera fresca e intuitiva", explica Sofía Rei Koutsovitis.

Vive en Nueva York desde el año 2005, ciudad que le fascina y en la que, asegura, respira desde el primer día aires de libertad creativa que ayudan a romper los tópicos asociados a la música latina. "Desde el primer día entré en contacto con músicos de todas partes, de Japón, China, Europa y América Latina, que viven la fusión de estilos diferentes de forma cotidiana, de la forma más natural y enriquecedora", comenta. "Lo más curioso es comprobar que, a pesar de las distintas procedencias, existe una cultura en común entre los músicos de América Latina, y eso es algo que facilita los puntos de encuentro".

Habla maravillas del contrabajista peruano Jorge Roeder, coproductor del disco y cómplice perfecto en su labor como compositora, arreglista, letrista y productora de Sube Azul. "Es un músico fuera de serie, un gran virtuoso del contrabajo al que conocí nada más llegar a Nueva York y conectamos perfectamente. Hicimos el disco en directo en un estudio de Nueva Jersey, tras muchos ensayos, pero conservando la magia y la inspiración del momento".

Su primer disco, Ojalá, fue escogido como uno de los diez mejores trabajos del año 2006 por la asociación de periodistas y críticos de jazz de Estados Unidos. En su nuevo disco da un paso más en la búsqueda de un sonido propio, combinando músicas de raíz tradicional colombiana y otros ritmos de países como Perú, Uruguay y Argentina, con las armonías del más sofisticado jazz actual. "El ritmo es esencial, vital, y la voz debe tener la suficiente flexibilidad para sonar, cuando es necesario, con fuerza desgarradora, o con la suavidad y la ligereza que pide el vuelo rítmico".

El disco incluye una muy personal versión de Cardo o ceniza, de la grandísima Chabuca Granda, y otros dos temas ajenos, El mayoral, de Wilfredo Franco Laguna, y Chongoyapana, de Arturo Shutt y Saco: el resto de las canciones son obra de Sofía, que además firma a medias un tema con Pavel Urkiza y varios arreglos con Jorge Roeder. En la banda destacan solistas del talento de Juan Medrano Cotito (cajón), Samuel Torres (congas), Celso Duarte (arpa), Dana Leong (violonchelo), Juancho Herrera (guitarras), Yayo Serka (batería) y, naturalmente, Roeder al contrabajo. La propia cantante se suma a la banda como percusionista: pura energía que contrasta con la delicada pureza melódica que caracteriza sus sutiles canciones. "Ahora mismo tenemos ya un público fiel en Nueva York, pero no nos conformamos con ser la sensación del momento, queremos hacer cosas nuevas que perduren en el tiempo". - El País, Babelia, España

Jazz. Sofía Koutsovitis canta mañana en festival de Punta

XIMENA AGUIAR

Sofía Koutsovitis tuvo que pasar por el coro de niños, el canto lírico y el jazz para reencontrarse en Nueva York con sus raíces argentinas, y lograr una particular fusión de folclore latinoamericano con técnicas de jazz, que presenta mañana en Lapataia.

Una quijada y un contrabajo. Una chacarera sincopada. Tradición e improvisación. Un puñado de músicos migrantes mezclan todo y vuelven a repartir, creando melodías a la vez conocidas y nuevas. Algo así es lo que está sucediendo en los escenarios en subsuelos y teatros de Nueva York, donde la bonaerense Sofía Rei Koutsovitis sorprende a los aficionados al jazz con algunos de los ritmos latinos a los que aún no han acostumbrado el oído.

"Tocamos en clubes de jazz, donde la gente que va espera jazz y se encuentra con alguien que canta en español, con instrumentos que no había visto antes, con ritmos que desconoce. Pero de alguna manera no es completamente ajeno, por la conexión con armonías y la forma de ser presentado, características del jazz", contó.

Canto mestizo. Su modulación vocal mezcla la improvisación y la complejidad armónica del jazz con los quiebres de voz y falsetes más característicos de estilos tradicionales latinoamericanos, explica la cantante.

La integración no es forzada, sino fruto de sucesivas incorporaciones a lo largo de su vida.

En su casa, cuando era chica, su madre escuchaba música folclórica, Mercedes Sosa y demás. Mientras, Sofía estudiaba música clásica, cantaba en el coro de niños de Teatro Colón y quería ser cantante de ópera. Después se interesó por la improvisación vocal y el jazz y terminó viajando a hacer una maestría en el conservatorio de New England, con experimentados cantantes de jazz. Entonces su acento se hizo notar.

"Mientras estaba en Estados Unidos, mucha gente me pedía para los conciertos, por ser latinoamericana, que por favor hiciera `una canción de tu país`. Las conocía de toda la vida, y cantaba un tango, o Gracias a la vida. Al cantar una canción acá y otra allá sentí una gratificación muy grande, y me di cuenta que tenía una conexión con eso que no había registrado antes", contó.

Esa capacidad de aunar lo latinoamericano que surge en el extranjero ayudó a incorporar nuevos estilos. Las colaboraciones con músicos de regiones de Perú, Venezuela, Colombia y otros países fueron definiendo un perfil.

"Se da un fenómeno muy particular, una pequeña Latinoamérica en una cuidad grande, (Nueva York), pero con la actividad musical centrada en focos no tan grandes, que te permite compartir día a día con músicos muy buenos de todos los países y regiones latinoamericanos, una posibilidad que no se da en ningún país latinoamericano", señaló.

Al mismo tiempo, "muchos músicos de Estados Unidos empezaron a estudiar chacarera, música peruana, cosas de candombe, porque encontraban que se había agotado el jazz latino en los géneros de Brasil y caribeños. Cuba, Puerto Rico, esas fusiones ya no son novedad, la salsa pasó de moda en Nueva York y el movimiento de bossa nova se liquidó", afirmó.

Su primer disco, "Ojalá", tiene canciones en español, brasileño e inglés, en su mayoría de compositores latinoamericanos, (Silvio Rodríguez, Paulinho da Viola, Carlos Bergesio, Eduardo Falú y otros). También incluyó algunas composiciones originales de Koutsovitis, en un caso sobre el poema El suicida, de Jorge Luis Borges.

Su próximo disco, Sube Azul, ya grabado pero aún no editado, privilegia las canciones en español y las composiciones de Koutsovitis, contribuyendo a definir más su estilo personal.

En el anfiteatro del tambo Lapataia, tocará mañana con Samuel Torres, un percusionista genial de Colombia con quien trabaja desde hace 2 años, y con el guitarrista chileno Federico Dannemann. Aunque estarán presentes canciones como Ojalá y Alma al pueblo, la mayoría de las canciones serán de Koutsovitis, y también aprovecharán para cantar composiciones del próximo disco de Torres, adelantó.

Su regreso a Uruguay, que conoce de sus viajes de vacaciones de la niñez, esta vez como cantante, le genera expectativas acerca de la particular improvisación que se dará bajo las estrellas.

Jazz del mundo al tambo
LUNES Mañana comienza el festival de "Jazz y Músicas del mundo" en Lapataia, Punta del Este. Tocarán dos grupos por noche, comenzando a las 20 horas con el trío integrado por Sofía Rei Koutsovitis, el percusionista Samuel Torres y Federico Dannelmann en guitarra. En segunda instancia tocará el Cuarteto del saxofonista estadounidense Yosvanny Terry, con Ernesto Simpson en batería, Osmany Paredes al piano y Junior Terry en el bajo. La entrada cuesta $ 880 y puede comprarse en la Red UTS o en el lugar del concierto.

MARTES El martes finaliza el festival. Tocará el cuarteto del chileno Christian Gálvez,
en bajo y voz, con Pablo Menares en el contrabajo, Félix Lecaros en la batería y Andrés Pérez tocando el saxo. A continuación tocará el "Raynald Colom Cuarteto", presentado por la embajada de España, con Colom en trompeta, los uruguayos Ignacio Labrada en piano y Osvaldo Fattoruso en batería, junto al argentino Guillermo Delgado al contrabajo. Los acompañará Samuel Torres, y Koutsovitis cantará como invitada. - El País, Uruguay

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/07musicwe.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&sq=sofia%20koutsovitis&st=cse&scp=2

AS the Argentine singer Sofía Rei Koutsovitis led her multinational band through a rehearsal recently — in a makeshift studio below a launderette in Astoria, Queens — the passion and clarity with which she assayed a tricky mix of South American rhythms and jazz-inflected harmonies made clear why she has been embraced by New York City audiences from Carnegie Hall to the hippest downtown haunts.

But Ms. Rei has communicated with crowds beyond the city limits. Four times since May, she has played at festivals and museums in Westchester, performing as leader or sideman for audiences in Katonah, Mount Vernon, Valhalla and Yonkers — and many of them, she said, showed even greater enthusiasm than the city crowds.

Ms. Rei, who is from Buenos Aires but lives in Greenwich Village, is in the vanguard of a movement bringing forward-thinking multicultural music to suburbs like Westchester. Fueled by immigrant musicians, the movement has enlisted programming veterans from the jazz and classical worlds eager to feed or broaden the suburban appetite for new sounds. While this is still largely a warm-weather phenomenon, the programmers sense that something is stirring.

“I hope that it’s growing. It sure seems like it,” said John Scofield, the celebrated guitarist and sometime producer, who has been pushing the programming envelope since decamping for Katonah from the city 15 years ago. Asked to assess the potential for the music in Westchester, he said, “I think it is huge.”

Audiences have grown for Shades of Jazz, a summer series Mr. Scofield curates at the Katonah Museum of Art that has provided a setting for globally minded young players. In mid-July, the series presented Ms. Rei, 31, who performed with an a cappella group led by Gino Sitson, the singer from Cameroon. Three weeks later, it featured the reed player Anat Cohen, 33, whose playing incorporates influences from Peru, Brazil, Argentina and her native Israel. Both concerts drew more than 300 people, Mr. Scofield said, three times the typical crowd when the series began three years ago.

The audience, he said, was largely from a 20-mile radius around Katonah, which is emerging as an outpost for aficionados of the more adventurous multicultural approach. In the days before Ms. Cohen’s performance, on Aug. 6, the Caramoor International Music Festival in Katonah presented the Cuban pianists Elio Villafranca and Chuchito Valdés; the guitarist Ricardo Peixoto and the singer Claudia Villela, both from Brazil; and the Grammy-winning, Dominican-born pianist Michel Camilo.

Mr. Camilo’s bravado, in particular, won raves from the crowd of nearly 1,700 at the festival’s main stage. Like Ms. Cohen at the museum, Mr. Camilo, who lived in Katonah for 12 years before moving to Bedford three years ago, brought the festival audience to its feet, evidence of a Westchester constituency for the swirling tempos and shifting tonalities that characterize his playing.

In all, Caramoor, armed with a $500,000 grant from the state, has in the past two years presented nine jazz acts offering widely divergent but similarly challenging small-group variations on the Latin theme.

But new takes on Latin jazz are not limited to small groups, or to immigrant musicians. In June, the 16-piece Westchester Jazz Orchestra, composed of world-class players from the United States who live in or near the county, reworked four tunes by Antonio Carlos Jobim, the bossa nova pioneer, in a concert devoted to him at the Seven Bridges Middle School in Chappaqua.

Some of the impetus for the show came from the orchestra’s bassist, Harvie S, a leading exponent of Afro-Latin music among Westchester musicians. The bassist, whose experience with the music dates to the 1960s in Cuba, has played or recorded with many leading Latin artists, including Paquito D’Rivera and Ray Barretto.

On the classical side, innovative programming of Latin music has taken a quantum leap as Caramoor, flush with the grant money, has tested the waters with performances of rarely heard versions of old works; commissions of new works, like a genre-bending contrabass concerto by Mr. D’Rivera; and experiments with staples, like two new Latin-themed versions of Caramoor’s family concert.

Caramoor has also sought out new audiences, in April staging a full version of the Latin-themed family concert free at Untermyer Park in Yonkers. The concert was well received, suggesting an underserved audience for the music in lower Westchester. Further evidence of that audience comes from Andrea Rockower, associate director of the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts in the Bronx, who said that nearly half the seats for some of the center’s recent Latin programming were filled by Westchester residents.

Perhaps no programmer has done more to serve up challenging fare for immigrant communities than the trumpeter and impresario Mark Morganelli. Now in the eighth year of a 50-concert summer series throughout Westchester, Mr. Morganelli said the communities for which he has booked performers have ranged from Asians in Hartsdale, for whom he presented the Japanese trumpeter Shunzo Ohno last year, to Brazilians in Mount Vernon, where he presented the singer Monika Oliveira in July. Ms. Oliveira had a crowd of nearly 700 cheering, many in Portuguese, at City Hall Plaza, he said.

Despite such successes, presenting adventurous music of any sort remains a risky proposition, especially at a time when people are limiting their discretionary spending and corporations are cutting back on arts sponsorship. While all programmers hope at some point to push the musical boundaries year round, even the most committed are reverting to safer formulas as most of the events move indoors in the fall. “I will take fewer risks artistically to the end of being able to present more,” Mr. Morganelli said.

At the Tarrytown Music Hall, Mr. Morganelli is presenting the singer and pianist Dianne Reeves, the vocal group Manhattan Transfer and the singer-songwriter Michael Franks. Caramoor is offering large doses of Bach in the fall and Mendelssohn in the spring. And most of the Westchester Jazz Orchestra’s concerts at the Irvington Town Hall Theater and the Seven Bridges Middle School will focus on the domestic mainstream, with themes built on hard bop, Dave Brubeck, movie music and Americana.

But hints of the adventurous Latin rhythms may surface as temperatures cool. Mr. Morganelli, who made his name in the TriBeCa lofts of the 1980s, will bring that sensibility to the Brazilian music he plays with his quartet — at the Doubletree Hotel in Tarrytown, where he will start a weekly performance on Thursday, and in concert on Sept. 27 at Waterfront Park in Dobbs Ferry and on Nov. 8 at St. Paul’s Church historic site in Mount Vernon.

A Westchester Jazz Orchestra show on Jan. 31, partly devoted to Chick Corea, could take a progressive Latin turn, as could Purchase Latin Jazz Orchestra concerts on Dec. 11 and March 26, dedicated to rarely heard tunes by Chico O’Farrill, father of the pianist Arturo O’Farrill, who was recently appointed director of the Purchase orchestra. And Mr. Morganelli said he was trying to book the trumpeter Arturo Sandoval — who, like Mr. D’Rivera, is a Cuban expatriate fluent in several musical idioms — in Tarrytown in the spring.

Meanwhile, some of Westchester’s most innovative Latin musicians may be found playing quietly subversive riffs in conventional settings. They include Pablo Mayor, a Tarrytown resident who plays regularly with Orquesta Broadway, a charanga dance band, at the Best Western hotel in Nyack. Mr. Mayor, whose band, Folklore Urbano, offers a contemporary take on folk music from his native Colombia, said he was eyeing the Tarrytown Music Hall for a concert by his group.

All indications are that the adventurous sounds will return in full force next year as temperatures rise. Mr. Morganelli and Mr. Scofield expect to continue their series. Mr. Camilo hopes to bring to Caramoor his piano concerto, which many major orchestras have taken up the challenge of playing.

Asked about staging the concerto, Michael Barrett, the chief executive of Caramoor, said, “It’s something I’m going to investigate.” In any case, he said, he was committed to bringing more novel Latin sounds to the county, possibly exploring the music of Cuba.

Looking beyond the coming season, even the Westchester Philharmonic is weighing expanded Latin programming in its shows at the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, said Joshua Worby, executive director of the philharmonic. Whether that will happen, he said, could depend on a continued boost from Itzhak Perlman’s recent appointment as the philharmonic’s artistic director, which Mr. Worby said had increased ticket sales sharply.

The three concerts at which Mr. Perlman will perform this season will stay comfortably within the core classical repertory. A fourth show, featuring the Broadway performer Brian Stokes Mitchell, should have broad commercial appeal. But a fifth, an all-20th-century affair with an unconventional, late-century offering, John Adams’s “Shaker Loops,” could be the kind of trial that leads to wider multicultural exploration, Mr. Worby said.

“There’s nothing I’d love more than to have a chance to do an all-Latin American program,” he said. “But that’s several years down the road, after we’ve doubled our concert season and had a little bit more opportunity to experiment outside the lines.” - NY Times

URL: http://www.eldiariony.com/Sofia-Rei:-artista-poco-tradicional

Nueva York - Sofía Rei siempre supo que iba a ser artista, su talento lo empezó a desarrollar desde temprana edad con el grupo de niños del teatro Colón en Argentina, y cuando creció comenzó a estudiar para convertirse en cantante de ópera, pero pronto se dio cuenta de que se sentía limitada con la música clásica.
Cuando la argentina descubrió el jazz, no hubo vuelta atrás, había generado una nueva pasión que debía satisfacer, y es por ello que decidió mudarse a los Estados Unidos para aprender sobre este género.
Pronto se vincularía con el New England Conservatory en donde inició clases por correspondencia durante dos años antes de mudarse a Boston.
El fruto de esa educación intensa se traduce en tres álbumes, el último de ellos y el que la artista está a punto de presentar se titula "De Tierra y Oro", el cual ofrece fusiones entre ritmos folklóricos suramericanos y elementos de jazz. El concepto no es nuevo, pero la selección de temas escogidos por Sofía sí resulta muy interesante.
Una pelea de gallos, la llorona y un hombre embrujado en los Andes son algunas de las inspiraciones que la cantante ha escogido para escribir este álbum.
"La Gallera fue inspirada por un viaje que realicé a Cartagena, en donde hice una excursión por las Islas del Rosario, en ese entonces el capitán del bote me invitó a conocer su pueblo y allí todas las tardes se hacen peleas de gallo. Aunque al principio me dio impresión, a los 20 minutos me vi emocionada apostando" nos cuenta Sofía, "es parte de su identidad", agrega.
Sin embargo y a pesar de la evidente peculiaridad de su música, los temas tradicionales también forman parte de su repertorio y en su sencillo "Mundo Piedra" por ejemplo, la cantante se expresa en contra de la indiferencia de la clase política y su falta de compromiso. "No me pongo a pensar acerca de que sería bueno escribir, simplemente trato de descifrar mis ideas", comenta.
El disco al que Sofía define como Nueva Música Suramericana se realizó en cooperación con el bajista Jorge Roeder y el coproductor Fabrice Dupont. El proyecto será lanzado el 1 de Diciembre en el club Drom.
Desde ya le auguramos muchos éxitos y esperamos con ansia el lanzamiento de esta producción que puede ser interpretada de diferentes formas entre las culturas que abarca.
"Para mucha gente acá (Nueva York) nosotros seriamos súper folklóricos, pero en otros países como Colombia y Argentina seriamos los más modernos", comenta la talentosa artista. - El Diario/La Prensa

Argentine Sofia Rei Koutsovitis quickly made a name for herself in New York City after moving there in 2005.
The singer, who mixes traditional South American rhythms with jazz, electronic sounds and vocal improvisations, has performed at the Kennedy Center and shared the stage with Bobby McFerrin at Carnegie Hall.
And she won rave reviews from The New York Times, which said "the passion and clarity with which she assayed a tricky mix of South African rhythms and jazz-inflected harmonies made clear why she has been embraced by New York City audiences from Carnegie Hall to the hippest downtown haunts."
Koutsovitis, who goes by Sofia Rei, comes to town this week for a show at the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy. - Albany Times Union - Troy, NY

Countdown the best world music albums with WMN's audio chart:
4. Sofia Rei - De Tierra Y Oro
Sofia Rei shakes up the New York scene with her South American rhythms. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina she infuses her music with pulsing chacarere, zamba and vidala patterns from Argentina, Afro-brazilian festejo and lando feels, Afro-Uruguayan candombe, Colombian cumbia and more. De Tierra Y Oro translates as 'of earth and gold' and is a instictive varied release. - World Music Network

Although Argentina has produced many superb vocalists, the attention in recent years has focused on Peruvian vocalists. Sofia Rei, a world traveler and song researcher with a vibrant voice, demonstrates that she is one of the new talents in the Latin American scene.

Sofia Rei, who is currently based in New York City, has absorbed the traditional musics of her homeland and other South American countries and has added elements of jazz, electronics and global sounds to create a fascinating sound. She depicts De Tierra y Oro as a series of “philosophical wanderings.” She produced the album along with her longtime bassist and collaborator Jorge Roeder and co-producer Fabrice Dupont. (...) - World Music Central.org

Las canciones de Sofia Rei son como barcos que atracan en diversos puertos de America llevandose consigo retazos musicales que ella cose, con maestria prodigiosa, en temas vibrantes que unen diversas tradiciones y culturas. - David Dorantes - La Voz de Houston

Self-assured Argentinean singer, instrumentalist and composer Sofia Rei will be winning an award one day soon, so my inner-oracle whispers. Rei subtly integrates jazz influences into folk-edged originals. (...) Singing all originals, with one tribute to Chavela Vargas, she is as remarkable on recording as she is in performance. Rei's band is multi-national and their combined sound is building something very fresh. - NYC Jazz Record

World music DJ Betto Arcos returns to weekends on All Things Considered to share the music he's been playing on Global Village, the show he hosts on KPFK in Los Angeles. This week, Arcos brings his favorite new tracks from Argentinean and Uruguayan artists.

From the spirit of the old style rooted in the bordellos of Buenos Aires to the Andean style known as huayno to an approach that weaves in orchestral and electronic elements, Arcos' picks showcase the diverse landscape of tango. - NPR: All Things Considered Feb. 2013

WINNER of two INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS 2013 in the World Beat Category for De Tierra y Oro, Best Album and Best Song.

WINNER of the INDEPENDENT MUSIC AWARDS 2010 in the World Beat Category for Sube Azul (World Village-Harmonia Mundi)

WINNER of the BEST LATIN JAZZ VOCALIST OF 2009 AWARD


"… Rei and her band treated us to stellar musicianship and genre-bending music."
-NPR music

“As the Argentine singer Sofía Rei Koutsovitis led her multinational band, the passion and clarity with which she assayed a tricky mix of South American rhythms and jazz-inflected harmonies made clear why she has been embraced by New York City audiences from Carnegie Hall to the hippest downtown haunts.”
Phil Lutz- The New York Times

"a dynamic jazz-inflected sound that is surprisingly and satisfyingly rich in texture (...) De Tierra Y Oro shows that intelligent and sensitive fusion has a future."
- Songlines (UK)

"Sofia Rei, a world traveler and song researcher with a vibrant voice, demonstrates that she is one of the new talents in the Latin American scene.[…] a fascinating sound."
- World Music Central

"The voice has no secrets for Argentine singer and composer Sofia Rei, an imaginative interpreter used to breaking labels who in a short period of time has conquered the New York music scene"
-Babelia, El Pais (Spain)


“Sofia's vocal prowess contains an emotional impact that leaves an audience gasping for air and begging for more.”
Chip Boaz, The Latin Jazz Corner

“one of the most versatile and in-demand singers on the New York music scene”,
-Simon Calle, All About Jazz

"Exquisite music with South American folk influences, mixed with jazz sounds, and wrapped in the powerful voice and tonal beauty of Sofia Rei, that’s De Tierra y Oro."
- Latin Jazz Network

“…highly capable of integrating diverse influences, from ancient folkloric traditions to modern jazz […] Sofia’s all Spanish vocals convey deep passion and a full spectrum of emotions”
Ed Enright – DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE

“A highly skilled, eclectic, wonderfully natural singer…..[Sube Azul] is an original 'collage' of many different Latin American folkloric & North American jazz elements.”
- ABC-The weekend planet- Doug Spencer

“She is hard to compare with any predecessor, except her joy and passion could rival Flora Purim, Celia Cruz, or Abbey Lincoln”
-Michael Nastos, All Music Guide

“one of best Argentine singers ever. A fascinating album. With De Tierra y Oro, Sofia Rei consolidates herself as one of the most expressive voices of all times.”
- El Intruso (Argentina) 

“…a potent combination that’s like nothing else around”
-Kevin Convey, BOSTON HERALD

“The evocative, often erotic text was sung by Sofia Rei Koutsovitis, whose impressive voice ranged from dark tremolo to electronically-altered growl.”
-Feast of Music (About Carnegie Hall's concert premiere of Ljova Zurbin's Niña Dance '09)

"The voice has no secrets for Argentine singer and composer Sofia Rei, an imaginative interpreter used to breaking labels who in a short period of time has conquered the New York music scene"
Babelia, El Pais (Spain)

“Possesing a voluptuously full voice, comprehensive command of Latin American rhythms, and encyclopedic knowledge of folkloric forms from Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Uruguay, Sofia has become an essential creative catalyst on a scene teeming with musicians eager to blend jazz with its South American siblings.”
Andy Gilbert-BOSTON GLOBE

“Sofia has made a huge leap with Sube Azul, an album that grows on you more each time you listen to it. A universe of layered textures and a challenge to labels and categories”
Eduardo Hojman, CUADERNOS DE JAZZ (Spain)


“Sofia sings a varied, engaging set, with plenty to dance to, plenty to get down with, and plenty to think about. She’s going for an ambitious goal: original, creative, and technically challenging music that’s as exciting to a Bacchanalian crowd as to the ivory tower listener.”
Tova G. Kardonne-The live music report (Canada) - The New york Times/All About Jazz/Downbeat Magazine/etc