FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Zinc Bar in New York City , Presents Brazilian Vocalist Kenia Sunday March 28 2010 with Cidinioa Teixeira Group and Friends.
The vocalist who single-handedly defined the essence of heavenly, pop accented Brazilian jazz in the 1980s and ‘90s returns with an album that surpasses all expectations. With the release of Simply Kenia, the singer, known simply as Kenia, confidently reasserts her position as one of the reigning queens of contemporary Brazilian music.
Simply Kenia is a captivating blend of venerable choro works and samba and bossa nova-accented tracks that represent the best of the contemporary MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) tradition. Add several handpicked favorites from the American ballad songbook and there’s little doubt that it all adds up to the most well-rounded and stylistically authentic album of Kenia’s career and a program that’s perfect for her trademark seductive style, amber-toned voice and impeccable phrasing. Backing Kenia on Simply are a group of seasoned Brazilian jazz musicians who rank among the most celebrated of their time, including keyboardist César Camargo Mariano, guitarist Romero Lubambo, drummer Teo Lima, and bassist Leo Traversa.
The artist was born Kenia Acidly into a family of Italian origins in the city of Nova Iguaçu, a distant working class suburb of Rio de Janeiro. When she was six, Kenia’s family moved to Copacabana. Later, she lived in Niterói, Rio’s sister city across Guanabara Bay, and chic Leblon, one of the city’s most upscale neighborhoods. Each stop along the way provided opportunities to explore the local cultural peculiarities that go into making Rio and its neighboring environs one of the world’s most exotic locales.
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An interest in music came early; she studied piano and learned to play the guitar by ear. Singing however, became her path to success in music world. Influenced by such Brazilian greats as the late Elis Regina, she also began listening to such North American artists as Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRea and George Benson. And her choice of music to interpret came not from the bossa nova of the 1960s but from the talents of the generation of composers that followed and put the Brazilian sound on the world map once again.
After her arrival in the U.S. in 1980,
Kenia’s talents were quickly recognized by such leading music producers as Creed Taylor, who signed her to accompany Brazilian jazz trumpeter Claudio Roditi on his debut release Red on Red. She also played a key role in Taylor’s The Devil’s Toothpick, a music film that documented the ritualistic dance and music styles associated with the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé religion. And she launched her own successful solo recording career, producing four popular and critically acclaimed albums for the MCA and Denon labels between 1987 and 1991 that helped define the emerging “Smooth Jazz“ radio format of the day. The success of these ventures established Kenia as one of the most popular and successful U.S. based Brazilian musicians since the heyday of Sergio Mendes and Brazil ‘66.
It’s been a decade since Kenia’s name graced the cover of a new CD release—far too long, her most ardent fans would quickly say. But she makes up for lost time on Simply Kenia. Her magic touch is not only still alive, it’s more potent than ever. Simply put, Simply is Kenia, through and through.
ZINC BAR
New York's favorite playground for jazz legends and new talent.
82 West 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 477-9462
